Minnan Exit

Minnan Exit – Since 2015, Wen-You Cai (born 1989) has returned several times to her parents’ hometown of Quanzhou, in Fujian, to attend the funerals of family members. The ceremonies in the Minnan region are like great dramas in which she is both an observer and a participant. Throughout the ceremony, Wen-You is shrouded in the unknown; everything seems meticulously arranged. In the overwhelming grief of losing loved ones, there is a sense of confusion, and taking photographs was a way for her to engage with the funeral process. For this series of photographs, Wen-You first confronted her own fear of death, mixed with her perplexity and curiosity about the complex funeral rituals and their inherent uniqueness in Minnan culture. To demystify these issues, Wen-You interviewed a full-service funeral director, a monk who organises Buddhist ceremonies and a folklorist of Minnan rituals. Minnan Exit is at once a family album, a collection of photographs, an unfinished voyage of discovery and a chronicle of Wen-You’s reconciliation with his mortality.
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