Qiu, Zhijie (丘志杰)

Qiu Zhijie is a conceptual photographer, also known for his work in video, installation, performance, and calligraphy. He was born in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China and graduated from the Printmaking Department at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in Hangzhou in 1992. His studies there focused on a series of "antiestablishment" activities in which he and friends sought to eliminate personal references in their artwork. He participated in several seminal touring exhibitions in the 1990s that introduced many Chinese artists to the West including New Art from China: Post-1989 (Hong Kong Art Center, 1993) and Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Transition Century (Smart Museum of Art, 1999). Qiu Zhijie continues to exhibit internationally and works in Beijing and Hangzhou, China, where he is an associate professor of art and co-director of the Visual Culture Center at the China Art Academy. In addition to his art practice, Qiu Zhijie has curated exhibitions and frequently writes on contemporary Chinese art.