Background information
"'The Land of Promises' by Youqine LEFÈVRE tells the intimate and personal stories of those living by the regulations of China’s one-child policy. Between the years 1979 and 2015, China took an excessive approach towards a critical population growth. The consequences of the controversial regulations were enormous, in particular for hundreds of thousands Chinese girls who have been separated from their biological families and registered for adoption.
Belgian photographer Youqine LEFÈVRE (BE) is one of those girls and 'The Land of Promises' is a work about the discovery of her origin country and an attempt to understand what led to the abandonment and international and transracial adoptions of countless young Chinese girls. The changes in their lives resonate upon this day and will continue to do so.
Content
In her photo volume 'The Land of Promises', Youqine LEFÈVRE portrays the journey of her adoption through the story of six Belgian families who travelled to China in 1994 to adopt girls, and relates it to a broader context and other stories. It consists of color photographs the Belgian photographer took in China, archives from 1994, research based on writing of demographers and experts on the Chinese birth control policy, and the stories and testimonies told by those she met in China during her travels." (slightly adapted text, © The Eriskay Connection, 2022)