UK-Taiwan Artist in Residence 2025: Zhao Ruo Tong

Feb-Apr 25 • Leeds

Share this page Facebook twitter

Taiwanese artist Zhao Ruo Tong will take part in our UK-Taiwan exchange programme between February and April 2025, collaborating with East Street Arts and Artist-in-Residence Taipei.

As an artist, Zhao Ruo Tong is interested in the dynamics between urban space and social collective consciousness. Throughout their time in Leeds, Ruo will have access to facilities at Convention House to develop methodologies using new technologies to explore urban space and how it is used. Ruo will develop a new project that explores tropical plants, memories and community exchange through performances and screenings working with local community groups across Leeds.

This is a continuation of our partnership with East Street Arts, following a successful residency for Taiwanese artist Jui-Hung in Leeds, and Leeds-based artists SAYANG and James Thompson travelling to the Treasure Hill Artist Village in 2024.

Ruo will be in residence at the Convention House in Leeds from 22 February until 12 April 2025.

About Zhao Ruo Tong:

Zhao Ruo Tong (b. 1998) is a director and interdisciplinary artist from Taiwan, working with film, video installations and artist books. Her works often explore the interrelationships among space, emotion, and technology, discussing how imaging technologies, visual elements, and architectural spaces influence human emotions and bodily perceptions, as well as how emotions and collective consciousness shape spaces and objects.
She began shooting documentaries at the age of nineteen, covering topics ranging from migrant workers to sex workers, and has accumulated extensive experience in creating short films, music videos, and commercials. With this background, her works are rooted in the field research methods of documentary filmmaking, based on reality, objects, or spaces as subjects to establish connections with the body and memory. Through deconstructing cinematic elements and the relationships between images and their creators, she reconstructs and collages visuals and texts to create multi-layered, non-linear narratives. Her works have been shortlisted for and won awards at numerous film festivals and have been screened and exhibited in Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, France, and the United States.

Ruo Tong is also a member of the Taiwanese art collective Video Art Guerrilla. This collective focuses on site-specific screenings and exhibitions initiated independently by artists outside of traditional white-box gallery spaces. Through these actions, they explore possibilities for reshaping relationships among institutions, artists, and the public. The collective also experiments with different collaborative and creative methods among artists with various areas of expertise.

Find Ruo Tong:

ruotongzhao.com
@videoartguerrilla | @chuchuchuchubby

About East Street Arts

At East Street Arts, we strongly believe that artists will create positive change in the places they live and work. As a visual arts charity, we are dedicated to providing essential workspace, resources, professional support and opportunities for artists and artists’ spaces, enabling them to develop resilient and sustainable practices and connect with local communities, audiences, and peers across the UK and beyond. By championing creativity and fostering collaboration, we aim to be a catalyst for change, shaping a future where artists play a central role in building a fairer and more vibrant society. Convention House is one of only a few purpose-built residency locations in England, with facilities, studios and space supporting artists to explore and develop their practice.

The exchange is supported by the Arts Council England and the Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs. Delivered in association with East Street Arts, Taipei Artist Village (TAV) and Treasure Hill Artist Village (THAV).

     

       

 

Find us on

InstagramInstagram FacebookFacebook TwitterTwitter

Get the latest from Platform Asia in your inbox. Zero spam.

Partners & supported by