22 / Mar / 2026
“The China Moment” explores the developments of Chinese contemporary art since the late 1970s, a period of profound social, political, and cultural change.
Xiao Lu never raised her voice — she fired a shot. In 1989, with two bullets, she shattered not only a pane of glass but also the silence surrounding women’s autonomy in Chinese art. At the time, she did not speak of feminism.
Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists attempts a new examination of the contemporary meaning of post‒1960s art by Asian women from the perspective of ‘corporeality.’
20 / Aug / 2023
“15 Gunshots…From 1989 to 2003” (2003) is being exhibited at “20th-Century Galleries Collection 1960s-2000” in Art Gallery of New South Wales, Australia.
Host: Claire Roberts Artist: Xiao Lu Theme: Art + Courage, CoVA Creating Futures Seminar series Sponsor: The University of Melbourne Time: 2021.10.23 Mode: Online from Zoom Adelaide / Sydney Translator: Liu Wanling Coversation video online link: https://sites.research.unimelb.edu.au/…/dia…/art-courage Claire Roberts: Hello Xiao Lu, it is great to have this opportunity to talk about your thoughts …
Xiao Lu takes part in this exhibition: “15 gunshots…From 1989 to 2003” (2003); “Parlor” (2006); “Suspension” (2017)
Conversation between Whiskey Chow and Xiao Lu, China’s foremost feminist performance artist, reflecting on inter-generational performance practice alongside sharing video documentation of their past work. Supported by the Centre for Contemporary East Asian Cultural Studies (CEACS), University of Nottingham. (Chinese with English translation).
On 5 February 1989, two gunshots were fired at Dialogue, an installation art work in the exhibition China/Avant-Garde at China’s National Art Gallery in Beijing. This event was the first officially sanctioned exhibition of ‘unofficial’ art held in post-Mao China.
Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue 肖鲁:语嘿 is the first retrospective of leading contemporary Chinese artist Xiao Lu. The exhibition is anchored by Xiao Lu’s performance work Dialogue from the landmark China/Avant-Garde exhibition at the National Art Gallery, Beijing, in February 1989.
Danish Cultural Center, 798 Arts District, Beijing, China (23 October 2016). Photographs by Yi Zhilei. Exhibition view: Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue, 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney (19 January–24 March 2019). Courtesy the artist. Photo: Kai Wasikowski (2019), for 4A Center for Contemporary Asian Art.
Book: Total Modernity and the Avant-Garde in Chinese Art / In English,
Author: Gao Minglu,
Publication: The MIT Press 2011
Although she belongs to the avant-garde generation that has done so well, internationally as well as within China, Xiao Lu nonetheless presents an alternative to the recognized artist. Contradictions abound in regard to her career: for one, she is considered a major artist on the basis of a very small body of work.
2022 “20th-Century Galleries Collection 1960s-2000” Art Gallery of NSW, Australia 2021 “Love in the Dream” 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong. “The Realm of Existence: An exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art”, Tsinghua University Art Museum, Beijing, China. 2019 “Xiao Lu: Impossible Dialogue” (Solo Show), 4A Centre Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia. 2018 “Her Kind” …
