Detours – Sam Shiyi Qian

Join us for a talk with Sam Shiyi Qian, a Shanghai based curator and writer whose work explores historiography, knowledge production, and environmental media.

She is currently curator at the Rockbund Art Museum where she curated ‘Short-term History’ featuring a new three-channel film installation Peng Zuqiang entitled ‘Afternoon Hearsay’, co-commissioned by and displayed at The Common Guild in his solo exhibition of the same name in autumn 2025.

Qian will speak about her curatorial practice as part of our Detours talks series, which highlights international curators.

About the speaker /

Sam Shiyi Qian is a curator and writer based in Shanghai. She is currently a curator at the Rockbund Art Museum. Her curatorial projects and research addresses historiography and knowledge production from speculative approaches to visual politics and environmental media, through lens of regional land and water. Previously, she was Curator and Head of Exhibitions at the Ming Contemporary Art Museum in Shanghai (2018-2024). She was also a Curatorial Fellow (2024-2025) with De Ying Foundation. Her writings on contemporary art publish on Artforum Chinese platform, Art-ba-ba, and ArtReview China.