Interview: J.J. L’Heureux
J.J. L’Heureux is an established photographer as well as a talented painter. She has traveled to Antarctica every year for the past seventeen years. The artist had the opportunity to have four solo exhibitions in China. Here is a Q and A about her experience.
J.J. L’Heureux
Q: Can you tell me about your personal experiences as well as exhibiting your work in China?
A: My exhibitions in China have been an adventure. My first exhibition and talk was at the 2017 World Internet Conference in Wuzhen (at the Henggang International Art Gallery). It took place during the conference. Wuzhen, Tongxiang, in the Northern part of Zhejiang Provence, is the permanent venue for the World Internet Conference started in 2014. Wuzhen is a historic, ancient water town. It has been chosen for the conference because it can be completely closed to the public during the event.
My next venue was an invitation from a boutique hotel in Jiaxing, approximately an hour from Wuzhen in Northern Zhejiang Province, The Lanting 21 Hotel, with 21 rooms and a well-known restaurant. The hotel is popular with local officials. I was delighted when many people from my previous exhibition in Wuzhen came to the reception in Jiaxing. At each venue I was also surprised with giant banners announcing the exhibition, television interviews and articles in the China Daily. Many places I walked greeted me as if we were friends as they saw the TV interview on the “Good Morning Jaixing Show” and my photo was in the newspapers.
Q: Did you become close with any locals?
A: I have many new friends in China. The director of the Lanting Hotel is a woman full of warmth always having me stay in her best room. The hotel is an ancient palace on a canal. The wooden pillars that support the tile roof build each room around them, creating large, interestingly shaped rooms. Most have private yards.
The Cuisine of China
Q: What did you think of the cuisine of China?
A: I am a vegetarian, (laughed JJ), especially in China, as their foods often have small animals and parts of animals that I am suspect of. After saying I was a vegetarian at a restaurant with a number of new friends, the chef brought out a large bowl of small boiled snails! O My – I enjoyed noodles with tasty veggies that evening.
That being said…all the venues there have been indescribable dinners at giant round tables with every kind of Chinese food one could imagine. At the university the pastry chef made pecan tarts for desert in honor of my exhibition as she read this was a popular American desert.
Exhibitions in China
Q: Where else did you exhibit?
A: Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, invited me to show at the university. Shanghai is the largest city in China with approximately 24 plus million people and the world’s busiest container port located on the Yangtze River Delta. With its extreme architecture full of colors at night it is the showplace of China. Jiao Tong University is the MIT of China, so I felt honored to be invited to exhibit at this prestigious place.
The university sent a car for me to show the location as well as the auditorium. After my talk, I realized that many school clubs sponsored my exhibition: the photography club, cinematography club, the adventure club, etc. Each group took their picture with me in front of the banner. The school has hospitality major with a working hotel where I stayed. Again a lovely hotel with early morning geese for my wake up honk.
At the present time (December 2018), my exhibition continues to be at Jiatong University at the University of Michigan extension building on campus. The U of M is their sister school with exchange students from the USA and Chinese students working to be fluent in English and have dual degrees.
At each exhibition, J.J. would also give a talk about her work. She explained how she has witnessed climate change each time she returned to Antarctica. CLICK HERE to read about J.J.’s lectures about global warming. Also find out more about J.J. L’Heureux on her website – http://www.jjlheureux.com/
