The Land Archive is delighted to support this project which fulfills so many of the aims of our Arts programme: the pioneering of uniquely imaginative ideas, the involvement of artists working with a local context, intelligent engagement between artists and and our archives - and all in a project that encapsulates profound political concerns, especially with regard to our relationships with our precarious environment. - Director, The Land Archive

"The research was into a form of history that I was never permitted access to. I felt a lack of connection, a lack of history, a lack of context, a great void.

The Land Archive has a collection of beautiful images. They allow for contemplation of this void. I like particularly those images that can mean a lot of things. Images that are refused a context, images that are of another time and space at any time. These images have ‘mileage’. They seem to outrun their supposed lifespan and currency.

I have selected some images from the archive which to me are loaded with meaning and at the same time seemed to be removed from any context. The images allow me to have a space to contemplate if an archive of the land is really necessary."

Zhao Renhui. Extract from Artists, Archives and Art, Akadamie, May 2010.

Monument Of Neglect, Ding Li