“Gazing Back”: Contemporary Chinese Perspectives on the West in Zurich

Who observes whom, and from which position? The exhibition “Gazing Back – Contemporary Chinese Views on the West”, opening on 8 January 2026 at Anggrek Agency in Zurich, addresses this question by deliberately reversing a familiar perspective. Rather than presenting China through Western interpretation, the exhibition focuses on how the West is perceived, remembered and questioned by Chinese artists who have lived and worked abroad.

Zeyuan Ren, A Kind of Displacement

The show brings together three contemporary Chinese artists working in photography, video, sculpture and installation. Their works are shaped by experiences of displacement, migration and distance. Instead of offering explanatory narratives about cultural difference, they reflect on everyday perception, memory and belonging.

The Artists

Moyan Wang (born 2000) works with ceramics, painting and sculpture. Her practice explores personal experience, cultural memory and generational trauma within the Chinese diaspora. Through historically charged materials, she develops restrained but precise visual metaphors for experiences that are often difficult to articulate.

Ronghui Chen (born 1989), based in Shanghai, is known for his long-term photographic projects examining the social and emotional impact of urban transformation in China. For “Gazing Back”, he presents works from “An Ordinary Evening in New Haven”, a series produced during his time in the United States. The photographs focus on everyday scenes and convey subtle feelings of distance, tension and isolation.

Zeyuan Ren (born 1997) works across video, installation and performance, drawing on experiences of movement between coastal regions and different cultural contexts. His video work “A Kind of Displacement”, created after his arrival on the US East Coast, reflects on distance, return and the sea as both a connecting and separating force.

Curatorial Approach

The exhibition is curated by Dario Veréb, Chief Photo Editor at NZZ am Sonntag. “Gazing Back” was developed as his graduation project for the Asia Society Switzerland’s Gen A Program, which aims to prepare professionals for deeper engagement with Asia-related topics.

Veréb’s curatorial approach avoids interpretive framing. Rather than positioning the artists as subjects to be explained, the exhibition creates a space in which their individual ways of seeing take precedence. The result is a presentation that prioritizes perspective over representation.

When and Where?

Vernissage: January 8, 2026

Finissage: February 7, 2026

Location: Anggrek Agency, Turbinenstrasse 46, 8005 Zurich

Visiting: By appointment, all works for sale

Contact: Dario Veréb – dario.vereb@nzz.ch / Steven Anggrek – mail@anggrek.agency