木玉明

Mu Yuming

木玉明

Born March 23, 1971 — Kunming, Yunnan, China

Based: Lijiang, Yunnan / Chiang Mai, Thailand

Naxi — Descendant of the Mu Royal Family of Lijiang

muyuming.com

Art Names & Identities

桩子 Zhuangzi · 老木 Lao Mu · 丽江农民 Farmer Mu · 闲木观念 Xian Mu Guannian · 梦春山 Meng Chunshan · 黑球恩 Hei Qiu'en

Six names corresponding to six phases of practice — Lao Mu (the wanderer, folk practitioner), Farmer Mu (2008 rural identity), Xian Mu Guannian (pre-Jingdezhen conceptual phase), Meng Chunshan (2014–2019 Jingdezhen retreat), Zhuangzi (2017–2019 ChuangTzu / Zhuangzi Project), Hei Qiu'en (2023–present international public welfare phase).

Education

2005–2006

Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam — Artist-in-Residence · Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Rijksakademie Joint Scholarship

1996–2000

Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Oslo — BFA, Department of Experimental Art · Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Scholarship

1993–1994

Central Academy of Art & Design, Beijing — Course

Residencies

2026.01

Zongtong Temple (宗通寺) Meditation Residency — Chiang Mai, Thailand

2025.11

Guirensi Temple (皈仁寺) Residency — Taining, China

2025.10

Huaniao Island (花鸟岛) Island Residency — Zhejiang, China

2015

MACL Contemporary Art Museum — Quebec, Canada

2014–2019

Jingdezhen Five-Year Retreat (planned as three) — Jingdezhen, China

2012

Yunnan Buddhist Academy Residency — Kunming, China

2001–2002

Artist Residency — Philadelphia, USA

Major Projects

2024

She Nian Fo — Pa Pae Meditation Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2023 — 2024

Tea Dana — Lashihai, Lijiang & Chiang Mai

2023 —

OUR CHILDREN — Chiang Mai, Thailand

2023 —

My Flesh — Ongoing

2022 —

Five Hundred Arhats — Global — online premiere

2021 — 2022

Searching for a Soulmate — China · Bao Mei (包梅)

2021 — 2022

My Second Face — Kunming, Yunnan, China

2017 — 2019

ChuangTzu → Zhuangzi Project — Bajie, Anning, Yunnan, China

2014 — 2019

Jingdezhen Five-Year Retreat — Jingdezhen, Jiangxi, China

2013 —

Landscape Dream (Shanshui Meng) — China & Thailand

2013 — 2022

Ten Years of Silence — Myanmar, China, Thailand, Hungary

2011 —

Life as Game — Ongoing — worldwide

2010

Give Myself Away for a Year — Yunnan, China

2009

Genealogy — New Zealand & China · Official collaboration with the New Zealand Government

2008 —

Farmer Station — Rural Yunnan, China

2005

An Illusory Character Made in China — Amsterdam, Netherlands

2004

Himalaya — Multiple locations, France · Official collaboration with the French Government

2003 — 2007

20 Days Project — Kunming — Oslo — Amsterdam — Brittany, France

2003 — 2007

Lijiang Studio — Lijiang, Yunnan, China · Co-founded with Jay Brown (American curator)

2003 — 2006

Jiang Hu — Kunming & Lijiang, Yunnan, China

2000

Killing — Oslo, Norway — Asia Tour

1997

Identity — S Ar era Public Art Space, Oslo, Norway

Solo Exhibitions

2026

Human Paradise · Chiang Mai, Zongtong Temple (宗通寺), Chiang Mai, Thailand

2025

Human Paradise · Guirensi Temple, Guirensi Temple (皈仁寺), Taining, China

2025

My Father, Huaniao Island (花鸟岛), Zhejiang, China

2014

Sleeping Temple, Beijing, Beijing, China

2009

Genealogy (Family Portrait), In official collaboration with the New Zealand Government, New Zealand

2008

Solo Exhibition, Red Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia

2007

Mu Yuming's World, 140sqm Gallery, Shanghai, China

2007

Solo Exhibition, Ines De Seroux, LLC Gallery, New York, USA

2006

The Time of the Great Revolution, Fine Art School, Marseille, France

2006

The Time of the Great Revolution, Fine Art School, Aix-en-Provence, France

2006

Family Portrait, Lijiang Studio Haidong, Lijiang, China

2005

A Virtual Person Made in China, Agentur, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2005

20 Days Project, L'Estran, Binic, France

2004

20 Days Project, Hoseman, Oslo, Norway

2003

20 Days Project, Loft (Kunming Creative Warehouse), Kunming, China

1996

My Hometown, ArbliArt Space, Oslo, Norway

Group Exhibitions

2008

Another China, Galerie Nord, Berlin, Germany

2007

Li, Eidos Art Space, Bassano Romano, Italy

2006

Hiscox Art Award, Arti et Amicitiae, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2006

