"Xu Rui and Geng Xiaotong", The Land of Promises, 2019

Residence Plan
This project will have as its starting point the low birth rate observed in Japan. I am interested in its causes and consequences and what are its possible solutions. I would like to know - if there is pressure on young adults to be in a relationship and start a family; if the pressure is greater for women considering their current situation (issues such as gender inequalities); and if the situation is experienced differently depending on whether you live in the city or in the countryside. What might happen in Japan in the future?

Artist Profile
1) Paris Photo - Aperture First PhotoBook Award, Shortlisted, 2022 / Paris, France
2) Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, special mention, 2022 / Winterthur, Switzerland
3) MA in Visual Arts, KASK / School of Arts, 2018-2020 / Ghent, Belgium

Base of Activity: Namur, Belgium
Media Used: Photography

Youqine Lefèvre's artistic practice, combining photography, archives and video, is situated between documentary and intimate. Her first book, "The Land of Promises", focuses on the Chinese birth control policy and the artist's international and transracial adoption. It brings together the themes that have always been present in her work: family, childhood and memory. Starting from a personal story, the subject broadens to become societal, social, political, cultural and economic.

*Profile photo: ©Anne-Sophie Guillet