QIU ZHIJIE

Considered an intellectual force in the contemporary Chinese art world, his artistic activities are heavily informed by historical, social and academic issues that are often contentious or possessing significant cultural import. An artistic scholar whose practice challenges traditional philosophies in direct relation to the social condition of contemporary China, Qiu Zhijie’s multifarious practice embraces a diverse range of media, from printmaking, video, photography, performance, sculpture and painting.

From the investigation of the written word in Chinese traditional culture through calligraphy and the method of learning through copying of the great masters, to the investigation of historical monuments/places (such as Tibet and Nanjing Bridge), Qiu Zhijie consistently questions the cultural foundations upon which contemporary China is understood and perceived, from both a national and international perspective. Concepts of time, cultural memory, the meaning and role of historical consciousness, the questioning of what constitutes the ‘contemporary’, all of these and more are important subjects to which Qiu uniquely investigates, often in collaboration with his students.