Drawing inspiration from A Day in the Zoo, a reproduction of a Victorian pop-up book published between 1890 and 1900,
A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields is a human-scaled pop-up book that invites you to engage in a power play between the observed and the one being observed. It highlights the Red Yao women of Huangluo Village in Guangxi Province, China.

Huangluo is located approximately one kilometer south of Longji, known for its “Dragon’s Backbone” terraced rice fields.
The Red Yao women cut their hair only once in their lives, when they reach marriageable age, as part of a coming-of-age ceremony.
Once the hair is cut, it is added as an extension to their natural hair, which can grow up to seven feet long. Since grooms are meant to be
the first to see their future wives’ uncovered hair, unmarried women wrap their heads in black cloth. Women’s hair embodies their spirits,
and long hair brings longevity, wealth, and good fortune.

I visited the Longji rice terraces in 2014. For a small fee, women will take down their hair and pose for photos. While tourism helps support the village, it has also led to compromises in their cultural traditions. Across China, I have observed minority groups on display, such as at the Minority Park in Yunnan Province, where young men and women from various villages live on public view.

A Day in the Zoo references human zoos, or so-called ethnological expositions of the 19th and 20th centuries from the Paris Colonial Exposition, St. Louis World’s Fair, The Igorot Village, Bronx Zoo, and the Brussels World’s Fair. A Day in the Terraced Rice Fields, measuring about 700% the size of the original A Day in the Zoo book (9x12 inches), brings attention to complicated concepts of tourism, cultural preservation and heritage, and the economic impact of globalization on rural communities.

OPENS APRIL 1, 2025
Berman Museum of Art