✨ Thanks to our amazing Kickstarter backers, we’re thrilled to announce that our inaugural publication, "Shifting the Angle of Shine", is now available for purchase online! This limited edition is an exclusive launch with no planned reprints, so get your copy while you can.
The book spans a decade of resilient artists and collectives in and around China and the Sinosphere. It’s packed with essays, images, conversations, and projects, documenting innovative tactics of artists as they weave relationships of mutuality and solidarity to thrive through the cracks.
Find more information, our stockists, and purchase options on our website (link in bio).
Featuring contributions from:
Shanzhai Lyric @shanzhai_lyric
Johann Diedrick @johanndiedrick
Viola He @v10101a
Roslyn Orlando Moir @roslyn__orlando
Amy Suo Wu @sudo_wu
Peng Zuqiang @pengzuqiang
Image Acts @imageacts
Vishal Kumaraswamy @vishalkswamy
Quinn Chen @happyjawbone
Solveig Suess @solveigsuess
Rania Ho @raniaho
Gendai @gendaigallery
Soeng Joeng Toi
HB Station Contemporary Art Research Centre @hbstation2012
Xiaoyao Xu @xiaoyao_xu_
NZTT Sewing Co-op 女子天团 @nztt_sewing
Black Window Collective @blackwindow___
Clarissa Lim Kye Lee @cl44r
Shanghai Community Radio
Hong Kong Community Radio @hkcronline
Book designed and produced by @infoandupdates
Edited by @happyjawbone , @xiaoyao_xu_ , and @skkira
ANNOUNCING OUR NEW NAME :: 爻 yáo collaborative !
Moving forward, we will continue and weave the local and global constellations of artists, arts workers, and collectives whose work open portals between mainland China, Hong Kong, the global diasporic Sinosphere and the rest of the world under our new name: 爻 yáo collaborative.
We arrived at 爻 yáo by flipping over the central element of 网 wǎng (web, network) and removing the border. Coincidentally, 爻 yáo is an old word referring to the solid and broken lines of the diagrams in the I Ching… and while we're not divinators in the traditional sense, we are in the work of casting new ways of moving fluidly to help each other find different paths through our ever-changing world.
When we first started 10 years ago, we set out to connect the residencies in China and Hong Kong with each other, and with the rest of the world. We created a simple directory in the days before WeChat and Instagram existed, when the arts, music, film and overall creative scenes in China were in their thrilling nascent and expansive stages of development. Since then, those dozens of spaces we set out to map in 2013 quickly grew into over a hundred artist residencies in nearly every province across the country.
As the field matured and evolved, so did we. We shifted from mapping every single space to thinking more deeply about who was getting left out, and who else we should connect to one another. We've always worked collaboratively, and increasingly began to respond to the needs and requests we heard most frequently. We offered our support in increasingly multifaceted ways beyond just listing residencies: ongoing mentorship, fiscal sponsorship, emergency funding, and much more. We curated exhibitions and hosted screening series, we threw dumpling parties and organized zine swaps, and we directly moved over a million dollars (!) towards creative projects, helping more than 120 artists, curators, musicians, DJs, filmmakers, writers, researchers and generally wonderful people create something new and important in and about China, in the broadest sense of the word.
{continued in the comments!)
🔴 SHORT NOTICE 🔴
Book Talk: 爻 yáo collaborative
<Shifting the Angle of Shine>
🗓️ 29 June 2025
🕝 Sunday, 3pm
🔔 Free entry. No RSVP needed.
📍 Copies available.
📌 Zionskirchstr. 16, 10119 Berlin
This talk introduces the book <Shifting the Angle of Shine – An Anthology of Artists and Collectives in the Sinosphere from 2013 to 2023>, beginning with the historical context behind its formation and a brief detour into the independent art scene in China. The session then highlights selected projects and artist collectives featured in the publication.
The anthology reflects on how resilience and networks of spaces and people have formed across a shifting cultural landscape—how alliances emerge, disappear, and continue to matter today, especially within a slowly deteriorating structure for the arts and culture. It includes archival interviews with now-defunct art spaces, images of queer collectives and individuals engaging with themes such as the Silk Road and infrastructure, and essays exploring resistance and subversion through language, mimicry, and alternative modes of organizing.
