Curatorial
Practice
杉李的策展实践
Sha Li is a curator whose practice explores how cultural ecosystems can be cultivated through alternative and sustainable models of art, collaboration, and participation. Working across curatorial practice and cultural infrastructure, she develops relational frameworks, collaborative structures, and digital platforms that connect artists, communities, institutions, and resources. Her practice centers care, communal healing, accessibility, equity, and decolonial approaches, exploring how relationships and networks can become forms of cultural infrastructure.
Through research and practice, Sha investigates systemic gaps within the arts ecosystem while developing new pathways for audience engagement, professional development, and opportunities for artists and arts workers. Her work focuses on building the relationships and structures that enable creative communities to emerge, adapt, and sustain themselves, both locally and globally.
She has collaborated with leading arts and cultural institutions internationally, including Lisson Gallery, the Royal College of Art, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the China Academy of Art, and Nottingham Contemporary. Her curatorial practice has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Council England, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development.
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🌖 Teaching and Sharing
Sha Li shared insights on the pandemic's impact on artistic practices during the Frank Davis Memorial Lecture Series "Asian Art after Quarantine," hosted by Dr. Wenny Teo at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, UK.
She also introduced and led “playshop” as an innovative pedagogical model at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, using collaborative tools such as Miro to foster peer learning and collective creative thinking. Student reflections on this process can be viewed [here].
As a guest lecturer for the Digital Direction MA programme at the Royal College of Art in London, UK, Li introduced digital curatorial thinking and provided guidance for the [Final Output Show of 2023]. Conceptualized as a cyclical creative ecosystem, students formed a self-organized network on Discord, collaborating through peer-to-peer support and collective exchange. The resulting exhibition took the form of a digital garden, exploring how cross-pollinated creativity can cultivate new curatorial connections.
🌘 Academic Background
Sha Li holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London and a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.
Her training in curating, contemporary art, critical theory, and pedagogy informs her approach to curating as world-building, cultivating the relationships, networks, and infrastructures through which creative ecosystems can thrive.
Sha Li is currently based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), on Treaty 7 territory, in Alberta, Canada.
Through research and practice, Sha investigates systemic gaps within the arts ecosystem while developing new pathways for audience engagement, professional development, and opportunities for artists and arts workers. Her work focuses on building the relationships and structures that enable creative communities to emerge, adapt, and sustain themselves, both locally and globally.
She has collaborated with leading arts and cultural institutions internationally, including Lisson Gallery, the Royal College of Art, the Courtauld Institute of Art, the China Academy of Art, and Nottingham Contemporary. Her curatorial practice has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Council England, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and Calgary Arts Development.
🌖 Teaching and Sharing
Sha Li shared insights on the pandemic's impact on artistic practices during the Frank Davis Memorial Lecture Series "Asian Art after Quarantine," hosted by Dr. Wenny Teo at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, UK.
She also introduced and led “playshop” as an innovative pedagogical model at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, using collaborative tools such as Miro to foster peer learning and collective creative thinking. Student reflections on this process can be viewed [here].
As a guest lecturer for the Digital Direction MA programme at the Royal College of Art in London, UK, Li introduced digital curatorial thinking and provided guidance for the [Final Output Show of 2023]. Conceptualized as a cyclical creative ecosystem, students formed a self-organized network on Discord, collaborating through peer-to-peer support and collective exchange. The resulting exhibition took the form of a digital garden, exploring how cross-pollinated creativity can cultivate new curatorial connections.
🌘 Academic Background
Sha Li holds an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London and a BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver.
Her training in curating, contemporary art, critical theory, and pedagogy informs her approach to curating as world-building, cultivating the relationships, networks, and infrastructures through which creative ecosystems can thrive.
Sha Li is currently based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), on Treaty 7 territory, in Alberta, Canada.
🌌 Collaboration
Her practice has grown through collaborations with artists, curators, and researchers, including:
- Aaron Ratajczyk
- Adam Christensen
- Andrew Thomas Huang
- Angela Blanc
- April Lin and Jasmine Lin
- Ayesha Tan Jones
- Bette Gordon
- Camille Baker
- Cang Xin
- Cerith Wyn Evans
- Charlotte dos Santos
- Chen Peifang
- Chen Qiang
- Chen Xi
- Chen Wencun
- CHOOC LY
- Christine Sun Kim
- Cui Yu
- Deng Jianjin
- Deborah Stratman
- Dong Mo
- Eva Gold
- Fang He
- Feng Zhixuan
- Gaia Fugazza
- Ge Yulu
- Greg Hilty
- Han Bo
- Haroon Mirza
- He Gong
- He Xiangyu
- Jade Barget
- James Richards and Steve Reinke
- Jesse Ash
- Ji Xuefeng
- Jin Haofan
- Jin Jinjin
- Jin Jinghong
- Juan Po
- Jade Barget
- Ken McMullen
- Ke Ming
- Lena Dobrowolska
- Li Danni
- Li Fei
- Li Huiyi
- LI YILEI
- Li JiKai
- Li Jingxiong
- Li Liao
- Li Zhongwei
- Li Zi
- Lindsey Wiercioch
- Liu Xinyi
- Lu Shan
- Luigi Galimberti
- Luo Kai
- Luxi Liu
- Ma Jun
- Mary Helena Clark
- Matt Kane
- Pak
- Panos Fourtoulakis
- Popo Fan
- Pu Yingwei
- Ren Lili
- Sarah Zucker
- Shahryar Nashat
- Shen Boliang
- Sidsel Meineche Hansen
- Sin單 Wai慧 Kin乾 (formerly Victoria Sin)
- Sophie Dupont
- Tan Tian
- Tan Tan
- Thuy-Han Nguyen-Chi
- Tom Simmons
- Wang Haiyang
- Wang Zhiyi
- Wen Jing
- Wenny Teo
- Whiskey Chow
- Yang Fan
- Yang Fei
- Yi-Ning Lin
- Yu Tongzhou
- Yuan Han
- Zhang Chi
- Zhang Jing
- Zhu Xu
- Zi Jie