Qiu Zhijie (Zhengzhou, Fujian, 1969) lives and works between Beijing and Hangzhou. He graduated from the Department of Printmaking at the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts in 1992. Qiu is professor at the Chinese Art Academy and at the Department of Experimental Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. He is primarily known for his calligraphic works and ink paintings, photography, video, installations and performances. His art represents a new kind of experimental communication bridging the Chinese literary tradition and contemporary art, social participation and the self-liberating power of art. In 2009, he was named artist of the year in China. His works are found in the collections of many prestigious museums and institutions, including the Guggenheim Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco; the Neuer Berliner Kunstrerein and the White Rabbit Gallery in Sydney.
The site-specific installation created during Qui Zhijie’s residency in 2024-2025 for MAO originates from a long-standing project of the artist, entitled Mappamundi, for which, almost a decade ago, Qui Zhijie began to draw complex maps of relationship between his various works. From this union of research, imagination and writing came the Mapping of the World project which has been translated through the years in various forms: books, drawings, wallpapars that follow a meticulous process thatfavours the use of ink (typical of the calligraphic tradition) and the use of brushstrokes (typical of landscape painting). Ink and brushstrokes have thus united individuals, ideas, events, objects and situations deeply connected.
The installation at MAO puts together a few of the artist’s most important maps, like the Map of Mythological Animals, the Map of Gods – Gods Never Rest, the Map of Architecture and the Map of Utopia – People Claimed to Be Messiah Crowded History. The mapping process, central to Qiu Zhijie’s artistic practice, critically and visually expresses his approach to cultural research and intellectual exchange.
