Cao Fei, Beijing based artist known for her prolific output and astute commentary of 21st-century China. So much so that she was voted one of the top ten most influential artists by ArtReview in 2023. Born in Guangzhou, Fei saw first-hand China's industrial revolution of the eighties and subsequent economic growth. This period of fluctuation significantly influenced her artistic themes and multimedia processes. While enrolled at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts in the mid-nineties, Fei became invested in documenting and empathising with marginalised groups left behind by the tides of cultural and social change. In the next three decades, Fei produced bodies of work exploring China's relationship with capitalism, urbanisation, and migration to digital spaces.
Over the summer, the Art Gallery of New South is holding the largest-ever exhibition of Fei's work in Australia, My City is Yours 欢迎登陆'. The show intertwines Fei's expansive catalogue of films, photos, and installations into an organised chaos resembling a sprawling cityscape. My City is Yours 欢迎登陆 intersects the past and present, where local Sydney artefacts act as portals to futuristic visions. While the show's allure is Fei's insights into contemporary China, the title encourages a shared reflection on the effects of rapid gentrification on a global level.
Below is our interview with Fei as she looks back on her celebrated career and My City is Yours 欢迎登陆'.
Eastern Standard Times:
Congratulations on ‘My City is Yours 欢迎登陆’! I saw you having a great time on the opening night, even getting on stage with our local favourite rappers ‘1300’, haha. Has that energy carried on into your new year?
Cao Fei:
To be honest, it wasn’t planned. I just jumped on stage myself, haha—they were just so electrifying! I definitely hope to keep that energy going.
Eastern Standard Times:
‘My City is Yours 欢迎登陆’ is exhibited in a way that resembles the chaos of a mega city, avoiding the European gallery and salon hanging styles. Why did you want to avoid the traditional exhibiting style?
Cao Fei:
I chose what felt most natural and fitting for my work—keeping it open, non-linear, and free. My hope is that the audience can experience the exhibition in a way that feels immersive and allows for a sense of "breathing."
Eastern Standard Times:
The entrance to ‘My City is Yours 欢迎登陆’ recreates the Hongxia Theatre, which served as your Beijing art studio until it was recently demolished. This space and images from the 1980s and 1990s play a significant role in the exhibition. What is China’s relationship with documenting and preserving its past?
Cao Fei:
The "80s and 90s" serve as a generational marker in this retrospective—not just the era in which I came of age as an artist, but a time filled with meaningful memories for my peers and those before us. Recording history preserves memory and keeping it alive is our responsibility to the future.
Eastern Standard Times:
You grew up along Guangzhou's Pearl River Delta also known as the “Factory of the World”. As a result, you’ve witnessed the changes caused by China’s rapid industrialisation first-hand. Why is it essential for you to capture the disconnect between China’s future and the workers building it?
Cao Fei:
For nearly 30 years, my work has revolved around the changes in Chinese society—it’s almost like the “mother theme.” Returning to certain subjects, like the manufacturing industry, gives my work a sense of continuity, helping me trace its transformations over time.
Eastern Standard Times:
One of my favourite sections of the exhibition was ‘RMB City’. Debuting in 2009, the work was an interactive space generated and hosted on the platform Second Life. ‘RMB City’ imagined a futuristic China, where capitalism and communism intertwined into a jungle of concrete and glass. Over fifteen years later, what aspects of 'RMB City’ do you think came to fruition?
Cao Fei:
RMB City now exists as a kind of digital ruin. It was once alive, but it disappeared, leaving behind only archives that hint at this once-thriving virtual world. Like Atlantis, it’s become a new kind of legend.
Eastern Standard Times:
What does the future of China look like to you?
Cao Fei:
My work interprets reality through a creative lens, expanding dimensions of time and space—but predicting the future is beyond me.
Eastern Standard Times:
The exhibition features valuable artefacts of Sydney’s Chinatown, most prominently those collected from the now closed yum cha, Marigold. What was the thought and logistics behind including these items and interiors?
Cao Fei:
Marigold, like Hongxia Theatre, carries collective memories.
People have deep emotional connections to these places—they have warmth and soul.
It’s an honor to bring Marigold into the show in Sydney, like it was mirroring Hongxia Theatre in its own way.
Eastern Standard Times:
Within ‘My City is Yours 欢迎登陆’ is 'Golden Wattle' is a collection of your late sister Cao Xiaoyun's paintings and a special video work. Xiaoyun migrated to Sydney in 1998 and made it her home for the next two decades. How does it feel to celebrate your sister's work and the city she so fondly loved?
Cao Fei:
My first idea of “Australia” was shaped by my sister. She moved there after getting married, and with our parents in Guangzhou and me either in Beijing or constantly traveling, we didn’t have much time together. Then, during the pandemic, she passed away far too soon. That loss made the distance between us feel even greater. I knew I had to present this work in Sydney. It was painful to make, but I couldn’t think of a more meaningful way to honour her—not just for her, but for the city she loved, and the many immigrants like her.
Eastern Standard Times:
What does the idea of a Chinatown mean to you? Do you feel like there’s a solidarity between these spaces internationally?
Cao Fei:
In many ways, Chinatowns represent the Chinese diaspora—our communities, histories, and culture. The idea of being “Chinese” is broad—it’s not just about being from China. At the gate of Sydney’s Chinatown, there’s a plaque that reads “四海一家” (All under Heaven are One Family). That message is powerful: no matter where we come from, we belong here. Chinatowns aren’t just cultural hubs for Chinese people—they’ve become spaces of shared understanding, where different cultures mix and new identities emerge.
Cover image: Cao Fei ‘Oz’ 2022, dual-screen digital video, colour, sound, 1:36 min, 9:16, music: Ma Haiping © Cao Fei. Courtesy the artist, Vitamin Creative Space and Sprüth Magers