Our Network

This network is composed by representatives from six international institutions. Each institution has hosted a project event or participated in the research within this forum, to facilitate interviews, debates and discussions.

Key members 

Josuha Jiang Everyday Legend Project
Jiang Jiehong, Birmingham City University

Professor Jiang Jiehong is Head of Research at School of Art, Director of the Centre for Chinese Visual Arts, Birmingham City University, and he is also Principal Editor of the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art (Intellect). Jiang has extensive research and curatorial experience in contemporary art and visual culture. He curated the Guangzhou Triennial: The Unseen (with Jonathan Watkins, 2012), the Asia Triennial Manchester: Harmonious Society (2014), The Shadow Never Lies (with Mark Nash, Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, 2016), The Distant Unknown: Contemporary Art from Britain (OCAT Shanghai, 2016) and, currently, the First Thailand Biennale: Edge of the Wonderland (Krabi, 2018–19).


Nan Nan
Nan Nan, New Century Art Foundation

Nan Nan is the Executive Director of the New Century Art Foundation (NCAF), Nan Nan tries to set up new patterns for domestic art foundations with her professional management and profound experience in working for public welfare.


Oliver Moore
Oliver Moore, University of Groningen

Oliver Moore is Professor and Chair of Chinese at the University of Groningen. He is a sinologist educated at SOAS and Cambridge who has worked at Leiden University, Kyoto University, the National Museum of Ethnology in Leiden and the British Museum in London.


Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie, Central Academy of Fine Arts

Born in Fujian Province, Qiu Zhijie now lives between Beijing and Hangzhou, dividing his time between his artistic production, curatorial projects and academic roles as Professor and Dean of the School of Experimental Art (CAFA) and as Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou. In 1993, Qiu was the youngest artist featured in the seminal exhibition China’s New Art Post-1989, the first major collection of Chinese experimental art displayed outside of the country. Since then his work has been extensively exhibited within and outside China. He was the Lead Curator for the China Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017.


Michael H
Michael Hitchcock, Goldsmiths University of London

Michael Hitchcock is Professor in Cultural Policy and Tourism at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he works for the Institute for Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship. He has written and edited 14 books and is the author of over 50 refereed journal papers, as well as many other published outputs. He took his doctorate at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, in 1983, based on field research and collecting in eastern Indonesia. He worked as a curator for Liverpool Museum and the Horniman Museum, before going into higher education in the UK. He later worked as a Dean and Senior Executive in Switzerland and Macau before joining Goldsmiths in 2014.


Luise G
Luise Guest, White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection

Sydney-based writer and researcher Luise Guest is Manager of Research for the White Rabbit Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art in Sydney. The White Rabbit Collection is currently the largest ongoing collection of contemporary Chinese art internationally. With a background in art education and art criticism, Guest has had her writing published in a range of online and print journals, including Randian, The Art Life, Daily Serving, The Culture Trip, Artist Profile and the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art. Her book Half the Sky: Conversations with Women Artists in China was published by Piper Press (Sydney) in 2016. Guest is currently undertaking her PhD research through the University of New South Wales, with a study of four Chinese contemporary female artists who adapt the conventions of ink painting and calligraphy.

Project team and participants
  • Ann-Sophie Lehmann, Professor of Modern and Contemporary Art, University of Groningen
  • Chan Hiu Man, Everyday Legend project facilitator
  • Chi Honglu, wood pagoda model maker
  • Duan Gaifang, craft artist, art historian
  • Fan Suping, tapestry artist
  • Ge Yuansheng, glazing artist and inheritor
  • Geng Baoguo, traditional artist and collector
  • Hui Dongcun, traditional ink plate maker
  • Liu Chnagyuan, ceramic artist
  • Liu Jia, Director of Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum
  • Liu Jianhua, Chinese contemporary artist
  • Lu Mingjun, Associate Professor of Art History, College of Art, Sichuan University
  • Lv Hui, paper cutting artist
  • Lv Shengzhong, Professor of Experimental Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts
  • Ou Guanghong, ceramic artist and photographer
  • Ouyang Ningming, sculpture artist
  • Shen Ruijun, Lead Curator, New Century Art Foundation
  • Shi Honglei, Professor in Fine Art, Taiyuan University of Science and Technology
  • Sui Jianguo, Professor of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts
  • Svetlana Kharchenkova, Lecturer in Chinese Studies at Leiden University
  • Wang Xiaoming, Anita, former visiting scholar at the Centre of Chinese Visual Arts, Birmingham City University
  • Wang Jianjiang, silk tapestry artisan in Suzhou
  • Wang Yongmeng, researcher at the Centra Academy of Fine Arts
  • Wang Naiyi, Everyday Legend exhibition catalogue designer
  • Wen Tao, paper cutting artist
  • Wu Baisuo, woodblock print artist and collector
  • Xue Shengjin, traditional artist and collector
  • Yi Bao, Associate Professor in Craft and Fine Art, Shanxi University
  • Zhang Haiping, flower clay craft artist
Special thanks goes to...
  • Yvette Burn, Finance Officer, Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, Birmingham City University
  • Dr Jenny Harding, Research Development Manager, Birmingham City University
  • Professor Jonathan Harris, Head of School of Art, Birmingham City University
  • Professor Tim Wall, Associate Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media, Birmingham City University