Chinese perspectives on time and memory at HSE’s “Great Disorder”

On December 9 and 11, the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL opened its annual Great Disorder exhibition, which this year spans two venues — the HSE ART GALLERY at Winzavod and the Ekaterina Cultural Foundation. This year’s project features guest artists from China: faculty and students of the Nanjing University of the Arts. Their works have become an important part of the exhibition and continue the creative dialogue launched in spring at the New Wave show in Nanjing.

The theme of this year’s Big Exhibition is chaos and entropy as fundamental modes of existence. Two Chinese artists present their interpretations of this idea: the acclaimed master and associate professor at Nanjing University of the Arts, Jia Fang, and the young artist and graduate student Zhou Chenyang.

“For us, the participation of colleagues from Nanjing in the final exhibition is a natural outcome of a year that began with the HSE Creative Career forum. At that time, we discussed different trajectories for developing a career in a global context, and Professor Jia Fang suggested starting by creating a shared conceptual field through joint projects,” said Natalia Logutova, Deputy Director of the HSE Institute for Creative Industries Development and the coordinator of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL’s international partnerships. “Our students have already taken part in the graduation show in Nanjing, and now both the works of Professor Jia’s student and his own pieces have become an important part of Great Disorder. The exhibition has allowed us to form a multi-perspective view of the theme — not only through multimedia, but also thanks to the involvement of artists from different cultures and language traditions.”

The exhibition features Jia Fang’s video work Happy Moments (2021), created in collaboration with artist Song Jian. At its centre is a couple preparing for their wedding. The piece explores the nature of the “momentary image” and asks: what stories emerge from frozen moments? Its fluid timeline disrupts the familiar perception of static photography, generating new meanings and revealing how elusive time becomes in a state of chaos.

Zhou Chenyang’s project Ere the Waters Recede, I Shall Take My Rest in This Place (2023) engages directly with the theme of entropy. It is a deeply personal story of loss: in 2012, the Yuche Reservoir flooded the artist’s home village. Watching the water alternately conceal and reveal the ruins, Zhou Chenyang uses photography as a way to resist decay. In developing his images, he seems to “wash out” fragments of memory from the riverbed, turning the textures of wood and stone into ghostly landscapes of a place that no longer exists.

The curators of the exhibition note that the Chinese artists did not simply fit into the show, but created an essential conceptual balance within it:

“Where we often perceive chaos as anxiety or destruction, Eastern visual culture finds meditation and the natural flow of time. This brings a meaningful, resonant contrast to the exhibition and significantly expands its interpretive field.”

The works of the Chinese artists can be seen at the venues of the HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL’s Great Disorder exhibition:

• HSE ART GALLERY (Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art):
  Zhou Chenyang’s project — from December 9, 2025 to January 13, 2026.

• Ekaterina Cultural Foundation (21/5 Kuznetsky Most):
  Jia Fang’s video work — from December 11, 2025 to February 8, 2026.