Yujie Zhou [they/them] is a Chinese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. They navigate performativity and a decoded notion of language through photography, textiles, video, and publishing. Based on the juxtaposition between their nationalist upbringing and their current life in Finland, their practice interrogates dominant historical narratives and power structures while reframing collective individuality. Zhou holds a Master’s Degree in Arts with a major in Photography and a minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures at Aalto University, Finland. Zhou is awarded of Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023), artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024, shortlist for the PhMuseum Photography Grant’s Main Prize (2024), and selectee for the Copenhagen International Photography Festival (2025). Zhou has been awarded residencies at the Saari Residence by Kone Foundation, Finland (2024), HIAP – Helsinki International Artist Programme (2024), Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, Dublin (2025), and Pioneer Works in collaboration with the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (2025).
“The residency at Künstlerdorf Schöppingen offers time and space for research and reflection. I plan to continue developing my investigations into censorship and forms of resistance against imposed disciplinary practices. The environment of Schöppingen provides an ideal setting to slow down, think, read, and write while gathering materials for my ongoing projects. During the residency, I will also expand my Dictionary of Self-Censorship project by organizing group discussions and workshops that explore how self-censorship manifests across different contexts, alongside questions of nationalism and practices of solidarity.”