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# Project Description What the Skirt Remembers：ꆉꇖꌠ Siqi Chen Summary Final work I am a storyteller from the Yi-Tibetan corridor, where mountains carry stories and silence speaks. Rooted in ethnic minority heritage, I create visual spaces where womanhood and ancestral memory softly collide. Working between London and China, I move between digital、film and hand-enlarge prints to let images breathe. Some images are made to impress.Mine are made to stay. I am a storyteller from the Yi-Tibetan corridor, where mountains carry stories and silence speaks... College London College of Fashion Course BA (Hons) Fashion Photography Graduation year 2025 This project explores Yi ethnic identity through an internal lens. As a Yi woman returning from diaspora, I reconnected with my cultural roots in Liangshan by blending image-making with ritual, memory, and lived experience. Fieldwork across Butuo (incl. Gokedde), Puge, Zhaojue, and Mianning involved interviews, participatory observation, and collaborative shoots. Instead of observing from the outside, I embraced an internal gaze — grounded in trust, intimacy, and co-creation. The outcomes include a short film tracing rites of Yi womanhood, a subversive love story, and the symbolic journey of becoming the “Daughter of the Moon.” Recurring motifs — fire, animals, celestial signs — carry a layered visual language. Beyond ethnographic record, this is a process of cultural return and visual ritual-making, where image becomes both archive and emotional bridge. Final work Daughter of the Moon Set in the highlands of Liangshan, this short film traces the life cycle of a Yi woman — from childhood by the hearth to the quiet strength of motherhood. Told through four interconnected storylines, it reimagines ancestral rituals and personal memory through an internal gaze rooted in trust and co-creation. From the coming-of-age “Changing Child Skirt” to the rebellious love of “Mabu Feikui” , each chapter explores Yi womanhood through layered visual motifs — fire, celestial symbols, ceremonial clothing. “Daughter of the Moon” merges myth with memory, as a mother plays the moon lute beneath snow-covered skies, embodying timeless devotion. Interwoven throughout are fragments of Yi mythology, animist beliefs, music, and landscape — forming a visual tapestry of lived culture and imagined return. This film is not just a narrative, but a ritual act — a portrait of a people, a woman, and an aesthetic that resists erasure through presence, rhythm, and remembering. Research and process Share this project This project explores Yi ethnic identity through an internal lens. As a Yi woman returning from diaspora, I reconnected with my cultural roots in Liangshan by blending image-making with ritual, memory, and lived experience. Fieldwork across Butuo (incl. Gokedde), Puge, Zhaojue... A link to this page has been added to your clipboard Browse related work Community Identity Story & Myth Race Language Gender
# Links ## Official page - https://ualshowcase.arts.ac.uk/project/669609/cover ## External - https://www.instagram.com/evenseven.47 - tel:07759756601 - mailto:1025426177@qq.com - https://portfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/18221910/Yi.pdf - https://portfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/18223006/Siqi-Chen-PPP-research-journal-.pdf - https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F669609%2Fcover&text=What+the+Skirt+Remembers%EF%BC%9A%EA%86%89%EA%87%96%EA%8C%A0 - https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fualshowcase.arts.ac.uk%2Fproject%2F669609%2Fcover&media=https%3A%2F%2Fportfolio-tools.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F06%2F18214930%2F000008-2.png&description=What+the+Skirt+Remembers%EF%BC%9A%EA%86%89%EA%87%96%EA%8C%A0