TEAM
JINGRU (CYAN) CHENG
︎ ︎Jingru (Cyan) Cheng works across architecture, anthropology and filmmaking. Under an experimental framework of Speculative Anthropology, her collaborative endeavour involves working with marginalised communities and collective world-building. Cyan received commendations by the RIBA President’s Awards for Research in 2018 and 2020 from the Royal Institute of British Architects. She is also a 2022 Graham Foundation Grantee. Her research and art practice has been exhibited internationally, as part of Critical Zones, co-curated by Bruno Latour at ZKM Karlsruhe, Germany (2020-22), Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism (2019), Venice Architecture Biennale (2018), among others, and included in the Architectural Association’s permanent collection. Cyan holds a PhD by Design from the Architectural Association (AA), and was the co-director of AA Wuhan Visiting School (2015-17). She currently teaches at the Royal College of Art in London.
CHEN ZHAN
︎ ︎Chen Zhan is an architect, anthropologist, and independent filmmaker. Chen has practised architecture since 2011, working on projects across scales and sectors internationally, including Maggie’s Cancer Care Centre in Leeds, UK. As a self-reflexive turn from a designer’s mind, Chen dived into anthropology in search of a different way of seeing the world. Since 2019, Chen began to adapt moving-image as a collaborative medium to expand beyond architecture to conduct longer-term research-oriented projects. These projects work with marginalised communities to approach the urgent crisis in contemporary societies through the lens of the everyday in situated contexts. Chen also co-directs ACROSS Architecture, an independent platform dedicated to initiating and facilitating transboundary conversations about architecture in response to contemporary challenges.
MENGFAN WANG
︎︎Mengfan Wang is an independent theatre director and choreographer, with training in History of Art at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, and Dance Studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Cologne. Seeking to explore performative expressions of ordinary people, her dance theatre practice engages middle-aged women and children through a collaborative rework of daily acts and recently focuses on ageing bodies by working with retired ballet dancers. Mengfan is selected as “Dance Hopeful (Hoffnungsträger)” by German dance magazine tanz in its yearbook 2018. Her dance works have been invited to VIE Festival Bologna, Beijing Fringe Festival, Wuzhen Theater Festival, among others, with support from Ibsen International, Goethe-Insitut China, Department for Culture and Education of the German Consulate General. Her artist residencies span across Shanghai, Berlin, Copenhagen and Zurich, including working with Theatre HORA supported by the Swiss Arts Council.