Curatorial
Practice
杉李的策展实践
Sha Li is a curator whose practice explores alternative and sustainable art models that integrate relational care, communal healing, and participatory approaches to curation. She experiments with diverse curatorial structures, develops collaborative frameworks, and uses digital platforms as tools for resource sharing and support, fostering inclusivity and equity. Emphasizing peer participation, embodied encounters, and decolonial approaches, she positions her work as both curatorial and infrastructural.
Through research and practice, Sha investigates systemic gaps in the arts ecosystem while advancing audience engagement, professional development, and new opportunities for artists and arts workers. She is committed to building networks for collaboration and shared learning, centering accessibility, equity, and community revitalization to sustain the long-term value of the arts in society.
Sha’s background spans contemporary art, curating, teaching, and research, with experience connecting artists, institutions, and audiences across global and local contexts. She has collaborated with esteemed institutions such as 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, 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. The students transformed into a self-organized group on Discord, resembling a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Within this dynamic network, they actively collaborated and provided peer-to-peer support, nurturing both artistic and curatorial practices. The exhibition blossomed into a digital garden, showcasing the vast potential of cross-pollinated creativity and making meaningful connections among members.
🌘 Academic Background
Sha Li holds a Master of Arts in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London, UK, where she built a foundation in collaborative exhibition-making and research, focusing on participatory and experience-based curatorial models. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC, where her training across a variety of contemporary art practices, critical theory, and pedagogy shaped her interest in the intersections of art, education, and community.
Sha Li is currently based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), AB, Canada.
Through research and practice, Sha investigates systemic gaps in the arts ecosystem while advancing audience engagement, professional development, and new opportunities for artists and arts workers. She is committed to building networks for collaboration and shared learning, centering accessibility, equity, and community revitalization to sustain the long-term value of the arts in society.
Sha’s background spans contemporary art, curating, teaching, and research, with experience connecting artists, institutions, and audiences across global and local contexts. She has collaborated with esteemed institutions such as 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, 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. The students transformed into a self-organized group on Discord, resembling a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Within this dynamic network, they actively collaborated and provided peer-to-peer support, nurturing both artistic and curatorial practices. The exhibition blossomed into a digital garden, showcasing the vast potential of cross-pollinated creativity and making meaningful connections among members.
🌘 Academic Background
Sha Li holds a Master of Arts in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art in London, UK, where she built a foundation in collaborative exhibition-making and research, focusing on participatory and experience-based curatorial models. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver, BC, where her training across a variety of contemporary art practices, critical theory, and pedagogy shaped her interest in the intersections of art, education, and community.
Sha Li is currently based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary), AB, Canada.
🌕 Collaboration
Sha Li is deeply grateful for the opportunity to work with and exhibit the works of many talented 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