Liu Jiaqi

WaterWays: an invitation to re-imagine the ecology of Regent’s Canal restores and regenerates broken relationships between humans and the living organisms of the Regent’s Canal.

The project explores the canal’s biodiversity and lived histories to understand and challenge the way we generate, collect and store environmental data. At the core of the project is Canal Observatory, a commission by the artist collectives AusBlau and Applied Logic that have co-created a digital game for environmental data collection. By looking at the biodiversity of Camley Street Natural Park and recognising it through “canal emojis”, Canal Observatory reflects on who can collect data, how this is accessible as well as how we can reimagine our relationships with our surroundings.

Behind the scenes, WaterWays creates an ecosystem of alliances recognising agency to those who have been working with water and data for much longer than the curatorial team; the project involves scientists and botanists, Central Saint Martins students working on projects to protect the ecosystem, local inhabitants closely linked to the aquatic environment, as well as artists and creative practitioners.

WaterWays: an invitation to re-imagine the ecology of the Regent’s Canal was curated by Chiara Famengo, Fergus Wiltshire, Jiaqi Liu, Kylee Kim, Marjorier Ding, Yixiong Cui from the MA Curating Contemporary Art Programme as part of the Graduate Projects 2022, Royal College of Art in partnership with the Open Data Institute (ODI)’s Data as Culture.

Liu Jiaqi is a curator based in London and Beijing. She is interested in searching for cultural roots through her curatorial practice, especially attempting to create spaces with local originality in dialogue with the world. Additionally she is interested in transcultural curation. She believes that transcultural exhibitions can examine artistic phenomena arising from the intersection of different cultures, forming a space of dialogue for multidimensional interpretation.

Looking back on the WaterWays curatorial experience and practice, much of this project relies on the presentation of digital media. She believes that artistic and cultural practices in relation to digital media are dramatically changing. Understanding and studying the spaces constituted by art and culture, as well as the social relations and structures constituted by artistic acts, in light of the relationship between the concepts of place that emphasise geography and symbolism, is key. In the WaterWays projects, a sense of communication and participation between strangers was essential. However, the relative devolution of power to the viewer on this online platform also generated some unpredictable behaviour and conceptual ideas. The questions she has left the project with include: Does this highlight the capacity for misunderstanding? If this happens, how should curators respond?

In post-graduate development she is looking to challenge the traditional exhibition structures and conventions of contemporary art practice in order to emphasise the social space of art as a field for dialogue, transformation, and interactive, creative living production.

Photo by Kylee Kim

Photo by Leyan Lyu

Photo by Kylee Kim

WaterWays is an art project that connects humans to other living organisms of the Regent’s Canal. Through Canal Observatory, a newly commissioned digital game for data collection codesigned by artist collectives AusBlau and Applied Logic, interviews, stories, ecological findings. WaterWays seeks to understand the health of this ecosystem in the hope of remedying and rebuilding relationships. The research is presented in the form of three chapters: Voices of Water; (Un)learning Canal Ecosystems; and Archiving Futures.

In Collaboration with:

AusBlau

They are Christoph Dichmann and Elissa Brunato. Together they form AusBlau. They are a creative design studio based in London, leading playful investigations into materiality, ecosystems and the human experience. Throughout their work they collate diverse opinions, uncover systemic challenges and imagine resilient futures, to inspire an active engagement with our rapidly changing world.

Applied Logic

Applied Logic is a collective focused on design and innovation. Exploring the significant societal changes that are transforming everyday life, they experiment with emerging technologies to develop speculations and solutions that aim to help build a better future for people and the planet.

Penumbral Zone | 半影区

Like silhouette in the mist, truth is barely perceivable. The cohesion of Yin and Yang is the driving source behind all existence, from Sun, Moon and stars to the sky and the earth, order and chaos, and happiness alongside sorrow. Beneath the mottled bulge is the calmness in Turner's landscape, the joyful dancing in Poussin's paintings, and the peaceful rest stop in Wordsworth's struggles. We invite the audience to wander, listen and meditate, to construct a connection between people via nature and materials, calling upon the fluctuation of inner emotions.

As the core and origin of the show, the transformation of perception is embodied in every instant of life. Where is the recreation place of the mind? What is the placebo for the spirit? Dwelling in the blank space, our luminous minds can finally find the self thoroughly.

Liu Jiaqi as the curator of Penumbral Zone, a group exhibition held at Gallery 46, presented in conjunction with Universe Gallery. This show features the work of fourteen emergent artists, predominantly hailing from the Royal College of Art. Working in various mediums, from sculpture and installation, to video art and performative drawing, this collection of artists are united in their pursuit of a research-led investigative approach into themes of objecthood and materiality.

Archive Artistic Contemporary Cultural Identity Curating Emotion Gallery Mental Health Psychological Space Therapy

Performance

Poster featuring a photograph of a collection of objects, including stones and a piece of string, and a glass cone with black text reading ‘City of Stars Symphony Concert’.

City of Scars Symphony ConcertTuesday 28 June 12:15 (GMT +0)

Visual Communication (MA)

Liu Jiaqi

In Collaboration with:

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