Xie Zongxiu

From October until December 2026

Based in Ordos. Xie Zongxiu is a visual artist whose practice engages with ecological feminism and post-humanist ethics. Through participatory formats and sensory materials, she explores the intricate entanglements between feminism, vegetarianism, and animal rights under modern patriarchal value structures. Her work examines cross-cultural narratives as sites of inquiry, tracing how ideas of sustainability, care, and the human-animal relationship are constructed, contested, and reimagined.

Her residency project aims to explore the cultural, ecological, and ethical dimensions of dairy and plant-based milk in Swiss and Chinese contexts. Grounded in ecological feminism, it focuses on the mediating role of microorganisms in fermentation, examining the complex relationships between humans, animals, and invisible life forms. During the residency, she plans to collaborate with local dairy producers, artists, and communities through sensory-based participatory formats to investigate how milk is transformed materially and symbolically. The project also addresses the ethical distance between humans and dairy animals in industrial systems. By juxtaposing Swiss dairy traditions with the water buffalo milk culture of Shunde and the pastoral milk practices of Inner Mongolia, it seeks to provoke cross-cultural reflection on sustainability, animal rights, and the possibilities of multi-species coexistence beyond anthropocentric frameworks.

Foto: Cao Na

RIPPLES OF MILK: THE SWIRL OF BUFFALO MILK IN SHUNDE COMMUNITY CO-CREATION PROJECT 2024

SHATTERED LIGHT, WOVEN SHADOWS INSTALLATION 2025

SHATTERED LIGHT, WOVEN SHADOWS INSTALLATION 2025

THE DREAM OF THE BLACK SHEEP COMMUNITY CO-CREATION PROJECT 2024