Memory Repair Project: Awakening the Warm Stories Between GAFA and Nanting Village
In Guangzhou University Town, Nanting Village holds a special place. Nestled next to the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts (GAFA), it has been a living, creating, and gathering space for countless GAFA students. The art supply shops, food stalls, and family-run restaurants tucked away in its lanes are not just places for daily necessities; they are vessels of youthful memories.
Yet, as time passes, are these memories fading? Are the paintings left on shop walls, the unfinished sketches left behind, still remembered? In our conversations with shop owners, we heard both fondness and forgetfulness—stories of students who painted murals, left artworks, and moved on, their names slowly fading from memory but their presence still lingering in the spaces they touched.
We decided to attempt something—to repair and awaken this shared memory belonging to GAFA and Nanting Village.
I. “Borrowing” Memories from the Shops
We visited several shops in Nanting Village that have close ties with GAFA students and discovered a heartwarming phenomenon: many shopkeepers have kept paintings left by students. Some were impromptu gifts; others were works left behind after graduation. They hung quietly on walls or lay stacked in corners, becoming part of the shops and witnesses to the passage of time.
In one small restaurant, the owner told us about a tall, curly-haired student from Jiangxi who painted a mural over the course of a month. In another, a family-run eatery, we learned that the paintings were gifts from the owner’s brother-in-law, a GAFA graduate from nearly a decade ago. These works were never meant for museums—they were part of the daily fabric of the village.
We “borrowed” these paintings, temporarily relocating them from their original “habitats.” This was not merely an act of moving objects, but a tribute to the past and an awakening of connections.
A small painting that once hung in a Hunan restaurant, its colors still vivid.
Several oil painting studies we borrowed from an art supply shop, the brushstrokes still bearing the rawness of those years.
II. A “Homecoming” Exhibition in a Rented Building
We chose not to use a traditional gallery but rented an ordinary apartment in Nanting Village. This is a space where many GAFA students once truly lived. The mottled walls, the old wooden table, the sunlight streaming through the iron window… everything retains the authentic traces of life.
In this space filled with the atmosphere of “home,” we rehung these paintings. They are no longer just “artworks” on a white wall but have returned to their original context—a living site between campus and the mundane world. Here, art is not separated from life. It breathes with the space, echoing the footsteps, conversations, and dreams of those who once lived here.
The exhibition site, where paintings and everyday objects together construct a field of memory.
III. How to Hang Art—An Attitude in Itself
As practitioners setting up an exhibition in a rented space, we also experimented with various “mark-free / minimal-mark” hanging methods, suitable for tenants unwilling to damage the walls:
- Magic stickers / adhesive hooks: Suitable for small paintings and posters; leave no trace when removed.
- Blu-Tack / mounting putty: Ideal for postcards and very light works; reusable.
- Micro-nails: Suitable for slightly heavier works; minimal damage, very stable.
These methods are not just techniques but also an attitude: We use the space temporarily, yet we respect it as it is. They reflect the transient yet meaningful nature of student life in Nanting—a place where people come and go, but leave traces worth preserving.
IV. Repair and Awaken: What Are We Doing?
- Repair:
We are not restoring the physical form of the paintings, but the emotional connections obscured by daily life. By gathering these scattered works, we are mending an invisible thread linking “academy” and “village,” “art” and “life.” We are repairing a shared memory that time has begun to blur. - Awaken:
We are awakening a second life for these paintings, rekindling the youthful memories of GAFA alumni, and drawing public attention to the “academy-community” relationship. Ultimately, we hope to awaken a renewed appreciation for place and for the simple bonds between people.
V. Beyond the Exhibition: A Continuing Conversation
This project is more than an exhibition—it is an invitation to remember, to reconnect, and to reflect. It asks: What does it mean to belong to a place, even temporarily? How do we honor the layers of life that accumulate in shared spaces?
We hope this effort encourages more people—students, shopkeepers, residents—to look closely at the spaces they inhabit and recognize the stories embedded within. Perhaps the next time someone walks through Nanting, they will see not only a village but a living archive of encounters between art and everyday life.
Memories neeMemories need a place to reside; relationships need to be seen.d a place to reside; relationships need to be seen.
In this small rented room, we have completed a glance back at the past and planted a seed for the future—about community and coexistence.
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