Jingning Qi

About

Jingning is a writer, arts administrator, curator.

It is difficult for me to systematically summarise my concerns in one word. But sometimes it can be described as “Minorities” and “Cultural Hegemony”, because they are often scattered, but at the same time they have the same characteristics. I am accustomed to discovering those “invisible” hidden things, such as the narrow “anthropocentrism” that seems to take the initiative in the relationship between human beings and nature; the subtle domestication of gender by the mainstream of the society; the invisible objects that are always in the storage of museums; art groups in heterogeneous cultural contexts; and alternative spaces of locality that have been invisible in the history of contemporary art in China. ……

But sometimes in my observation of life, I suddenly realise that most of these “mainstream” views that shape people come from society’s expectations of us. And society’s views are based on the “experiences” that people have accumulated through years of political influence.

This year’s work – ‘Breaking Boundaries:Alternative Expressions in China’s Contemporary
Art Spaces’ explores “Minority” alternative art spaces, focusing on diverse venues across regions and cultural landscapes, including London, Hangzhou, and Beijing. Through an analysis of their backgrounds and operational strategies, it extracts both universal and unique insights into the management of alternative art spaces. These findings serve as valuable references, guiding the development of future venues in this field.