Designed and curated Space Pioneers: Factory City Youth, an exhibition showcasing contemporary work by young artists responding to abandoned factories in Northeast China. These industrial spaces, central to local livelihoods from the 1960s to the 1990s, carry layers of memory, social history, and personal narrative.

The resulting exhibition offered a deeply immersive journey, in which the stories embedded in both the artworks and the abandoned spaces unfolded organically. Audiences were guided to engage with the emotional and social context of the factories, uncovering connections between past and present, place and memory.

The exhibition received acclaim from international visitors, including Norwegian director Lorentzen, who remarked, “I witnessed sincere people and meaningful stories unfold,” highlighting the authenticity and impact of the curatorial approach.

Space Pioneers: Factory City Youth demonstrates our ability to merge spatial design, narrative, and curation, creating exhibitions where environment, art, and audience interact to produce meaningful, resonant experiences.

Artists: Qing, Chen Liangliang, Cui Yukun, Dai Mofan, Fan Mingqian, Vivienne Pengm, Scheherazade, Wang Zijia, Xu Wei

Curator: Junyu Wen, Kerribin (Diagonal)

Exhibition Design: Junyu Wen

Date: 12.07.2024 -11.08.2024

Orgnisation: White Factory, Shenyang, China

Photo copyright: Shushuo Studio

©述说空间

The studio approached the exhibition as a dialogue between space and artwork, allowing the physical environment of the factories to inform and stage the curation. The placement, lighting, and spatial rhythm were carefully orchestrated to highlight the resonance between the artists’ work and the industrial architecture, creating an experience where visitors could sense the weight of history while encountering contemporary perspectives.