Who's in town?
Xiao Liu
After the Wave Comes the Weather: Notes from the Ground of China
Salt Beyoğlu
January 28, 2026 19.00
![1 30 <i>Vitality of Life VI</i> [Yaşamın Canlılığı VI] enstalasyonundan görünüm, China Academy of Art, Hangzhou (Çin), 2023](/directus/media/thumbnails/1-30-jpg-780-5000-false.jpg)
Installation view from Vitality of Life VI, China Academy of Art in Hangzhou (China), 2023
Walk-in Cinema
In this Who’s in Town? talk, curator Xiao Liu will discuss the ‘85 New Wave as a pivotal moment in the development of contemporary art in China, examining its historical significance and the ways it has shaped artistic practice, institutional structures, and transnational engagement over the past four decades. Drawing on her observations and experience, she will address the different forms emerging from artistic practices rooted in local contexts, rather than those selected solely by the art market.
The ‘85 New Wave played a crucial role in shaping artistic thought, practice, institutional structures, and China’s engagement with the international art world. Artists’ innovations in concept and medium, the emergence of public exhibitions and self-organized initiatives, and challenges to official discourse have often been framed as a decisive “breakthrough” in narratives of contemporary art in China.
Over the past four decades, however, the international visibility of Chinese contemporary art has frequently been shaped through the lens of the “Chinese political spectacle” in major global exhibitions—an external perspective imposed by the gaze of the other. Yet its relationship with the world has also involved an ongoing process of revisiting, reimagining, and reshaping its own history and identity. Today, practices grounded in everyday life challenge the myths of artistic creation developed over the past decades with unprecedented richness and imagination.
The talk will be held in English and is open to everyone.
Xiao Liu is a curator and Head of the Department of Art Administration at the China Academy of Art, and a consultant for collaborations between the Shanghai West Bund Art Museum and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She was the lead curator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale, Social Factory; the 2nd Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, I Weave, Therefore I Am; and People’s Journey. Her teaching project, Vitality of Life, integrates pedagogy and practice in arts management, art education, and curation, aiming to guide students in rethinking how artists engage personal emotions and intentions in relation to historical experience and social context.
In this Who’s in Town? talk, curator Xiao Liu will discuss the ‘85 New Wave as a pivotal moment in the development of contemporary art in China, examining its historical significance and the ways it has shaped artistic practice, institutional structures, and transnational engagement over the past four decades. Drawing on her observations and experience, she will address the different forms emerging from artistic practices rooted in local contexts, rather than those selected solely by the art market.
The ‘85 New Wave played a crucial role in shaping artistic thought, practice, institutional structures, and China’s engagement with the international art world. Artists’ innovations in concept and medium, the emergence of public exhibitions and self-organized initiatives, and challenges to official discourse have often been framed as a decisive “breakthrough” in narratives of contemporary art in China.
Over the past four decades, however, the international visibility of Chinese contemporary art has frequently been shaped through the lens of the “Chinese political spectacle” in major global exhibitions—an external perspective imposed by the gaze of the other. Yet its relationship with the world has also involved an ongoing process of revisiting, reimagining, and reshaping its own history and identity. Today, practices grounded in everyday life challenge the myths of artistic creation developed over the past decades with unprecedented richness and imagination.
The talk will be held in English and is open to everyone.
Xiao Liu is a curator and Head of the Department of Art Administration at the China Academy of Art, and a consultant for collaborations between the Shanghai West Bund Art Museum and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. She was the lead curator of the 10th Shanghai Biennale, Social Factory; the 2nd Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, I Weave, Therefore I Am; and People’s Journey. Her teaching project, Vitality of Life, integrates pedagogy and practice in arts management, art education, and curation, aiming to guide students in rethinking how artists engage personal emotions and intentions in relation to historical experience and social context.
