“TANK CURATOR Prize” 2026: Down to Earth

TANK Shanghai is honored to announce the exhibition “Down to Earth” , curated by Erika Mei Chua Holum, Ke Zining, and Pu Hongxia——the awardees of TANK CURATOR Prize (co-winner of the award with Xu Mengyi). “Down to Earth” in Chinese meaning Step down onto earth is a most direct action, inviting us to bend down and examine what lies beneath our feet. As human footprints increasingly disconnect from the land, how do we relearn to sense the soil’s breath and the pulse of life? “Step Down!” symbolizes an interspecies connection between humans and more-than-human beings.

Starting from the embodied acts of stepping into the soil and touching the land, this exhibition brings together artists from China and around the world. Drawing from ecological, kin, and land-based knowledge, it reconsiders our relationship with the earth. When our bodies make contact with the land once more, how do we find direction between severed histories and present realities? Following threads of mending, returning, reciprocating and rooting, the exhibition invites visitors to relearn how to coexist with the land.

Artists: Ashwini Bha, Chen Ruicheng, Feng Zhixuan, Cristina Rivera Garza & Saúl Hernández-Vargas, Eugenia Lim Jumaadi, Hu Yun, Patty Chang, Tine Galatius, Wang Yiyi, Melting Wang, Xie Rui, Zhengbo