Shangri-La (2005)

Patty Chang examines the idea of Shangri-La, the mythical hamlet of James Hilton’s 1933 novel Lost Horizon, which has come to represent a romanticized, exotic paradise in the English-speaking world. Chang’s video installation documents and explores her journey to an imaginary place—and to a town recently named Shangri-La by the Chinese government to exploit its touristic potential.