>> ADEMA and the Barceló Foundation hosted the PhotoTalk activity: Conversation with Yu Depeng and the exhibition “Diary of a Hermit” within the framework of Mallorca PhotoFest
>> The international artist and the Fine Arts students of ADEMA discuss the themes of image, memory, and identity.
The international Chinese artist Yu Depeng presented the exhibition “Diary of a Hermit” at the Barceló Foundation in Palma last Saturday, as part of Mallorca PhotoFest, in a day that has turned the exhibition space into a meeting place between contemporary creation, thought and artistic training.
The proposal, promoted by ADEMA Bellas Artes, has also incorporated a student intervention that, far from being conceived as a complement, has functioned as an extension of the photographic work of the artist’s universe, reinterpreting and investigating its keys from a young and contemporary perspective.
Before the opening, the international artist participated in PhotoTalk: Conversa amb Yu Depeng, an intimate gathering where he shared not only his career path but also the most personal aspects of his creative process with students, teachers, and the general public. The artist explained that his work “stems from a desire to suggest rather than impose” and championed an artistic practice built on openness and listening. “I don’t like to direct the viewer’s gaze; I prefer that each person interpret it according to their own feelings,” he noted, inviting viewers to understand the image as a space of freedom where every experience is valid.
During the conversation, Yu Depeng emphasized that his work is not structured around a closed narrative, but rather around shared emotions that transcend cultures and contexts. “I’m interested in exploring the universal feeling of being displaced or out of place,” he stated, pointing to this condition as a point of connection between the artist and the viewer. From there, his work unfolds as a territory where memory, identity, and landscape intertwine, not as abstract concepts, but as sensory experiences. “My images don’t seek to tell a specific story, but rather to open up a space where each person can recognize themselves or even lose themselves,” he added during the meeting.
In the talk, the artist also delved into the creative processes behind his photographs, as well as the ongoing dialogue between his cultural roots and the territories he inhabits. His series, developed between China and Spain, reveal an intercultural sensibility that connects different visual traditions and modes of representing landscape. This presentation contextualized his photographic work within his overall oeuvre, offering the public a broader understanding of his artistic universe and the connections between his photographs and video installations.
The exhibition “Diary of a Hermit” captures this perspective through a series of video installations that transform the space into a moving painting. Works such as “Round Sky, Square Earth,” “Misty,” and the piece that gives the project its title create an immersive experience in which the viewer ceases to be a passive observer. “I want those who enter the room to feel that they are inside the image, not in front of it,” the artist has stated. In this sense, he has defined his work as “an invitation to rest, to dialogue, and to meditate,” reclaiming the value of slow time and contemplation in a context dominated by visual speed.
In her dialogue with ADEMA students, Yu Depeng also addressed the role of the moving image in her work, noting that “cinematic expression is more direct and stark in recording the world’s changes.” Her practice, situated between photography, experimental film, and installation, responds to a need to explore the limits of visual language and to find new forms of representation. “I work in that in-between space where the image is not yet finalized, where it can continue to transform,” she explained, generating particular interest among the young artists present.
One of the most valued aspects of the day was precisely this exchange with students and faculty, who had the opportunity to present their own works in dialogue with those of the artist. Based on Yu Depeng’s conceptual framework, the Fine Arts students developed a photographic exhibition that explores the relationship between landscape, memory, and identity, demonstrating how an artistic language can be activated and reinterpreted within an academic context. “It’s very interesting to see how others interpret your work from their own experience,” commented the artist, highlighting the importance of these exchange processes.
The exhibition, curated by Susana Sanz Giménez, places Yu Depeng’s work at the heart of contemporary debates on image, interculturality, and new audiovisual languages. Its presence in Palma has been, in the artist’s own words, “an opportunity to share, listen, and forge new connections.”
With this initiative, ADEMA reinforces its commitment to an educational model that links artistic training with real-world practice, integrating exhibition, research, and learning into a single process. The Barceló Foundation thus becomes a space where artwork, thought, and education coexist, consolidating Palma as a meeting point for contemporary art. As Yu Depeng himself summarized at the end of the event, “art is not only what is shown, but what happens between people when they share it.”