Tracing Mediation and Erasure with Artist He Zike

On Thursday May 7th, artist He Zike will join curators Dr. Pi Li, Ying Kwok, and Amy Yuanchen Qian for a screening and presentations. The evening will begin with He’s 2023 film Random Access which was recently shared in Li and Kwok’s 2025 group exhibition at Tai Kwun, Hong Kong and is currently on view at the Hessel Museum of Art in the exhibition curated by Qian. 

Following the screening, Li and Kwok will share a virtual presentation on their exhibition, highlighting the shared themes within their show and He’s practice. To conclude, He and Qian will join for an in-person conversation to discuss ideas of memory, the accelerating development of infrastructure and technology, and the artists’ field research in Southwest China.

We made it up to remember …  is on view at The Hessel Museum of Art from April 4 – May 24, 2026. For more information and viewing hours, please visit www.ccs.bard.edu.

Bios:

HE Zike (b.1990, Guiyang, China) is an artist who works with mediums including video, writing, performance, prints, and computer programs. By incorporating personal memories into her research and fieldwork, HE Zike’s practice illuminates the interplay between time, mundane lives and the technological environment. She weaves the disorder beneath the surface of contemporary life through a narrative approach.

She was a finalist for the 5th VH Award of Hyundai Motor Group, and was selected in the residency program of Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council in 2023. From 2021, She has co-initiated the interdisciplinary project “Under the Cloud” which visits and studies the technological infrastructure in Southwest China. Her works have been exhibited in Whispers on the Horizon, Taipei Biennale (2025), Cosmos Cinema, Shanghai Biennale (2023), Dream Screen at Leeum Museum of Art (Seoul, 2024), and Stay Connected: Navigating the Cloud at Taikwun (Hong Kong, 2025) among others.

Dr. Pi Li is a curator, art critic, and educator, currently serving as the Director of Róng Museum of Art in Shenzhen, which is planned to open in 2027. He has held multiple prominent roles in the art world, including Head of Art at Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong (2023–2026), Sigg Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial Affairs at M+, Hong Kong (2012–2023) and Lecturer at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) (2001–2012),\.

His recent curatorial projects include Stay Connected: Navigating the Cloud and Supply the Globe (Tai Kwun, 2025, co-curated with Ying Kwok), Madame Song: A Pioneer of Art and Fashion (M+, 2023), and From Revolution to Globalisation: Four Decades of Chinese Art in the M+ Sigg Collection (M+, 2021).

Pi Li is also an accomplished author, with publications such as From Action to Concept (2015), Farewell to Moralism (2018), M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Art (2021) and Madame Song: A Life in Art and Fashion (2023).

Ying Kwok is Senior Curator at Tai Kwun Contemporary, having previously worked as an independent curator (2013–2021). She has collaborated with diverse art and cultural institutions locally and internationally, synthesising different art forms from site-specific commissions and performance to film and video.

Her past roles include Guest Curator for the 5th Audemars Piguet Art Commission, Festival Director of Peer to Peer: UK/HK 2020, Lead Curator of LOOK International Photography Festival 2017, and Curator at M+ for Samson Young’s Hong Kong presentation at the 57th Venice Biennale. Previously, she was Curator at the Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art in Manchester (2006–2012).

Kwok co-founded Art Appraisal Club (2014–2020) to foster critical thinking and art discourse in Hong Kong, publishing reviews across cultural platforms and the bilingual journal Art Review Hong Kong. She received the Asia Cultural Council Fellowship (2014) and was an International Fellow of the Clore Leadership Programme (2018/19).

Amy Yuanchen Qian is a curator, writer, and close collaborator with artists, based in New York and China. She is currently pursuing an MA at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College. Her research interests lie in memory and urban transformation, and she is passionate about making contemporary art more accessible to a wider public. Amy has assisted with curatorial projects at MoMA PS1 and NYUAD Art Gallery, among others, and previously worked as an editor at Global Art Daily, an independent art magazine founded in Abu Dhabi. Her recently curated exhibitions include We made it up to remember… (Hessel Museum of Art, 2026) and Growth Postures (Tutu Gallery, 2026). Amy holds a BA in Art & Art History from New York University Abu Dhabi.

Light refreshments will be provided.

Photo credit: Film Still from He Zike’s “Random Access,” 2023. Courtesy of the Artist and Blindspot Gallery.

The event is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, Ruth Foundation for the Arts, and other foundations and individuals.

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