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A4 Residency Art Center
“Turning Point” refers to both a transition in time and a site of experimentation in space.
The development and challenges of Chinese art residencies unfold precisely at this turning point. In 1978, China embarked on its reform and opening-up, ushering in an era of unprecedented freedom and innovation opportunities for contemporary Chinese art within the context of socio-economic transformation. Artists began to break free from traditional constraints, pursuing individual expression and intellectual freedom. As a new artistic ecosystem, art residencies began to take root and flourish within China’s artistic landscape.
The development of Chinese art residencies has followed a unique path, advancing in parallel in both urban and rural areas, leading to a vibrant and diverse art ecosystem. However, challenges such as insufficient funding and the sustainability of projects have long been a concern for art residencies practices. Moreover, ensuring that artistic works genuinely reflect local culture, rather than becoming mere exports of external cultural influences, remains a pressing issue for residency institutions. In the context of globalization, Chinese art residencies face challenges related to localization and methodological dilemmas. Residency institutions and projects must continue to focus on the depth of artistic expression. At the same time, they need to address the complex relationship between art, society, culture, and economy, as well as art’s impact on social progress and cultural heritage.
（*Speakers are listed in alphabetical order）
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A4 Residency Art Center
the director of A4 Residency Art Center, curator
Cai Liyuan Lives and works in Chengdu, China. From 2017 to 2019, sh
e held the post of curator and in charge of the Exhibition & Academic Department of A4 Art Museum. From 2020, as the director of A4 Residency Art Center, she mainly responsible for the international artist in residence program, Public/Community Art Festival, also charges with planning and executing contemporary art exhibition and project. Currently, she focuses on the localized transformation and intervention of art planning and practice, the relationship between public art and the development of urbanization and regionalization, Interdisciplinary networking and resource building, and the practice of the local value of community art, participatory art in urban space. She has been carrying out extensive research and studies on domestic and international residency programs, experimental art programs, and public art programs, and has made various attempts on strategies and methods of combining art programs, spatial development with different industries in the region.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Executive Director at Chronus Art Center (CAC)
Cao Jiamin works on writing, translating and curatorial practices engaged with digital media technologies that shapes the contemporary social-cultural discourse, investigating the potentials of artistic-research-oriented methodologies in the intersecting area of art and technology. She studied Media and Cultural Studies at London College of Communication, and holds a MA from Cultural, Criticism and Curation at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. She is currently the Executive Director at Chronus Art Center (CAC). Her recent curatorial projects include The Future Coding: Signals of the Sentient in Wuhan Biennial (2024), Bio-Geo-Symbio Exhibition Series (2023) and Entangled: bio/media at CAC (2022).
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A4 Residency Art Center
the Head of Learning & Participation and Head of Special Initiatives at Asia Art Archive (AAA)
Susanna Chung is the Head of Learning & Participation and Head of Special Initiatives at Asia Art Archive (AAA). Since joining AAA in 2005, she has spearheaded various projects and partnerships across Asia to foster discussions and build communities around contemporary art education. Her recent projects include Translations,
Expansions at documenta fifteen; the exhibition and programme series The Collective School; Mobile Library: Nepal; Unconditional Trust: Indonesia; and oversaw the renovation of AAA‘s library. She currently serves at Lingnan University in Hong Kong as the Advisory Board Chair of the Music and Performing Arts Unit, and as an Advisory Board member of Core Curriculum and General Education. She has served as adjudicator for multiple student art awards. Additionally, she was a Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme (2016–17) and the Asian Cultural Council (2010) to research audience development and education programmes at various art institutions across the US.
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A4 Residency Art Center
currently working at
Nanjing Sixi Museum
Hu Xinru, currently working at Nanjing Sixi Museum. Since 2014, she has been involved in the research and practice of Chinese residency programmes, independent art spaces and art construction in rural areas. She participated in the operation of the Red Gate International Artist Residency Programme and the “Kunst Gemeinsam Gestalten” China-Germany Artist Residency Exchange Programme, and was awarded the first Chinese Residency Manager’s Fellowship organised by China Residencies. She graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts and the University of Göttingen with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Art History.