Rijksakademie at Parts, Parts, Xiamen, China

2005

Open Ateliers, Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, Netherlands

2005

Jiang Hu, Jiang Hu Movement, Kunming & Lijiang, China

2002

Single Screen Video Art from Asia, Nikolaj Copenhagen Art Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark

2002

Group Exhibition, Earl Lu Gallery / College of the Arts, Singapore

2000

Group Exhibition, SKA Stenersen Museet (Norwegian Museum of Contemporary Art), Oslo, Norway

Ink & Painting

2025–2026

Human Paradise · Zongtong Temple — Wat Jong Thong (Zongtong Temple), Chiang Mai, Thailand

2026

Human Paradise · Kunming — Kunming, Yunnan

2026

Human Paradise · Chiang Dao — Qing Dao Mountains, Thailand

2025

Human Paradise · Guirensi Temple — Guirensi Temple, Taining, Fujian

2025–2026

Heaven on Earth — Guirensi Temple, Taining / Zongtong Temple, Chiang Mai

2025

Human Paradise · Lijiang — Lashihai, Lijiang, Yunnan

2025

Human Paradise · Hua Niao Dao — Huaniao Island, Shengsi, Zhejiang

2025

Human Paradise · Shambhala — Chiang Dao, Northern Thailand

2024–2025

Human Paradise · Krabi — Krabi, Southern Thailand

2024

Human Paradise · Renunciation Mind — On the Road

2024–present

Human Paradise · Letting-Go Buddha — Pa Pae Meditation Centre, Chiang Mai, Thailand

2023 — present

Our Children · Cambodia — Phnom Penh, Cambodia

2023 — present

Our Children · Thailand — Chiang Mai, Thailand

2023 — present

Tea Giving — Global

2015 — 2016

Classic of Mountains and Seas · Heart Sutra — Jingdezhen, Jiangxi

2014 — 2019

Seed People — Jingdezhen, Jiangxi

2012

Bodhidharma Crossing the River — Yunnan Buddhist Academy, Kunming

1986

Splash-Ink Landscape — Kunming, Yunnan

2024 — 2025

Temple Paintings — Lijiang, Yunnan

2013 — 2023.01

Death Gaze — Kunming, Yunnan

2022 — present

500 Arhats Online — Global

2021 — present

In Search of a Soul Mate — Kunming, Yunnan

2022

In Search of a Soul Mate · Deep Winter — Yunnan

2022

In Search of a Soul Mate · Winter Solstice — Yunnan

2022

In Search of a Soul Mate · Autumn — Yunnan

2021

In Search of a Soul Mate · Summer — Yunnan

2021

In Search of a Soul Mate · Spring — Yunnan

2017

Lao Mu & Meng Chunsheng — Mr. Mu Solo Exhibition — The Pottery Workshop · Jingdezhen, Jiangxi

2018 — ongoing

Zhuangzi Project / Chuang Tzu Project — Bajie Ancient Town, Anning, Yunnan, China

2019

Zhuangzi Project / Chuang Tzu Project — Opening Day — Bajie Old Courthouse, Anning, Yunnan

2020

Zhuangzi Project / Chuang Tzu Project — Year One Review — Bajie Old Courthouse, Anning, Yunnan

2016—2026

Conceptual Landscape — Jingdezhen / continuously moving

2015

Yutian Pit Firing — Yutian Lake, Jingdezhen

Video & Performance

2011

Searching for the East (《寻找东方》) — performance, Yunnan → North China

2010

Give Myself Away for a Year (《将自己布施出去一年》) — performance

2003

100 Minutes — video, Kunming

2002

Encountering the West (《遇到西方》) — conceptual action

2001

Four Yellow Sisters (《黄色四姐妹》) — experimental documentary, Philadelphia

1999

No Idea Street Performance — Venice

1998

Freedom (《自由》) — performance, Oslo

1997

Blue Poles — installation, Oslo

1997

Identity (《身份》) — public art, S Ar era Public Art Space, Oslo

Government Collaborations

2009

Genealogy — Official collaboration with the New Zealand Government · Contributed to the formal apology to the Chinese community for the historical Poll Tax.

2004

Himalaya — Official collaboration with the French Government

Institutional Collections & Records

Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten — official artist-in-residence archive (Mu Yuming / Farmer Mu)

Norwegian Royal Academy of Fine Arts — alumni archive, experimental film Killing

IberLibro international art book platform — Lijiang China Studio/Residence (2004)

23rd Hungary MEDIAWAVE Festival — on-site works collected

Cultural departments of France, New Zealand, Canada, Hungary, Norway, Netherlands — cooperative project archives

Selected Press & Media

2005Libération (France) — "A Binic, travers de porcs à la chinoise. Mu Yuming expose un 'Himalaya de lisier' dans un centre culturel breton," by Edouard Launet

中国文旅头条 — ChuangTzu Project and Lijiang Studio

云南网 (Yunnan Net) — ChuangTzu Project

春城晚报 (Chuncheng Evening News) — ChuangTzu Project

Contact

muyuming.com

WeChat: 老木参游