Xiao Zhiyu selected for the 2023 FIDA residency

Xiao Zhiyu. Photo: Ela Bialkowska / OKNOstudio

16. maj 2023

We are thrilled to announce that Helsinki-based visual artist Xiao Zhiyu has been selected as the FIDA Artist in Residence 2023. Xiao Zhiyu’s (CN, b. 1995) practice is centered around painting and installation.

Through painting and the materiality of this medium, Xiao Zhiyu researches the exhibition as a medium in its own right. In his exploration of painting and in its potential for intimacy, the rematerialization of objects and bodies feature prominently. Zhiyu views exhibition-making and archiving as common spaces for openness and confrontation, and he is interested in challenging the definition of painted objects through the involvement of other senses.

During his residency, Xiao Zhiyu will be working on a series of paintings as well as engaging with a new audience as well as the Copenhagen art scene, which strikes him as having a more multidisciplinary approach. Xiao Zhiyu holds an MFA in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Arts Helsinki. His works have been shown in Milan, Helsinki, and Berlin.

The FIDA jury has been following Zhiyu’s work and was delighted to see the recent developments in his practice. The jury believes that a residency with FIDA’s resources and networking opportunities will add to this development and to the career of the artist.

The FIDA residency program was established in 2019 as a collaboration between the Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark and FABRIKKEN for Kunst og Design. Zhiyu is the fifth artist to be selected for the two-month program in Copenhagen.

The purpose of the FIDA program is to build strong networks between the Finnish and Danish art scene, and to introduce a Finnish artist to a Danish art market. In addition to a private studio space at FABRIKKEN, the resident can look forward to participating in network-building activities locally and across the country, which not only strengthens the artist’s network in Denmark, but also gives the Danish art scene new impulses as well as the opportunity to establish lasting connections to the Finnish art scene when the residency begins in August.

FIDA is funded by the Finnish Cultural Institute in Denmark, which offers Finnish know-how and facilitates cultural exchange in contemporary and performing arts, with the aim of developing and strengthening the dialogue between professional artists and institutions from Finland and Denmark and to the general public.