Unidentified Acts of Design is an exhibition and series of eight films made for the 2015 Shenzhen UrbanismArchitecture Biennale. The films explore different places in the Pearl River Delta where design is taking on new forms and meaning, with a focus on the people at the forefront of these changes.
In the early 1990s a group of painters moved to Dafen Village, a small enclave on the outskirts of Shenzhen, to set up business making reproduction paintings. The village and its environs has now attracted 10,000 painters from all around China looking to try their hand at commercial painting. For many, Dafen has been an opportunity to earn a living while perfecting a craft. To facilitate the production of hundreds of thousands of paintings each year, the area has evolved into a complex production unit, with various people undertaking different functions, from frame assembly to internet sales.