Zhai Qiutong (b.1999) is an artist and writer based in Singapore. Her interdisciplinary practice, often in the form of installation and writing, explores deep sensing towards natural phenomena. Her work contemplates the artist’s role in shaping relationships and observations that touch on the multiplicity of temporalities of the more-than-human and the subtle affects of ecology. Through speculative approaches, she seeks to mend the diverse connections between humans and both living and non-living beings, guided by a posthumanist understanding of time. She has collaborated with communities across islands, documenting oral histories of ancestral knowledge and creating spaces that nurture conversation and interconnectedness.
EXHIBITIONS:
2024 "found library", Starch, Singapore (upcoming)
"Symbiosis Symbiontic Synthesis", Art no Show Terminal, Shodoshima, Japan
"Currents", NUS Museum prep-room, Singapore
"found library", I_S_L_A_N_D_S, Singapore
2023 (solo) “Termite Growth Season I”, Shodoshima Artist in Residence, Japan
(solo) "temporal forever", Yale-NUS College, Singapore
2022 "For the Time Being", hARTSlane Gallery, London, United Kingdom
"Composting Knowledge”, documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany
2020 "the untitled exhibition", Yale-NUS College, Singapore
RESIDENCY:
2024 Seawitch Residency, Hong Kong
2023 Shodoshima Artist in Residence, Shodoshima, Japan
2022 Ba-bau AIR, Hanoi, Vietnam
Composting Knowledge Network, lumbung: documenta fifteen, Kassel, Germany
AWARDS:
2024 Tote Board Grant, Singapore
Presentation and Participantion Grant, National Arts Council, Singapore
2023 Capability and Development Grant, NAC
2022 Summer Arts Scholarship, Yale-NUS College
2021 Summer Arts Scholarship, Yale-NUS College
EXPERIENCES:
2023 Cataloguer, Southeast Asian Art, Christie's, Singapore
2022 Contributing Writer, Art & Market, Singapore
Research assistant, "Illuminating Tanah", James Jack
2021 Contributing Writer, Object Lessons Space, Singapore
Research assistant, "Skinning Nudity: Life Modeling Practice in Singapore", Chen Yanyun
2020 Research Assistant, "Urban Issues in the Philippines", Justin Stern
2018 Artist’s Assistant/ Performer, Letters to Theo by Tang Da Wu
Artist’s Assistant/ Performer, Our Children by Tang Da Wu
EDUCATION:
2023 BA (Arts and Humanities), Yale-NUS College
2022 Fine Art (Sculpture), Slade School of Fine Art, University College London
2021 Summer Arts Programme, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)