black and white illustrations
colorful childlike drawings
over a dozen photos in books of children
a book on a rock by a river
a person giving a slide presentation in a large room, many display stands

Student Spotlight: Jialai Chen

Oct 08 2025

“A Solitary Cloud and Solid Trees” began with my journey to a remote Yi village in Yunnan, where I volunteered as a teacher. Immersed in their daily life, I slowly shed the identity of an “advanced” educator and became a student of their world instead. The Yi people’s joyful, healing, and free-spirited culture dismantled my assumptions of hierarchy and revealed something simple yet profound — all civilizations stand equal.

The first phase of the project celebrates Yi culture through an album and a collection of children’s artwork. The second transforms into an immersive space of Yi music and dance — a living rhythm of reciprocity. Together, they invite reflection on cultural equality and the beauty of mutual exchange between minority and majority cultures.

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