Trees: The Great Connectors
树：万物互联

Trees: The Great Connectors 树：万物互联

“前人栽树后乘凉”

There is an old saying in China about trees: older people plant trees to provide shade for the young. This inter-generational way of thinking is an ecological way of viewing our world, to zoom in and out to see how everything is inter-connected. These two artists, one born and raised in Beijing and the other in Ireland, use unexpected creative processes to explore our relationship with the greater community of life and how we might turn towards regenerative ways of living with a common value, in homage to Mother Nature.

Niamh Cunningham Bio:

Cunningham recently returned from Chengdu A4 artist residency where she has been gathering short tree stories on video for her award-winning socio-ecological art practice the ‘Memory Palace of Tree Stories’. Exhibited in Europe, Asia, America, the Middle East and Australia, her TEDx talk (Rekindling our Bond with Nature) was also published last month and this November she begins an artist residency with the International School of Beijing weaving creative processes and eco-literacy with young learners. Her ‘Sucrose’ series uses crystalisation processes in mixed media to shift and alter natural landscapes. She has also worked with microbiologists on a pilot Microbe Art project with the Institute of Process Engineering, Beijing.

Zhang Zhaohui Bio:

Zhang Zhaohui was born in Beijing in 1965, and currently lives in Beijing and New York. Zhang graduated from Nankai University in Tianjin in 1988, the China Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1992 (MA), and Bard College in New York in 1998 (MA). He was assistant curator at the National Museum of Art in China from 1988 to 1995. In 1996 he received a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council to study curatorial programs. As a curator turned artist, Zhang’s decade–long ink art exploration is informed by rich Chinese art traditions which inspired his transcultural experience and his innate love of nature. His works and projects have been focused on the relationship between art and nature. Over the last two decades his ink brush works have been included in over one hundred shows world-wide and some works have been collected by prestigious art institutions including the Chicago Art Institute, Denver Art Museum, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum and Inside Out Museum.

树：万物互联

Trees: The Great Connectors

中国有句关于树的古语：“前人栽树，后人乘凉”……这种跨越代际持续千年的思考以生态学的方式看待我们的世界，将目光放长远，看一切如何相互关联。两位艺术家，一位在北京、另一位在爱尔兰出生长大，各自运用出人意料的艺术语言，探索我们与更深远更辽阔的生命共同体之间的关系，以及如何在共同价值观下转向符合自然发展规律的生活方式，并向大自然致敬。

倪芙瑞莲（Niamh Cunningham）简介:

倪芙瑞莲最近刚从成都A4国际艺术家驻留项目返回北京，在那里她持续为获奖社会生态艺术实践“记忆宫殿树的故事”收集树的故事短视频。其作品在欧洲、亚洲、美洲、中东和澳大利亚等各地展出，她的TEDx演讲”重燃我们与自然的纽带”于上个月发布。今年11月，倪芙瑞莲将在一所学校开始新的艺术驻留项目（ISB北京顺义国际学校），与年轻的学习者一起开展包含生态素养在内的创作过程。她的作品蔗糖系列通过混合媒材上的结晶过程来改变初始的自然景观。她还与微生物学家合作，在中国科学院过程工程研究所开展了一个微生物艺术试点项目。

张朝晖简介:

张朝晖，1965年生于北京，现居北京和纽约。1988年毕业于天津南开大学，1992年毕业于北京中国艺术研究院（硕士），1998年毕业于纽约巴德学院（硕士）。1988年至1995年，他担任中国美术馆策展人。1996年，他获得了洛克菲勒基金会亚洲文化理事会的奖学金在纽约研究当代艺术策展。作为一名从策展人转型而来的艺术家，张朝晖探索水墨艺术长达数十年之久，他深受中国丰富的艺术传统启发，跨文化经历和对大自然发自内心的热爱为他提供了丰富的创作源泉。张朝晖的作品一直注重艺术与自然的关系。在过去二十多年里，其作品已在世界各地展出一百余次，其中一些作品被芝加哥艺术学院、丹佛艺术博物馆、福冈亚洲艺术博物馆和中间艺术博物馆等国际知名艺术机构收藏。