Another Day is a project completed by Chen Qiulin from 2014 to 2016, including video, installation and photography. It presents an examination of the life of women from the remote mountainous areas of the southeastern Guizhou Province. Chen Quilin went deep into the Yi villages, where everything showed a quiescent state of paradise in the stark contrast to the city’s hustle and bustle; and this day-to-day stilly calm seemed to condense the air.
In China, the habits and thoughts of women living in remote villages are subjected to the customs that have been passed down from generation to generation. The most typical scenario is that in family life they cannot enjoy the same status as men. For these women living in that mountainous area, the “bed” is the only personal space that brings them privacy and freedom; in the video it then becomes the focus, symbolising a portrait of the reality of the local women’s survival.
Chen Qiulin injects her sensitive subtle observations and experiences, discovers the virtues of the women living in this area and their worship to traditions. She further incorporates these characteristics into the heroine of this film by featuring her walking between the village alleys with an empty soul, showcasing the ancient traditions that are left and marginalized, yet not abandoned, in the depths of modern civilization.