Yifan Wang is a Hui artist and photographer from Beijing. Drawn to documentary photography, they are deeply fascinated by the infinite power of capturing the force of real, lived moments. They focus on the marginalized realities of Chinese ethnic minority groups especially Hui, documenting the processes of sinicization, cultural erasure, and identity loss, alongside the reappearance and resurgence of cultural and ancestral traditions.
What Does Home / Community Mean to Me?
Photo Installation, Multiple photographs, 2024
In July 2024, after more than two years away from my hometown, I visited a morning market near the Hui (minority ethnic group) community where I grew up. Quranic Arabic phrases displayed at the meat stalls were a surprise to me, as I hadn’t seen them on street shops for years. These symbols, representing the Profession of Faith (Shahada), declare: "There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God." For at least four years, these symbols have been quietly and subtly erased from public spaces within the Hui community in Beijing, China, and replaced with the Chinese characters “清真” (halal). Yet, in this market, the meat vendor continued to display them as a continuation of a practice maintained for at least decades. The public removal from shops has been so subtle that it operates as an unspoken rule, without any formal announcement or agreement. For now, these meat vendors remain relatively safe due to their temporary presence in the market. These Arabic phrases were once an inseparable part of my surroundings, so ubiquitous in my childhood that I never thought they would be impermanent. Their disappearance, however, has revealed their importance. What was once so ordinary has become profoundly significant as it fades away. The gradual sinicization of the Hui community and Islamic culture in China is ongoing. Through these images, I confront the silent erasure of cultural identity and question: What is our future as Hui people? Will these symbols, traditions, and markers of identity fade into oblivion? Should they be erased so arbitrarily and drastically? How much space is left for cultural representation as a minority ethnic group? These photographs are an expression of love for the Hui community where I grew up. The love I had never expressed, realized, admitted, or acknowledged until I am away from it, witnessing and experiencing the sense of loss and the bittersweet joy of temporary rediscovery.
