Located along the Ou River, Guyan Huaxiang is historically associated with plein-air painting and is often referred to as “China’s Barbizon”. Wild Moods engaged with this legacy while proposing a shift from landscape representation toward experiential and socially engaged forms of artistic production. Rather than treating the village as a scenic backdrop, the project approached the site as an active environment in which artistic processes, local knowledge, and daily life could intersect.

​

The project unfolded through three interconnected components: the exhibition Wild Moods: The Meteorology Within, the international residency programme Emotions in the Making, and a series of participatory workshops open to the public. These elements were conceived as a continuous cycle rather than separate events. The residency generated work through immersion in the local environment, the exhibition presented outcomes within the Guyan Huaxiang Art Centre, and the workshops extended the process to residents and visitors, allowing artistic methods to be shared beyond the studio.

​

The exhibition brought together more than seventy artists working across installation, painting, photography, video, and mixed media. Instead of a linear curatorial narrative, the display followed a journey-like structure, inviting visitors to move through different emotional and sensory states. Works were presented not as autonomous objects but as traces of perception shaped by memory, environment, and lived experience, suggesting the idea of mood as a form of landscape that can be read, walked through, and inhabited.

​

The residency programme formed the conceptual core of the project. Four international artists — Helen Frosi, Ise Sharp, Jade Annalise Gaskin, and Oliver Eglin — joined six Chinese artists — Chen Chunwang, Dong Zhen, Huang Xiao, Li Fan, Ma Zihao, and Zhang Tong — for residencies ranging from several weeks to two months. Artists developed their work through direct engagement with the village, collaborating with local craftsmen, learning traditional techniques, and responding to the rhythm of the place. Activities included plant dyeing, ink painting, ceramics, wood carving, site-specific installation, and field-based drawing practice. The emphasis was placed on process and relationship-building rather than pre-determined outcomes, positioning the residency as a space for cross-cultural dialogue and situated experimentation.

​

Alongside the exhibition and residency, public workshops invited local residents, visitors, and children to take part in drawing walks, photography sessions, clay making, sensory exercises, and participatory art activities led by the participating artists. These sessions aimed to open artistic practice to non-specialist audiences and to situate creativity within everyday experience, reinforcing the project’s interest in participation, perception, and shared authorship.

Within the broader context of rural cultural development in China, Wild Moods proposed a model in which contemporary art functions not only as cultural production but also as a method of building relationships between artists, communities, and place. By combining exhibition, residency, and public engagement, the project tested how curatorial practice can operate beyond the gallery, using landscape, emotion, and social interaction as material for artistic and cultural exchange.

​

​

Host: Liandu District People’s Government

​

Organizers: Lishui Liandu Agriculture-Culture-Tourism Investment & Development Group Co., Ltd.; 52Hz Digital Nomad Community

​

Project Coordination: 52Hz Digital Nomad Community

​

Project Director: Xie Yunyao

​

Curators: Xie Yunyao, Veronique Sangyu Chen, Zhou Siwu, Chen Yong, Liu Zongxuan

​

Participating Artists: Bai Yao, Huang Xiao, Lu Yuxin, Cao Luyin, Huang Yangming, Ma Zihao, Chen Chunwang, Ji Houfeng, Meng Fanyu, Chen Mo, Jiang Jialin, Ouyang Yu, Chen Yumeng, Ju Yang, Shen Tongzhou, Dong Zhen, Li Fan, Wang Kai, Du Yuting, Li Junhan, Wang Lanbin, Duan Liangjuan, Li Shijie, Wu Hengzhi, Fang Rui, Li Rui, Wu Yuqing, Guan Yu, Li Yuanchen, Yang Yuanshen, Gu Weiran, Li Yongguang, Zha Aonan, Guo Chuwei, Liang Shijia, Zha Weilan, He Weijia, Liu Jianghao, Zhang Tong, Hu Xinting, Lu Linfeng, Zhao Liqi, Huang Jiayi

​

Resident Artists : Helen Frosi, Ise Sharp, Jade Gaskin, Oliver Eglin Chen Chunwang, Dong Zhen, Huang Xiao, Li Fan, Ma Zihao, Zhang Tong

​

Local Collaborating Artists/Craftsmen: Lan Jinmei, Zhu Xiaohong, Li Jun, Liang Liyong, Xu Zhengzhen

​

Project Team: Chang Xiting, Chen Jingjing, Chen Wen, Ding Chu, Gui Ruihong, Hu Tian, Jiang Zefeng, Lai Jiachong, Li Yiyao, Li Xiuyue, Luo Ji, Ma Yanjing, Wang Zixin, Wu Ruofei, Zhang Peiyao, Zheng Jinyi, Zhou Mofei, Zhou Xiacong, Zhou Yongqi, Zhu Jiayu, Zhu Xinyi

​

Visual Design: Xu Huanfeng Translation: Zhang Peiyao, Zhou Mofei

​

Translation: Zhang Peiyao, Zhou Mofei

​

Photography: Li Yiyao, Liu Yueming, Xing Xiaoyu, Zeng Wenxiong

​

Co-Presented by: The Quick Image Community (Zhou Siwu, Chen Yong, Liu Zongxuan) and Veronique Sangyu Chen

​