ThRead is a collaborative curatorial project bringing together East Asian women art workers across borders and cultures. Through chapters of dialogues, workshops, and exhibitions, the project explores shared narratives and spaces of care. Inspired by Trinh T. Minh-ha’s “speaking nearby”, it approaches dialogue as a practice of resonance, nurturing empathy and collective connection. Follow us~ Let’s weave new connections together! Curatorial account: @thread_curation Curatorial team: @esther_916916 @i9___june @x1yuxu_ @miu1chen #diaspora #eastasian #art #curation

#meeting03: Documentary Screening Participants: @charlotte_yao_duojin @wangjif @esther_916916 @i9___june @x1yuxu_ @miu1chen “Our Study Abroad Life — Days in Japan” (1999) documented the lives of Chinese students in Japan during the 1990s, focusing on their studies, part-time work, and everyday challenges of living abroad. “American Factory” (2019) followed a Chinese company opening a factory in the United States, exploring labour relations and cultural differences within a globalised production system. In this session, we placed the two documentaries in dialogue and discussed how globalisation shaped individual experiences, labour, and identity across different contexts. 📷Credit: @x1yuxu_ 🕐1 March 2026 | 📍Charlotte’s home #documentary #screenings #discussion #abroadlife

#meeting02: Close Reading Hosted by @esther_916916 Participants: @charlotte_yao_duojin @wangjif @esther_916916 @i9___june @x1yuxu_ @miu1chen We read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of “Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory” by Marianne Hirsch together. The book talks about postmemory, which is how later generations experience memory through images and stories rather than direct experience, and how family photos connect personal memory, identity and history. We talked about how postmemory works across generations, the emotional impact of family images, and how absence and gaps appear in family archives. We also reflected on what this means for personal and collective memory and how contemporary artists work with fragmented or dispersed archives to explore identity and memory. Next time, we’ll watch a 1999 and a 2008 documentary to explore how globalisation shapes the lives and identities of international students.🎬 📘Image source: “Family Frames: Photography, Narrative and Postmemory”, Marianne Hirsch (Penguin, 1997) 🕐12 February 2026 | 📍Online #reading #postmemory #archive #family

#meeting01 Hosted by @x1yuxu_ & @miu1chen Participants: @charlotte_yao_duojin @wangjif @esther_916916 @i9___june @x1yuxu_ @miu1chen Our first meeting was really about getting to know each other. We introduced our portfolios, shared works we have done, works in progress, and ideas for the future. We also talked about our personal stories, listening, discussing, and exchanging thoughts together.👭🏻💬 P1: Charlotte introducing her video work ‘Eventually she cured her heteronormativity that year (2020)’. P2: Ziyi Wang introducing her ongoing work ‘Mountain’s Sex (2025)’. P3: Charlotte speaking about her work ‘You see, that is the gate to America (laser print photographic collage, 134” × 107”, 2024)’. P4: Over dinner, we talked about our expectations and ideas for the project. 📷Credit: @x1yuxu_ 🕐27 January 2026 |📍Charlotte’s home #memory #artwork #storytelling #conversation

ThRead’s Chapter 1 has begun. 🧵🔛 We’ve invited two artists. We’re delighted to be working with Ziyi Wang (@wangjif ). - Ziyi Wang is an is an artist, filmmaker, performer and researcher, currently based in London and Beijing.   Her work explores themes of identity, borders, and mobility, drawing on personal memory to navigate the fissures of historical, political, and geographical structures. Her practice spans video, performance, and installation, blending elements of documentary, comedy, stand-up, and theatrical scenography. Her works often begin with a simple, naive imagery and use humor as a method to negotiate complex systems. Her latest project explores an intergenerational inquiry into intimacy and power through the interplay of archival material and mime.   Ziyi graduated from MA Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, and holds a BA in Philosophy from Beijing Normal University. Her works have been presented in London, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Edinburgh, Southampton and other cities. Recent projects include solo exhibition Sister, I Wanna Go Home at Sense Gallery, Beijing; the Relation de Voyage online screening programme at SLQS Gallery; Ruthin International Arts Festival; and the Barbican Arts Group Trust. Ziyi’s performance spans theatre and stand-up comedy, have taken place in venues including Hoxton Hall and Theatre Deli. Her short Land Sailing has been official selected for 19th FIRST International Film Festival.   Ziyi’s research focuses on labour and exploitation within the contemporary art field, with contributions presented at the Anartist Reading Group and Asymmetry Art Foundation Collaborative Writing and publishing; She have been involved in the translation work of the new column on speculation at Qilu Criticism. Ziyi also works as an active facilitator and organiser for critiques and seminars, being one of the co-founders of AfterShool, Ziyi hosted several seminars in Goldsmiths, Bow Arts and Lychee One on topics including gender, queerness and labour. - More from Chapter 1 will be shared soon. Follow @wangjif and @thread_curation to stay with us.🫶🏼 📷Credit: Xiya Wang #curation #diaspora #eastasia