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A4 Residency Art Center
academic committee member and administrator at DRC No.12 Space
Huang Jiehua is an academic committee member and administrator at DRC No.12 Space. Since joining at the end of 2023, she has organized three exhibitions and developed a screening program in collaboration with Kadist Foundation. She also serves as the director of research at UCCA Contemporary Art Center, where she has edited numerous exhibition catalogues and co-curated major exhibitions, including “Cao Fei: Staging the Era” (2021) and “Matisse by Matisse” (2023). Huang graduated from the French Literature department at Peking University and studied art history at the Ecole du Louvre. Her research focuses on the evolution of independent art spaces in East Asia from the 1980s to the present, as well as on Sino-Japanese artistic exchange before World War II, viewed through the lens of global modernism and colonial landscapes.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Artist, Writer and Coordinator of the Aranya Winter Residency Program
Jiang Ruoyu，Artist, Writer and Coordinator of the Aranya Winter Residency Program. Born in 1995 in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China; currently lives and works in Beijing. He received his bachelor's degree from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute and his master's degree from Slade School of Art, UCL.
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A4 Residency Art Center
currently working at
BY ART MATTERS
Kong Lokyi has worked at BY ART MATTERS for 8 years, responsible for public operations, including managing and advancing public education, residency, and library projects.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Co-founder and curator of Organhaus, art writer.
Born in Hunan, currently living in Chongqing. The interaction of art against the backdrop of China's rapid urbanization and globalization is a direction he has been continuously focusing on. For many years, he has been in charge of the operation and artist residency programs of OrganHaus. Since 2015, while reflecting on the social functions of art institutions, he has begun to emphasize the use of public education by art institutions as a means of intervention to develop and discuss the relationship between art and the public. At the same time, research and curation in the field of "public art and social design" from a cultural relativism perspective have also been a focus of his work in recent years.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Curator, Aspiring Van Gogh programme director
Kylie Shangguan, Curator, Aspiring Van Gogh programme director, responsible for Van Gogh House London and San Mei Gallery art and cultural exchange cooperation. Sichuan University "Art × Design × Psychology" interdisciplinary experimental art project core member. podcaster of "All is well-AVG Talk". Kylie focuses on experimental case studies, focuses on the development of contemporary young artists, and mainly practices art residency projects. Pay attention to the academic and cutting-edge nature of the exhibition, combining psychology to explore the relationship between people in contemporary society, man and nature, man and science and technology.
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A4 Residency Art Center
currently working at
BY ART MATTERS
Tang Yunyan has worked at BY ART MATTERS for 5 years, mainly responsible for the artist residency program. She has participated in and managed several projects, including "Local Charms" (2022), "Nearby Scenery" (2022, 2023), and "Treasure Hunt" (2023), among others.
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A4 Residency Art Center
curator, currently working at UCCA Lab, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art
Tang Yuzhen is a curator based in Shanghai, currently working at UCCA Lab, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art. She holds a master’s degree from the Piet Zwart Ins@tute at Willem de Kooning Academy in RoKerdam, Netherlands, where she studied media art and communica@on. Her work focuses on the collabora@ve produc@on of knowledge and the construc@on of regional culture in contemporary art. Her curatorial and research interests oMen explore the tension between digital constructs and material reality, as well as open- source culture in the context of an internet-powered world. She also organizes Ar@st-in- Residence programs that emphasize the locality of ar@s@c produc@on and the crea@on of archives. Her recent curated and co-curated projects include 2024 RanRan Art Season—— "Sparking into Sparkling", 2022-2024 RanRan Young Ar@st Incuba@on Program, 2023 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season——"Metrobiosis", 2023 CSIFS Art Project——"Everyday Wonder"+"The Pieces I am" (UCCA Edge, 2022), "Wave Wave" (chi K11 Art Museum), "Knowledge Fever" (Goethe-Ins@tut Beijing, 2020).