The book brings together 14 art spaces, individuals, and collectives experimenting with practices that range from DIY initiatives to critical mimicry and unexpected business models—questioning what kinds of spaces are needed to sustain meaningful conversations within an art world often shaped by precarity and exclusion.
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爻 yáo collaborative (@yao_collaborative ) maps and weaves the local and global constellations of artists, collectives, culture workers and stewards whose work opens portals for cross-border artistic exchange, friendship, and care between mainland China, Hong Kong, and the rest of the world.
We’re back with a new date and new accessible ticketing tier!
For Lovers is a speed-dating and speed-friending event where QTPOC are prioritized; where we meet, mingle, flirt, and have deeper conversations. This installation will be for lovers of books, literature, and the written word, who are looking for people to connect with romantically or platonically.
How It Works: To break the ice, we will be doing some pre-event matchmaking based on Google Forms that you fill out about yourselves. You can be as mysterious or thorough as you wish, but remember to be truthful! Once you answer the questions in the forms, we will match you up with your first date of the night, based on the compatibility of your answers. If you are not comfortable with somebody you have been pre-matched with, please let us know and we can very quickly rearrange matches. There will be multiple switches in dates throughout the night. The deadline to get pre-matched is Friday, September 22nd by midnight!
A portion of the funds will be raised for 爻 yáo collaborative's upcoming book Shifting the Angle of Shine! The anthology spans a decade of resilient artists and collectives in, around, and about China and the greater Sinosphere, documenting innovative tactics of artists and collectives as they weave relationships of mutuality and solidarity to thrive through the cracks.
$15 basic ticket: entry
$33 standard ticket: entry + a book for in-person pickup
$50 sponsor ticket: entry + a book by delivery (this tier helps make the event accessible for others to attend!)
Your hosts for the night: @mimizhuxiyuan and 爻 yáo collaborative
Date: Sunday, September 24th
Time: 6-9 PM
Location: @redpavilionbk at 1241 Flushing Ave in Brooklyn, NY 11237
Ticketing: link in bio 💌
PUBLICATION :: We are in our final, final stretch with 95% raised and only 42 hours to go! Thank you so much to everyone who has pledged so far! We have 5% left to raise and it can only go to print with your help! We'd be so grateful if you could share our Kickstarter with your art/book/film/Sinosphere-interested friends who might like to pre-order a copy as well. We are currently deep in proofreading and cover-designing, and are looking forward to sharing more soon! For now here are some quick snippets of the beautiful design work Max and Pianpian of @infoandupdates !
Image 1: Spread of the last page of Shanzhai Lyric's Essay titled "The Shanzhai Lyric"
Image 2: Spread from "Who Wants to be Heard? and the Ears of Listening Machines", a conversation between Viola He, Roslyn Orlando, and Johann Diedrick
Image 3: Spread from Solveig Qu Suess and Ming Lin's "AAA Cargo"
PUBLICATION :: We are just 3 days away from the end of our Kickstarter campaign! 🌟Shifting the Angle of Shine: an Anthology of Artists and Collectives in the Sinosphere from 2013-2023🌟 can only go to print with your help!
Pre-order a book from now until this Thursday, August 24th to secure your copy! Kickstarter is the main way we are selling copies of the anthology, so make sure to get yours now!
Thank you for your support thus far, please keep sharing and telling your friends!
Shifting the Angle of Shine spans a decade of resilient artists and collectives in, around, and about China and the greater Sinosphere. Composed of essays, images, conversations, and projects, Shifting the Angle of Shine documents innovative tactics of artists and collectives as they weave relationships of mutuality and solidarity to thrive through the cracks.
Contributors include:
@blackwindow___@johanndiedrick@gendaigallery@v10101a@raniaho@cl44r@vishalkswamy@shanzhai_lyric@roslyn__orlando Shanghai Community Radio, @solveigsuess HB Station, Soeng Joeng Toi, @sudo_wu@pengzuqiang@nztt_sewing@hkcronline@aylinkuryel@firatyucels@imageacts
Editing by Quinn Chen @happyjawbone , Xiaoyao He @xiaoyao_xu_ , and Kira Simon-Kennedy @skkira
Design by Pianpian He and Max Harvey of @infoandupdates
Proofreading by Santiago Valencia @ghostwithegg
***POST-PONED TO 9/24***
For Lovers is a speed-dating event where QTPOC are prioritized; where we meet, mingle, flirt, and have deeper conversations. This installation will be for lovers of books, literature, and the written word, who are looking for people to connect with romantically or platonically.
