(b. 1969, Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, China)

Since 2003, artist, curator, critic and teacher Qiu Zhijie has developed his concept of ‘total art’, both in his own work and with his students in the Total Art Studio at the China Academy of Art. Qiu, who has been described as a ‘cultural archaeologist’, defines ‘total art’ as an artistic practice based on cultural research, which takes its impetus from history in the making and seeks in turn to improve the world. Trained as a calligrapher, he views all schools of Chinese art as ‘mutations from ‘calligraphy’, and makes no distinction between different disciplines: his own art also includes painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation and performance. In 2002, Qiu took part in the creation of ‘The Long March – A Walking Visual Display’. He is currently Chief Curator of the 9th Shanghai Biennale, and his work Blueprints (2012), which consists of large-scale, ink-based maps, forms the second instalment of the series of installations Prompts and Triggers at Witte de With in Rotterdam this June.