For Hongqian Zhang, founder of ArtFlow Studio, becoming a curator was a necessity. “I witnessed many talented artists – especially from East Asian backgrounds – whose works were under-recognised or misinterpreted due to a lack of accessible platforms,” she says. “Too often, I saw their voices being flattened or lost in translation within Western institutional narratives. Without spaces that understood and supported them, many abandoned their practices altogether. ArtFlow emerged in response to that gap.”

Zhang’s practice is grounded in “listening, interpretation, and cultural responsibility.” Her philosophy centres on “building infrastructures of care” – treating exhibitions as more than events with a start and end date. “It means staying in touch with artists after the show ends, considering emotional pacing alongside wall layout, and resisting overstimulation in favour of slowness and ambiguity,” she elaborates. Zhang draws inspiration from curators who create “politically and culturally rigorous frameworks,” citing Nicolas Bourriaud’s idea of relational aesthetics – where art is a platform for dialogue – as an early influence.

She is passionate about supporting emerging creatives, especially Asian women, and is driven by ideas rather than trends. “I find artists through organic encounters: degree shows, recommendations, Instagram, conversations. I’m not drawn to what’s ‘fresh’ in the market sense, but rather to what persists – practices that linger. I gravitate to work that feels materially honest, emotionally complex and culturally aware.”

Zhang is a prolific London-based curator, having produced several major exhibitions across the capital in 2025. The first, *Metamorph *at Espacio Gallery, explored identity, conformity and resistance. It brought together emerging female and non-binary voices from China, Southeast Asia and the UK, presenting performance, installation and digital textiles. *Metamorph *was swiftly followed by 404 Not Found. Immersive works transformed Fitzrovia Gallery into “a space of error and system breakdown” – an experience many visitors described as haunting – examining themes of digital disconnection through glitch aesthetics.

In August, Zhang opened Undercurrent at Batsford Gallery, foregrounding East Asian practitioners exploring “repression and the quiet strength of resilience.” The same month, Brighter than White, Darker than Blue debuted at Fitzrovia – a solo display of Cheng Linyao, a ceramicist employing Feng Shui glazing techniques to challenge Western definitions of pottery. Zhang’s most recent projects include Echoes Between Us at Batsford Gallery, exploring intimacy and distance in human relationships, and Field of Clarity at Photofusion, an open-call examining the liminal space between clarity and ambiguity, reality and illusion.

Looking ahead, Zhang and ArtFlow are planning a series of international shows that continue to foreground East Asian artists and cross-cultural dialogue, particularly in ceramics, textiles and conceptual practice. In parallel, they are developing a publishing project and a mobile exhibition model, enabling their shows to travel whilst remaining anchored in thoughtful, collaborative curation. Zhang reflects: “I want ArtFlow to grow as a flexible, caring, and artist-centred platform that moves slowly, but deliberately.”

zhanghongqian.com | artflowstudiofficial.com

All images courtesy Hongqian Zhang.

Posted on 9 November 2025