After serving in the gallery sector for four years following graduation from the Architectural Association and The Courtauld Institute of Art, Evonne Jiawei Yuan has worked as an independent curator since recent years, developing a self-mediated modus operandi while engaging with a diverse range of art and cultural communities in Mainland China. Her unique approach forms a situational triad consisting of: the problematique arising from her interdisciplinary training; common practices with an intimate group of peer artists; and an inter-institutional collaboration contributing to the reconfiguration of various narrative trajectories regarding contemporary art in-and-of the country.

Yuan’s research interests have long focused on the architectural media in-and-of contemporary art, (post)modern spatial concepts, border aesthetics and its geopolitics. This focus facilitates an ongoing series of curations that shed light on the schemes of reproduction embedded in the socialist legacy of the country and its alienated forms today.

Throughout this process, as she examines the decision-making of fellow artists, she articulates the nexus between global China and Chinese/Asian diaspora as a (pre-)conditional curatoriality. This comparative perspective has led her to trace certain artists active in the current Sinophone/Chinese art scene, defined not only by identity politics but also influenced by a local awareness of the new era. This discourse on selfhood and subjectivity is evident in the group exhibitions she curates for several public institutions including National Art Museum of China.

Moreover, she has sought to provide alternative solutions to private art museums and models of independent spaces in the country. By collaborating with Longlati Foundation, TANK Shanghai, ASE Foundation, the Soil Collection, Eclosion Collection+Projects, etc., she has addressed their specific positions and agendas while integrating her own critical inquiries. As the founder of totalab, a Shanghai-based curatorial office, she has also initiated different dialogues to foster more distinctive practices among artists, curators, and collectors from greater China.