Zuriya Wang

Pronouns She/Her
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I am a multidisciplinary designer with practices spanning 2D & 3D design, from strategic branding through product, installation, spatial, cultural creativity design and arts & crafts. Interested in research exploring social, political and ecological possibilities of design in response to the many challenges of today, through its embodied knowledge in historical, vernacular, technical and aesthetic traditions.

Currently, I am studying MA in Curating Contemporary Design at Kingston University in partnership with the Design Museum as the recipient of the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, with my thesis on ‘Grassroots curation and collective action in post-Covid China’; and a research fellow at Changsha Kiln Research Association of Hunan Archaeological Society on the social and political context of its Abstract Flambé Glazes decorative design.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, I began to question and reflect on the value of design starting from investigating the design implications on the collateral mortality during the Shanghai Lockdown in 2022. Subsequently, I obtained certificates in Sustainable Packaging in a Circular Economy and Sustainable Resource Management from DelftX.

From 2017 to 2022, I worked as a designer director for Sany Group and China Tobacco Shandong, cultural creative lead for the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Led projects for SANY Foundation, ROOTCLOUD, Mount Tai Cigars, EL MONO, BIAD × National Museum of China Art Workshop, Atelier ZHUN, Capital and City Exhibition, among others. Awarded the Runner-up of Culture and Museum sector in the Beijing Cultural and Creative Competition, Top National Trending Domestic Cigar of the Year, Best Booth Design and Construction of International Cigar Expo Shenzhen and Red Dot Communication Design.

Prior to 2017, I practised as a fine woodworking craftsman, 3D installation artist and contemporary Arts & Crafts consultant for private collections. Before I curated and apprenticed in contemporary ceramic, I was the assistant editor of Antique Auction Yearbook: Porcelain (2009-11) of Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, and worked as a freelance multimedia director for the Shanghai Expo, EE-Media and others.

I studied Graphic Design (now Visual Communication) and Foundation Studies in Art and Design at Central Saint Martins. During my gap year, I filmed the documentary ‘Ten十’ of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake Rescue by staying more than a month in the epicentre from the day after the earthquake, documented untold stories and daily lives of victims in more than a dozen most affected counties and cities.

I am also an enthusiastic reptile, amphibian and aquarium hobbyist, passionate and specialised in designing exotic pet habitats and micro-ecosystems in modern living spaces.