ThRead’s Chapter 1 has begun. 🧵🔛 For this first chapter, we’ve invited two artists. We’re delighted to be working with Charlotte Yao (@charlotte_yao_duojin ). - Charlotte Yao is a Chinese-Canadian artist, curator, and researcher based in London, currently undertaking a practice-based PhD at University of the Arts London. Working with moving image, photography, installation, and experimental writing, Yao uses autotheory to frame her practice through personal experience, examining Chinese diasporic life and feminist questions shaped by migration, family history, and the structures of patriarchy across homeland and diaspora.   Her current PhD project, Through a Feminist Lens: Counter-narratives of the Unspeakable Chinese Diasporic Experience, develops a diasporic feminist counter-narrative that centres intersectional identity and lived experience. Her work aims to create space for dialogue, support community, and challenge dominant cultural narratives through shared storytelling.   Yao’s work has been featured in Let’s Go to America at Canton-sardine (Vancouver), as well as at Modern Fuel (Kingston), Trinity Square Video (Toronto), Southwark Park Galleries (London), West Bund Art & Design (Shanghai), and A4 Art Museum (Chengdu). Her curatorial project Antagonistic Superpositions was awarded by PECKHAM 24 curatorial open call (2024). Her research thesis Tail of the Real was published in the holt journal of artistic research. She received the RCA New Photography Prize (2021).   - More from Chapter 1 will be shared soon. Follow @charlotte_yao_duojin and @thread_curation to stay with us.🫶🏼 📷Credit: @charlotte_yao_duojin #curation #artist #diaspora

We come from different places. We speak nearby. We make space to speak, to listen, and to act. So more stories can be heard. Team members: @esther_916916 @i9___june @x1yuxu_ @miu1chen

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the closing of Across the Threshold. Thanks to artists Matilda Yueyang Peng @matilda_n9 and Jiaqi Lyu @jiaqi_lyu000 , whose works trace fragments of memory and archives, gently unfolding stories of presence and belonging. Thank you also to all collaborators and visitors who shared their conversations, care, and energy throughout the exhibition.Your engagement brought this project to life across spaces, memories, and moments of encounter. Curated by Mei Chen @miu1chen & Esther Huang @esther_916916 , in collaboration with SQFT Space Gallery @sqft.space Though the exhibition has come to an end, its journey continues to move forward, crossing from past to future. I hope our paths will cross again as we arrive at the next threshold. 展览虽已落幕，但旅程仍在继续，在过去与未来之间跨越新的门槛。 愿未来我们的道路再次相交，在下一道门槛前再度相遇。

✉️Invitation to the Closing Reception After three weeks at SQFT Gallery, we approach the final threshold of the show. Date: Thursday, 2 October | 18:00–21:00 Location: SQFT Space Gallery, 95 Bell Street, NW1 6TL Join us for this closing moment, a chance to gather, reflect, and celebrate together as we step across the threshold one more time🥂 🔗 RSVP via the link in bio @sqft.space @matilda_n9 @jiaqi_lyu000 @miu1chen @esther_916916 @goldsmithsmfacurating

<Detailed introductions to the works in the exhibition> These texts serve as points of entry, but the complete experience unfolds in the gallery, in dialogue with the works themselves and the exhibition booklet. The full experience awaits you in the space. @jiaqi_lyu000 Exhibition Date: 12th Sep - 3rd Oct PV: 2nd Oct, 6-9pm Location: SQFT:Space Gallery 95 Bell Street NW1 6TL

<Detailed introductions to the works in the exhibition> These texts serve as points of entry, but the complete experience unfolds in the gallery, in dialogue with the works themselves and the exhibition booklet. The full experience awaits you in the space. @matilda_n9 Exhibition Date: 12th Sep - 3rd Oct PV: 2nd Oct, 6-9pm Location: SQFT:Space Gallery 95 Bell Street NW1 6TL

The threshold is ready, and we can’t wait to welcome you. 📅 Exhibition: 12 Sept – 3 Oct 📢Please note: the opening on 11 Sept is cancelled due to the strike. The closing will take place on 2 Oct. See you at SQFT Gallery 95 Bell Street NW1 6TL @sqft.space @matilda_n9 @jiaqi_lyu000 @miu1chen @esther_916916 @goldsmithsmfacurating