Fading and Vanishing Ferries   

消失的码头, 2019


In mid-March 2019, Wuhan introduced the "Overall Plan for Optimizing the Waterfront Resources of the Core Areas along the Yangtze River and Hanjiang River in Wuhan." This initiative involved 35 docks in Wuhan: 24 were slated for demolition, 6 for consolidation and integration, 4 for preservation, and 1 for relocation. The final service for the transit station was set for March 27, 2019, after which it would be dismantled and repurposed, marking the permanent disappearance of this space from the Yangtze River.

Photo by Yi Zhou, Wuhan, 2019

Nowadays, the docks on the river surface have been mostly cleared. With the arrival of the high water period of the Yangtze River, the entire river surface appears unusually expansive. Apart from some reeds growing along the banks of the Yangtze that have not been completely submerged, there are also some pillars and partial debris left after the dismantling of some docks. The dismantling work around the docks is proceeding in an orderly manner; its main body has not yet been dismantled, and its gates are tightly closed, making it inaccessible.

Last year, in my artwork Transit Station, I likened this place to a waterborne prison—a forgotten corner gradually left behind in the rapid development of the city. Yet now, even the 'prison' is vanishing, and the people within it have no idea where they are destined to go.

Photo by Yi Zhou, Wuhan, 2019