An independent curator working between China and t he UK
About
Leafy (Mengqi) Ye
Leafy (Mengqi) Ye is an independent curator working between China and the United Kingdom. Her practice focuses on contemporary art exhibitions, cross-cultural exchange, curatorial writing, and artist-centred project development.
Working across gallery, museum, and independent contexts, Ye is interested in how images, narratives, and spatial structures shape ways of seeing. She approaches exhibition-making as a site of encounter, where artistic research, visual language, and audience experience are brought into dialogue.
Her recent projects include The Syntax of Tides: Between Nanyang & Beiyang, Reconstructed Scripts — Defocus and Encounter, Dialogues on the Rhine, Ashes to Ashes, and The Dream Has Me. She has contributed to projects at HOW Art Museum and U Art Center in Shanghai, SWANFALL GALLERY and Asylum Chapel in London, Shenzhen University Museum, TMV Art Space in Shenzhen.
Experience
Curatorial Projects
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TIDAL THEORY OF GRAMMAR — ON THE FRINGE OF THE SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN OCEANS
Gaodi Art Space, Shenzhen, China, 20 May – 22 June 2026. Curator · Group Exhibition.
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RECONSTRUCTED SCRIPTS - DEFOCUS AND ENCOUNTER
HOW Art Museum, Shanghai, China, 25 March – 10 April 2026. Curator · Group Exhibition.
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ASHES TO ASHES
Asylum Chapel, London, UK, 15 – 19 December 2025. Group Exhibition.
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DIALOGUES ON THE RHINE - CAIUS JULIUS SPILLNER SOLO EXHIBITION
U Art Centre, Shanghai, China, 22 November 2025 – 4 January 2026. Co-curator · Solo Exhibition
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A GENTLE BREEZE ARRIVES - XU QINGFENG SOLO EXHIBITION
Dezhou Art Museum, Shandong, China, 18 November 2025 – 18 November 2026. Solo Exhibition.
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ALLEGORIES OF COLLAPSE - GUO XIAOJUN SOLO EXHIBITION
SWANFALL GALLERY, London, UK, 2 – 23 October 2025. Solo Exhibition.
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PAINTING THE GREATER BAY AREA, TRACING A JOURNEY IN INK - LI DACHENG SOLO EXHIBITION
Shenzhen University Museum, Shenzhen, China, 27 September – 30 November 2025. Solo Exhibition.
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LOVE ME IF YOU DARE
SWANFALL GALLERY, London, UK, 13 – 19 September 2025. Group Exhibition.
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THE DREAM HAS ME - SAMMI MAK SOLO EXHIBITION
SWANFALL GALLERY, London, UK, 1 July – 2 August 2024. Solo Exhibition.
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EMISSARY - HU ZEQIAN SOLO EXHIBTION
SWANFALL GALLERY, London, UK, 27 April – 19 May 2024. Solo Exhibition.
MEDIA AND PUBLICATION
SWANFALL ART Exhibition “Ashes to Ashes” – Meaning Grows in Displacement
Artron Net, London, UK, 25 January 2026.
German Painter Caius’s Dialogues on the Rhine Held in Shanghai
Asian Art Research Institute Baizhong Art, Shanghai, China, 26 November 2025.
Dialogues on the Rhine – Solo Exhibition of German Painter Caius to Be Held in Shanghai
Art Headlines / Contemporary Art Quick Review, Shanghai, China, 19 November 2025.
Exhibition Announcement | A Gentle Breeze Arrives – Xu Qingfeng Paintings Exhibition
Chanshi Moyun Calligraphy and Painting, Shandong, China, 18 November 2025.
Mobile Art · Exhibition On-Site | “Li Dacheng Realistic Painting Case Study Exhibition” Opens at Shenzhen University Museum
Mobile Art, China, 28 October 2025.
Painting the Greater Bay Area, Tracing a Journey in Ink – Experts and Scholars Gather in Shenzhen
ReadCreate Shenzhen / Shenzhen Business Daily, Shenzhen, China, 27 October 2025.
Painting the Greater Bay Area, Tracing a Journey in Ink – Li Dacheng Realistic Painting Case Study Exhibition Opens at Shenzhen University
CCTV Digital Calligraphy and Painting Channel / Art News, Guangdong, China, 27 October 2025.
Preview | Li Dacheng Realistic Painting Case Study Exhibition Opens Tomorrow
Dacheng’s Artistic Path, Shanghai, China, 26 September 2025.
EDUCATION
MSc International Business, Merit, University of Liverpool, United Kingdom, 2022 – 2024.
BA English, Wuchang Institute of Technology, China, 2017 – 2021.