Qilu Criticism歧路批评

Qilu Criticism 歧路批评 is an independent online forum formed in 2021 to expand spaces for critical discussion of contemporary art in Chinese. The name ‘qilu’ translates into English as both transversal and alternative. I have been part of it since 2021, as one of its core editors.

We work collaboratively with contributors to publish reviews, critical essays, interviews and other forms of art writing, bringing writers and readers together into a community of critical imagination and interpretation that cuts across borders and boundaries.

For me, Qilu is where editing and curating meet. Reading, commenting, commissioning, translating, turning down and publishing are all ways of hosting other people’s thinking – and now and then we host an actual party.

Based in London, Shanghai and digital space, Qilu’s current editorial team is Weitian Liu, Cindy Ziyun Huang, Nie Xiaoyi and Chengzhen Liu (editorial fellow). Our graphic designer is Smobniar. Former interns include Kyrin Chen, Xiaoxi Chen and Jianyi Zhao.

Publisher: Qilu Criticism · Place of publication: London, United Kingdom · ISSN 3153-7278 · qilucriticism.com

Around Qilu

• Becoming Qilu 为什么要成为歧路 – on why we started, Art Monthly 画刊, 2022
• Amateur Editors: Qilu Criticism 业余编辑：歧路批评 – sharing at Qiantai-osf, Guangzhou, 2025
• Who needs an editor? – Open House conversation, Para Site, Hong Kong, 2025
• Qilu Night 歧路派对 – our first party, at Minor Space, London, December 2025
• Where Does the Meal Come From? 饭从何处来 – on that party, and who pays for the food
• Editor Wannabes’ Club – workshops and the Lexicon of Editor Wannabes, with Asymmetry, London, 2026

My writing on Qilu

• The Boredom of the Powerless, the Power of the Bored (2022)
• Review of “Blue Throat” (2023)
• Why Go to Indonesia to Talk about Art Writing? (2024, with Liu Di)
• Surabaya Journal: Being Alive Is Wondrous (2024)
• Contemporary Art Survivor (2024)