Why do certain images feel powerful, uncomfortable, seductive, or strangely familiar? Even when they’re hundreds of years old? And why, today, being seen can feel just as important as being talented, beautiful, or smart?

 

In this discussion, Cannes-nominated director Anji takes us on a guided journey through art history and modern visual culture, using one deceptively simple question: who is looking — and who is being seen? From classical paintings of Venus to religious imagery, colonial portraits, cinema, and finally Instagram, we’ll explore how the act of looking shapes power, identity, beauty, and whose story gets told. Along the way, we’ll unpack ideas like the male gaze, the religious gaze, and the digital gaze; not as academic theory, but as forces that subtly influence how we see ourselves and others every day.

 

This isn’t an art history lecture you need “background knowledge” for. It’s a smart, visual, and surprisingly personal conversation about images we think we already know — and what they’re really doing beneath the surface. You’ll leave seeing art, media, and even your own online presence a little differently — sharper, more aware, and more in control of where you’re looking, and why.

 

为什么有些画面会让人觉得有力量、不自在、带点暧昧，或者莫名熟悉？哪怕它们已经存在了几百年？又为什么在今天，被看见这件事，好像和有才华、好看、聪明一样重要？

 

在这场讨论里，入围 Cannes 提名的导演 Anji 会带大家走一趟艺术史和当代视觉文化的旅程，从一个看似简单的问题出发：是谁在看——谁又在被看？从古典画作里的 Venus，到宗教图像、殖民时期的肖像、电影，再到 Instagram，我们会一起聊聊“观看”这件事，如何影响权力、身份、审美，以及究竟是谁的故事被讲出来。过程中也会拆解一些常听到的概念，比如 male gaze、religious gaze、digital gaze，但不会当成学院派理论来讲，而是把它们放回日常生活，看看这些“凝视”是怎样悄悄塑造我们看待自己和他人的方式。

 

这不是那种需要提前补课的艺术史讲座，而是一场聪明、有画面感、也挺私人的对话。我们会聊那些我们以为早就看懂的图像，也会看看它们在表面之下到底在发生什么。听完之后，你可能会重新看待艺术、媒体，甚至是自己的线上形象——更清醒一点，也更知道自己在看什么，为什么在看。