Hou Hanru was a Visiting Lecturer/Curator Panel Participant at the Temporal Shifts Symposium at the Arts Research Center on February 1, 2013.
Hou Hanru’s prolific curatorial work addresses contemporary practice and the conditions of artists living in the diaspora from the perspective of cultural hybridity. Hou gained international attention with Cities on the Move (1997-2000), a traveling exhibition he curated with Hans Ulrich Obrist, which emphasized the ways in which Asian contemporary artists have dealt with rapid changes in urban lifestyles and values. He has also curated many seminal exhibitions in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, including international biennials in Shanghai (2000), Istanbul (2007), the Chinese Pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2007), and Lyon (2009). He has acted as a consultant for cultural institutions across the world including the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Global Advisory Committee of the Walker Art Center, and the Asian Art Council. Hou is currently curating the 5th Auckland Triennial, If you were to live here..(May–August 2013).