I come from Henan Province in China. I studied art and design as an undergraduate and my research interests are mostly around public art and socially engaged practice, focusing on how contemporary art can be meaningful and authentic for different communities. Previously I worked as an intern at the Henan Museum in China after graduating and during my MA I undertook an internship at Art Work Exeter, supporting the development of Exeter’s new Public Art Strategy. I recently participated in the 2022 Exeter Translation Festival with the Speech Bubbles project, which was an opportunity to focus on the experience of living in Exeter when coming from a foreign country, and speaking in a foreign language, at a time of raised anxieties about interaction and exchange.
Now’s The Time Art Year Zero
10–19 June 2022Exeter UK
Speech Bubbles
Qianling Dong's exhibition captures people’s breath in the form of a balloon, as well as key words about the experience of living through Covid-19, gradually filling an entire shop window on Exeter High Street.
Curator & Artist
A socially engaged project in response to the contemporary context of the global pandemic, Speech Bubbles reflects on how social interaction and exchange play important roles in our feelings of belonging, whether living at home or in a foreign country.
Breathing is ‘invisible’ and so are the anxieties evoked in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and to globalization. Social interaction and breath seem to have something in common; they have both become ‘dangerous’. Working with Chinese student groups from the University to support multilingualism, as well as passers-by on Exeter High Street, each balloon encompasses the breath and the native words of the public participants.
Qianling Dong, Speech Bubbles, 2022 (presented as part of the Translation Festival at Exeter City Library)
Speech Bubbles, curated by Qianling Dong, courtesy MA Curation, University of Exeter. Photo: Simon Tutty
Speech Bubbles, curated by Qianling Dong, courtesy MA Curation, University of Exeter. Photo: Simon Tutty
Speech Bubbles, curated by Qianling Dong, courtesy MA Curation, University of Exeter. Photo: Simon Tutty
Speech Bubbles, curated by Qianling Dong, courtesy MA Curation, University of Exeter. Photo: Simon Tutty
Location
The former Hays Travel store,
7 High Steet,
Exeter EX4 3LF
10–19 June 2022
Opening daily: 12–5pm