How It Works: To break the ice, we will be doing some pre-event matchmaking based on Google Forms that you fill out about yourselves. You can be as mysterious or thorough as you wish, but remember to be truthful! Once you answer the questions in the forms, we will match you up with your first date of the night, based on the compatibility of your answers. If you are not comfortable with somebody you have been pre-matched with, please let us know and we can very quickly rearrange matches. There will be multiple switches in dates throughout the night. The deadline to get pre-matched is Sunday, August 20th by midnight!
A portion of the funds will be raised for 爻 yáo collaborative's upcoming book Shifting the Angle of Shine! The anthology spans a decade of resilient artists and collectives in, around, and about China and the greater Sinosphere, documenting innovative tactics of artists and collectives as they weave relationships of mutuality and solidarity to thrive through the cracks.
$33 standard ticket: entry + a book for in-person pickup
$50 sponsor ticket: entry + a book by delivery (this tier helps make the event accessible for others to attend!)
Your hosts for the night: @mimizhuxiyuan and 爻 yáo collaborative
Date: Monday, August 21st
Time: 6-9 PM
Location: @redpavilionbk at 1241 Flushing Ave in Brooklyn, NY 11237
Ticketing: link in bio 💌
SHIFTING THE ANGLE OF SHINE :: Clarissa Lim Kye Lee @cl44r interviewed 黑窗里@blackwindow___ collective members for a beautiful conversation about cooperation, running a DIY restaurant, and creating moveable spaces by putting friendship first.
“They saw us eating out on the street and asked if we wanted to take over their kitchen and cook for the lunch crowd.
“Let’s try la,” we thought.
Obviously, we didn’t have a plan when we started. We didn’t know what to cook or how much each dish should cost. We eventually decided on the 自由定價 zijaudinggaa, pay-as-you-wish model.
So during our time at ‘So Boring’, everything we cooked was a pay-as-you-wish.”
“Being in a collective is hard! It’s a headache… But maybe this is the only non-exploitative way to work or live with one another.”
To read on, pre-order our anthology of resilient collectives & bring this book project to life: /projects/yaocollab/shifting-the-angle-of-shine-yao-collaboratives-first-book/posts
SHIFTING THE ANGLE OF SHINE :: Peng Zuqiang’s script for his two channel video installation “I Don’t Remember The Name” juxtaposes the past, present and future of Chinese communities in Cuba. As the elderly Chinese migrant workers in Havana celebrate birthdays in retirement homes, China’s expanding investments in infrastructure brings over a new generation of workers.
“We worked under the canopy of the stars and the moon, we were washed by the rain and combed by the wind”
These words were written by a Chinese laborer in the late 19th century whose name is now lost. Peng Zuqiang’s work resurfaces these words alongside daily conversations and radio broadcasts announcing new geopolitical partnerships.
The rest of this piece will be printed alongside film stills in our forthcoming book. Pre-order if you can to bring this special project to life: /projects/yaocollab/shifting-the-angle-of-shine-yao-collaboratives-first-book/
SHIFTING THE ANGLE OF SHINE :: Solveig Qu Suess’s script for her short documentary essay AAA Cargo journeys along the across Eurasia along the New Silk Road, where government efforts to speed up trade collide with more-than-human choreographies of materials.
“corporate cartographies priming land to its accumulative advantage, a spatial fix for pending internal crisis, staving off a ‘new normal’ slowing of the economy in the mainland.”
Solveig’s research connects the dots between infrastructures of migration, trade and the people that power supply chains across continents.
We can’t wait to share the rest of this script, in print for the first time, in our forthcoming book. For now, the only way to get a copy of this limited edition book is to pre-order before August 25th: /projects/yaocollab/shifting-the-angle-of-shine-yao-collaboratives-first-book
