Origins of Artist Residencies in China: Another Pathway to Contemporary Chinese Art explores how artist residencies helped shape contemporary Chinese art. Curated by Hu Chao and Brian Wallace, the exhibition takes place at Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, from 11 October to 1 November 2026. Through artworks and historical material, it traces three stages: Transplantation, Grafting and Mycelium. These follow organised exchanges from the early 1990s, the development of locally rooted programmes from 2001, and the growth of a wider residency network. The exhibition asks how living and making work in unfamiliar places changed artists’ knowledge, methods and relationships—and why these experiences deserve a place in art history. The opening takes place on Sunday, 11 October, from 3 to 5 pm.

Origins of Artist Residencies in China: Another Pathway to Contemporary Chinese Art examines artist residency as one of the practices through which contemporary Chinese art took shape. Curated by art historian and curator Hu Chao and Red Gate Gallery founder Brian Wallace, the exhibition runs at Red Gate Gallery, Beijing, from 11 October to 1 November 2026.

The Chinese title, “Borrowing the Shell,” connects two meanings: entering an existing structure and drawing on its resources, and the biological processes of inhabitation, adaptation and growth. A residency gives artists time to stay and make work in an unfamiliar environment. Through everyday life and cross-cultural encounters, they acquire embodied knowledge that changes their understanding of their position, their methods and their relationship to the world. Such experience also travels through conversations, exhibitions, discussions and teaching.

The exhibition follows three stages. Transplantation traces organised exchanges from the early 1990s, when Australia’s Asialink began sending artists to China and Red Gate Gallery helped them find accommodation, studios and connections within Beijing’s art community. These exchanges opened channels through which Chinese and international artists could encounter one another’s working environments.

Grafting focuses on the development of locally rooted programmes from 2001. Red Gate launched its own residency in Beijing, while the Chinese European Art Center began its programme in Xiamen. Their international connections took new forms through local cultures, workshops, social resources and artistic communities.

Mycelium considers the growth of a wider network from 2009 onward. Founded in 2013, China Residencies connected programmes and institutions through a bilingual platform and annual reports. Artist-led initiatives, including Shangyuan Art Museum and Zheng Xuewu’s Hudson Art Center, also developed in response to artists’ needs.

Bringing artworks together with artists’ recollections and institutional histories, the exhibition asks why these experiences have received limited attention in accounts of contemporary Chinese art. It proposes a history attentive to the practical support that made movement possible, and to the knowledge artists gained by staying somewhere else. The opening takes place on Sunday, 11 October 2026, from 3 to 5 pm.

《借壳：驻留计划溯源与中国当代艺术进程》由胡超、布朗·华莱士策展，2026年10月11日至11月1日在北京红门画廊举行。展览以“移植、嫁接、菌丝网络”为线索，结合艺术作品与历史资料，考察艺术家驻留如何通过异地生活、创作与交流，参与中国当代艺术的形成。

《借壳：驻留计划溯源与中国当代艺术进程》由艺术史学者、策展人胡超与红门画廊创办人布朗·华莱士共同策展，2026年10月11日至11月1日在北京红门画廊举行。展览将艺术作品与历史资料联系起来，追问艺术家驻留如何参与中国当代艺术的形成。

“借壳”既关联进入既有结构、借助其资源的过程，也让人想到寄居、适应与生长。艺术家在异地住下来、做作品，在日常生活和跨文化交流中获得具身知识，重新理解自己的位置、创作方法与世界。这些经验通过同行交流、展览、讨论和讲学继续流动。

展览分为三个部分。“移植”追溯1990年代澳大利亚Asialink与红门画廊协助开展的有组织交流；“嫁接”关注2001年起北京红门驻留和厦门中国欧洲艺术中心如何在地方文化、工作室与社会资源中发展；“菌丝网络”讨论2009年以来驻留生态的扩展，包括2013年成立的China Residencies平台、上苑艺术馆和郑学武创办的哈德逊艺术中心。

作品、艺术家回忆与机构历史共同呈现这条跨境交流线索。展览邀请观众从移动与停留的切身经验出发，重新理解中国当代艺术与世界的联系。