Zheng Bo (born in 1974 in Beijing) lives and works on Lantau Island in Hong Kong. Zheng works with drawing, dance, and film, with his practice grounded in ecological activism, showcasing a radically different approach to relating to nature.
Zheng Bo in The Gothenburg Botanical Garden in the summer of 2023.
Within the posthumanist field in which Zheng Bo operates, consideration is given to more than just humans, acknowledging and respecting the interconnectedness of all life forms. According to Zheng, art does not arise from human creativity but is a more-than-human life force.
In his artistic projects, Zheng collaborates with both humans and plants to engage in exercises of eco-sensibility. This can be described as a bodily capacity to resonate, communicate, and interact with nature in its full complexity, thereby engaging with it morally. According to Zheng, relationships with plants can be aesthetic, political, and erotic.
In 2022, Zheng participated in the 59th Venice Biennale with the dance film Le Sacre du printemps, filmed in the forests of Dalarna. In 2021, he organized the Wanwu Council at Gropius Bau in Berlin and Life is hard. Why Do We Make It So Easy? at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden in Hong Kong. He has participated in the Sydney Biennale (2022), Liverpool Biennale (2021), Yokohama Triennale (2020), and Manifesta (2018). His works are represented in several collections, including Power Station of Art (Shanghai), Singapore Art Museum, and Hammer Museum (Los Angeles).
In the summer of 2023, Zheng was a recipient of the Iaspis scholarship in Stockholm. Through the scholarship, he had the opportunity to deepen his relationship with Sweden, the forests of Dalarna, and DACE.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and art from Massachusetts Amherst College (1999) and an MFA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2005). He earned his Ph.D. in visual and cultural studies from the University of Rochester in 2012. Zheng conducts research and teaches at the City University of Hong Kong, exploring art and ecology.
Zheng Bo is currently featured in the exhibition The Pleasure of Slowness.
