The Gaze of Eve

The Gaze of Eve is a poetic documentary that stems from a simple and radical question: why do we dress up?

In the Western cultural narrative, the answer often coincides with Eve, the forbidden fruit and shame. But nudity, for centuries, has continued to exert a powerful attraction: paintings and sculptures show not only the body, but also ideals, tensions, contradictions and power dynamics.

The project, signed by Wenjie Yu, Sofiya Arpaci, Xiang Ding, Zoulong Liu(RUFA students), explores what it means today to beboth observed and watched. The director, used to being watched, brings the opposite experience to the center: the discomfort of being watched. And she makes a decisive step: she enters the frame and becomes a nude model herself, opening a path of confrontation with vulnerability, identity and autonomy.

The film follows two intertwined lines:

– a personal journey, from awkward beginnings in life drawing studios to moments of exposure, discomfort and empowerment;

– a visual reflection on nudity, art, shame and visibility, constructed through observational footage, poetic narration, scenic metaphors and painting sessions.

As a woman from East Asia, the author blends references from Eastern and Western art history to reimagine Eve, redefining the meaning of forbidden fruit, nudity and the gaze: a territory in which the body is no longer just an object, but a choice, a presence, an autonomy.

The project, along with all the finalist works from the “Normal is Extraordinary” international contest , will be on display at the MAXXI Corner from Dec. 5 to 8 (free admission).