The 5th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art was officially opened at ZJAM on September 23, 2025. Curated by renowned curators Jiang Jun, Huang Yan, Assadour Markarov, and Xu Jia, this Triennial adopts “Re-Constellations” as its core theme, bringing together 45 outstanding artists from 17 countries and regions. In Hangzhou, a city historically known as a silk capital, these artists will collectively weave a new cultural firmament through the medium of fiber art. The exhibition explores the cultural ascendancy of the “Global South” and speculates on the future of contemporary art against the backdrop of receding globalization and shifting values.

Since its inception in 2013, the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art has become one of the most internationally influential contemporary art exhibitions in China and the largest project of contemporary fiber art exhibition in Asia. The successful launch of this fifth Triennial not only continues this tradition, but also consolidates its position as a vital international exchange platform amid significant shifts in the global art landscape. It has attracted numerous internationally acclaimed artists, curators, and scholars, such as co-curator Assadour Markarov from Bulgaria — this undoubtedly enhanced China’s voice and visibility within the international contemporary art field.

The theme “Re-Constellations” draws on an ancient metaphor shared across human civilizations — the starry sky as a fabric woven with warps and wefts. Different civilizations have imagined and interpreted the starry sky in distinct ways, shaping unique worldviews: the ancient Greeks saw a hunter wielding a club in the stars of Orion; Sumerians recognized a powerful “Bull of Heaven”; the ancient Chinese created a constellation system of “Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions” to establish a cosmic order of “harmony between heaven and humanity.” However, with the rise of modernity - particularly after the International Astronomical Union standardized constellations based on Greek tradition in 1930 — many non-Western cosmologies were systematically marginalized and faded from mainstream awareness.

The Triennial’s central aim is to challenge this singular “universal narrative.” Moving beyond established astronomical frameworks, the curators reposition “Re-Constellations” as a metaphor for cognitive revolution — not only deconstructing and reorganizing established art-historical “constellations”, but also awakening the cultural stars of the “Global South” and transforming them from “obscured dark stars” into “self-luminous celestial bodies.” In an era of counter-globalization and with challenges to various singular narratives, the exhibition expects visitors, like ancient stargazers, to discover connections amid difference and build bridges across divides.

At the opening ceremony

Distinguished guests attending the opening ceremony included: Xu Jiang, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Jin Yibin, secretary of the Party Committee of the China Academy of Art (CAA); Yu Xuhong, president of the CAA and chairman of the Zhejiang Artists Association (ZAA); Sun Xudong and Fu Qiaoling, deputy secretaries of the Party Committee of the CAA; Ying Dawei, chairman of the Trade Union of Zhejiang International Business Group; Ke Jinfeng, chief of the Art Division of the Publicity Department of the CPC Zhejiang Provincial Committee; Liang Bing, deputy chief of the Foreign Cooperation and Exchange Division of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism; Luo Xianyue, advisor to the ZAA; Wang Minjie, vice chairman and secretary-general of the ZAA; Vladislav Spasov, consul general of the Republic of Bulgaria in Shanghai; Laurence Mézin, cultural counsellor of the French Embassy in China; Evelin Hust, head of Culture and Education at the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Shanghai; Cat Sinclair-Jones, consul of Cultural and Education of the British Consulate General Shanghai and director of the British Council in East China; Shi Hui, initiator of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art and artistic director of the 5th Triennial, as well as representatives from art institutions and many artists, professors, and leadership representatives from the CAA.

Ying Jinfei, curator of ZJAM, presiding over the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony was presided over by Ying Jinfei, curator of ZJAM. Addresses were delivered by Xu Jiang, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles; Yu Xuhong, president of the CAA and chairman of the ZAA; Ban Lingsheng, dean of the School of Sculpture and Public Art at the CAA; Curator Jiang Jun; artist representatives Jin Choi and Thomas Shine (Choi+Shine); Professor Shi Hui, artistic director of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art; Professor Sook-Kyung Lee, director of the Whitworth Art Gallery; and Jin Yibin, secretary of the Party Committee of the CAA.

Xu Jiang, vice chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and chairman of the Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles, delivering a speech

Yu Xuhong, president of the CAA and Chairman of the ZAA, Delivering a Speech

Ban Lingsheng, dean of the School of Sculpture and Public Art at the CAA, delivering a speech

Curator Jiang Jun delivering a speech

Artist representatives Jin Choi and Thomas Shine (Choi+Shine) delivering a speech

Jin Yibin, secretary of the Party Committee of the CAA, delivering a speech

At the same time, marking the occasion of the opening, Shi Hui, artistic director of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, and Sook-Kyung Lee, director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, officially announced together that the 6th Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art in 2028 will travel abroad to the Whitworth Art Gallery at the University of Manchester, UK.

Shi Hui, artistic director of the Hangzhou Triennial of Fiber Art, and Sook-Kyung Lee, director of the Whitworth Art Gallery, Jointly delivering a speech