Future Exhibitions
Kurt Tong: In Case it Rains in Heaven
13 November - 12 December 2010
Traditionally, many Chinese people believe that when a person dies they leave with no earthly possessions. To provide for them in the afterlife, relatives burn paper versions of personal objects including money, cars and even ipods.
Kurt Tong's rich, highly-coloured photographs document the recent development of this tradition. They reflect a continued belief in life after death in China, and the influence of an increasingly westernized society. The photographs are seen alongside Compton Verney's historic Chinese bronzes - themselves once used for ceremonial offerings to the dead.