Chen Xi. A Rabbit’s Tale

From October 16, 2025, to January 25, 2026, MUSEC – Museum of Cultures in Lugano presents A Rabbit’s Tale, the first major solo exhibition in Europe by Chinese artist Chen Xi. Conceived and produced by Skira and MUSEC, the exhibition traces the stylistic and conceptual evolution of one of the most compelling figures in contemporary Chinese art, featuring over sixty works dating from the 1990s to the present, drawn from both public and private international collections. 

Deeply rooted in the history of contemporary China, Chen Xi (Xinjiang, 1968) fuses personal narrative with collective memory through a visual language imbued with symbolic elements, spanning painting and installation. Her work centers on the condition of the individual immersed in the reality of their time, seeking to understand and express it through art.

Particularly, Chen Xi’s oeuvre offers a psychological reflection on the transformation of Chinese society since the 1978 Economic Reforms, providing a personal and female perspective on contemporary life, marked by a lucid and critical analysis of daily life, work, family, and traditional values.

Curated by art critic and historian Lü Peng, with Manuela Schiavano (independent curator) and Massimiliano Vitali (MUSEC curator), the exhibition unfolds across two floors of Villa Malpensata. It is organized into seven thematic sections, each exploring a key aspect of Chen Xi’s artistic research in dialogue with China’s historical, cultural, and social shifts since the 1990s.