The young French artist Prune Nourry presents her latest project, Terracotta Daughers in Shanghai. In this project, which follows her work Holy Daughters, realized in India, Prune Nourry focuses on the issue of the gender preference in China. Why the choice of parents directs to the son rather than the daughter? What are the consequences of this gender imbalance in a country with over one billion people?Prune Nourry chooses to draw attention to this subject by recreating in every detail the famous terracotta army of Emperor Qin. However, Prune Nourry’s army is not composed of adult men, but children, girls aged about 12 years old. The artist was introduced to the Chinese Traditional techniques of molding clay by artisans from Xi'an, near the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin, where the army of terracotta soldiers was discovered. She realized with these artisans eight life-size Terracotta Daughters inspired by eight Chinese orphan girls. These sulptures then served as models to create 108 characters in terracotta. The combination of molds for different body parts allowed craftsmen to produce 108 unique figures. This "army" of Terracotta daughters is presented as were the terracotta warriors of Emperor Qin, in two tight rows of eight meters wide over sixteen feet long, ressembing a contemporary archaeological site.

Image: © Prune Nourry, Gallery Magda Danysz