SHADOW GARDEN
EXPERIMENTAL VIDEO
Urbanization has led to the upcoming
demolition of old houses in Suzhou's
Shadow Garden, where some people
once lived.Once demolished, former
residents will no longer find traces of
their past when recalling memories.
As a Suzhou native with childhood
garden memories, I created this
project to explore urban evolution and
the disappearance of "home" culture.
In the courtyard of my childhood, so like the Shadow Garden, I grew up chasing dappled light and shadow. Now, hearing that the Shadow Garden is to be demolished, memories long sealed by time come flooding back. All who once lived in such courtyards will forever lose their path back to the past.
Standing before the ruins, all traces of life have completely vanished. We can only gather fragments from the broken walls and scattered tiles, trying to piece together the outline of what once was. Yet what these efforts evoke is, in the end, mere imagination—vivid yet illusory, never again able to touch the true warmth preserved deep within memory. The world of yesterday has sunk at last into the depths of time, beyond any recovery. What remains is an echo that lingers in the heart—a haunting melody composed of absence, whose notes are the silent spaces between what was and what can never be again. We become archaeologists of our own vanished landscapes, forever sifting through the dust of remembrance.
The Shadow Garden Demolition IncidentLocated near the ancient city of Suzhou, the Shadow Garden was built in 1972 and designed by Peng Zhaoliang, an old Chinese doctor who was educated by the last generation of traditional private schools. Mr Peng's family has lived here for four generations, truly continuing the garden as a way of life to this day. But now this garden is about to face demolition.