Whispers in Aria

Whispers in Aria: A Review of Poetic Resistance at the Margins
by Anna Gvozdeva

Curated by HanYue, Whispers in Aria is a delicate, resonant group exhibition that brings together emerging voices in contemporary Chinese art, set against the conceptual backdrop of the 2026 Venice Biennale theme “In Minor Keys.” Held from August 1–3, 2025, at 17 Rue Chapon, 75003 Paris, France, the exhibition is presented as a curatorial response rather than a mere collection. It stages a quiet rebellion—a theatre of muted gestures and unresolved emotions, where the whisper carries the weight of resistance.

The participating artists are Yifan Li, Xiaoze Zhang, Mu Tan, Lin Ye, Jialin Wu, Cheng Xie, Xiang Li, Aini (Ellie) Zhang, and Qinglai Chunqi.

Yifan Li’s immersive installations explore memory and spatial narratives by reusing architectural materials to evoke lingering emotions within contemporary and historical contexts.
Xiaoze Zhang’s mixed-media work blurs boundaries between painting, animation, and sculpture, creating fragmented dreamscapes that explore perception and unresolved emotional states.
Mu Tan’s practice centers on psychological and emotional experiences of youth, using digital art to foster healing and reflection across generations.
Lin Ye investigates museography and transmedia storytelling, creating immersive environments that probe death, memory, and identity through sensory and conceptual layers.
Jialin Wu constructs speculative digital installations that challenge institutional narratives and explore ecological and ontological transformation.
Cheng Xie’s video and mixed-media work meditate on emotional exhaustion and the limits of empathy within contemporary digital and cultural structures.
Xiang Li composes multisensory works from natural materials, invoking a deep reconnection between body, earth, and instinct through tactile, scent, and visual elements.
Aini (Ellie) Zhang’s paintings dwell in existential introspection, translating fleeting emotional moments into intimate, tension-filled visual narratives.
Qinglai Chunqi contributes a poetic voice of subtle resistance, weaving soft yet resolute gestures into the collective dialogue of the exhibition.

Aini Zhang | Blue Hesitation

At the heart of the show are works by London-based artists Xiaoze Zhang and Aini Zhang, whose contrasting yet complementary practices invite viewers into spaces where silence resonates louder than words.

Together, these works embody the exhibition’s curatorial ethos: to reclaim the minor, the quiet, the peripheral. HanYue’s thoughtful staging avoids spectacle, favoring nuance and emotional texture. Her background in cross-cultural curating is evident in the exhibition’s fluency across geographies and sensibilities, while the spatial arrangement invites reflection rather than consumption.

Xiaoze Zhang | Desiccant vs. Rian

Whispers in Aria does not shout—it listens. It creates a space where absence is presence, and where fragility is rendered not as weakness but as depth. In doing so, it not only echoes the Biennale’s theme but extends it—offering a resonant platform for those who speak in subtler tones.

Curator: HanYue

Artists: Yifan Li, Xiaoze Zhang, Mu Tan, Lin Ye, Jialin Wu, Cheng Xie, Xiang Li, Aini (Ellie) Zhang, Qinglai Chunqi