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A4 Residency Art Center
Xu Binghuang
Curator and writer
Xu Binghuang Curator and writer. Her research-based practice focuses on ecological and socially engaging art and education. Binghuang practices through transdisciplinary collaboration and co-runs “Making Space” in Guangzhou. In recent years, she has initiated or engaged in several art projects that put effort into the overlooked countryside, dialects, and memories. Such as the Xiang Li Lao Re (2022 - 2023), and the Heavy Metal Country Tour (2020 - 2021), the Family History Program (2019 - ongoing), etc.
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A4 Residency Art Center
General Manager of Yangshuo Sugar House
Leewa Xu, General Manager of Yangshuo Sugar House, brings extensive expertise shaped by global industry experience. After completing her Master’s in Hospitality Management at NYU, Leewa honed her skills across both China and the U.S., progressing from a front desk intern to prominent positions in renowned groups like Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) and Hyatt.
Her career spanning roles from managing a luxury wine estate to consulting as a headhunter for hotel executives. Leewa’s insight into market strategy, sales, and revenue management, along with her eagerness to explore new horizons, enhances her approach to creating meaningful guest experiences. Guided by a philosophy of subtle and impactful service—like a breeze over water. Leewa and her team weave elements of art, literature, music, and design into the fabric of the guest experience. Under her guidance, the hotel is not merely a retreat but a space for connection and inspiration, where guests leave with both memories and renewed perspectives.
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A4 Residency Art Center
You Piao
Artist and the host of Making Space
You Piao, Artist and the host of Making Space. He graduated from the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and founded Making Space in 2017. His practice focuses on art and education through a series of overlap programs.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Chen Xiaoyang
Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, the Executive Deputy Director of the Art Museum at Guangzhou Academy of Arts and a professor at the School of Sculpture and Public Art
Chen Xiaoyang, Ph.D. in Cultural Anthropology, is the Executive Deputy Director of the Art Museum at Guangzhou Academy of Arts and a professor at the School of Sculpture and Public Art. Her main research areas include visual anthropology, South China studies, socially engaged art practices, and open art history. As an interdisciplinary artist and researcher, her projects and works often focus on the histories and realities of marginalized communities. She collaborates with volunteer organizations, educational institutions, museums, and nonprofit organizations, using methods such as research, writing, and local exhibitions to continue her studies, dissemination, and cultural regeneration in the South China region.
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A4 Residency Art Center
Song Yi
curator, writer and film maker.
He was a founder of the Migrant Workers Video Collective, co-director of art space “Institute For Provocation”, founder of the program “Artist Residency in Tian Shan Mountains”.
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A4 Residency Art Center
independent curator, i
n the year 2012 he founded the nonprofit art institute Space Regeneration Projects
Li Boyan, independent curator. He graduated from Department of Traditional Chinese Painting, Tianjin Academy of Fine Art in 2006. In the year 2012 he founded the nonprofit art institute Space Regeneration Projects. He was the curator of the public exhibition unit of the Sanxingdui Drama Festival in 2017, the curator of the public space performance unit of the Shenzhen Contemporary Theatre Biennale and the Experimental Unite of The 7th Jinan International Biennial in 2018, the chief curator of Wuhan Photo Art Fair ( 2nd) in 2020 . In 2019, he was selected as the curator of the Kuandu Museum of Fine Art in Taipei. He has also been shortlisted for (PSA) Emerging Curators Project in 2015 and Hyundai Blue Prize in 2019.
#02 Time&Venue
Turning Point: The Development and Challenges of Chinese Art Residencie
Open Space – Institutions as "Curators"s
Shangguan Kylie, Xu Binghuang, You Piao, Hu Xinru, Chen Xiaoyang, Susanna Chung, Cao Jiamin, Huang Jiehua, Ni Kun
Local Nomadism – The Mission of "Locality" in Art Residencies
Xu Leewa, Jiang Ruoyu, Kong Lokyi, Tang Yunyan, Cai Liyuan, Tang Yuzhen, Song Yi
A4 Acdamic Hall, Luxelakes Eco-City Art Exhibition Center, Tianfu New Area, Chengdu, Sichuan.
2024.11.30
10:00 - 13:00
Open Space – Institutions as "Curators"
