Creative Economies: Transforming Constraints into Collaboration with Social Practice Lab with Curator Hanlu Zhang. Presented by Civic Engagement Fellow Alex Strada

Join curator Hanlu Zhang for an engaging discussion on innovative approaches to funding socially-engaged artist-led projects. As the founder of Social Practice Lab (SPL), an independent curatorial platform based in Guangzhou, China, Zhang will share her experiences and DIY strategies for bringing art projects to life in political environments where critical voices often face limited resources. In such contexts, creativity in funding is not only essential but transformative. Zhang will also present videos co-created with her peers, offering a glimpse into the friendship economy that underlies SPL and the inspiring public artwork and publishing projects that have emerged through collaboration and alternative infrastructures.

Hanlu will be joining virtually from Guangzhou. The event will be hosted on Zoom. Participants can join us by using this Zoom link.

Organized by Fine Arts Civic Engagement Fellow, Alex Strada

Hanlu Zhang is a curator, writer, and editor interested in art as social practice. In 2020 she founded Social Practice Lab (SPL), a platform which curates socially engaged art and initiates collaborative projects. SPL engages topics and communities related to urban-rurality, migration, social justice, and alternative practices. She has done projects with Power Station of Art, Shanghai; Mulan Community Service Center, Beijing; Centre Pompidou, Paris; Para Site Art Space, Hong Kong; Sun Yat-sen University Anthropology Department; and esea contemporary, Manchester. Hanlu graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; worked at artforum.com.cn and Guangdong Times Museum. She is also a member of Theater 44, a fluid network exploring collective creativity.

This event is open to the public.