Artist talk with Ni Haifeng, Zhao Chuan und Wen Hui

Artists from different generations talk about their experiences and artistic careers since the 1980s and the question of how individual positions were and can be negotiated in a phase of profound social transformation.

Moderated by Su Wei and Anna-Lisa Scherfose. This event is part of the public program for the exhibition “The China Moment. Contextualizing Individualism in Chinese Contemporary Art.”

Date: Saturday, January 24, 2026
Time: 6 pm
Venue: Kasseler Kunstverein, Friedrichsplatz 18, 34117 Kassel

Since the 1980s, China has undergone a seismic shift in the relationship between the state and the private individual. The retreat of state authority and the simultaneous rise of private agency have triggered a rapid transformation in wealth distribution, demographic management, and cultural mechanisms. Within this landscape, the “individual” has been imbued with new cultural significance—a concept that has remained fluid and fraught with political tension over the past forty years.Situated within this profound transformation, Chinese artistic practitioners have used their creative work to navigate these socio-political shifts while engaging in a continuous process of self-definition through intellectual reflection. In this conversation, artists Ni Haifeng, Zhao Chuan, and Wen Hui, whose work spans the 1980s to the 2000s, share their life experiences and critical perspectives on this unfolding history.

Bildcredits: Hiroshi Ohashi, Wang Molin, Tong Sze Hong, Zhao Chuan, Lu Xun 2008, 2008
Photo: Tang Ting