January 16 – February 28, 2026
The 36 Days I Roam
The Haakonson Family Gallery
Opening Reception for Members and Guests: Friday January 16th, 7 – 9 pm
Free admission
The 36 Days I Roam is a multidisciplinary art exhibition project by Edmonton-based artist Cui Jinzhe, presenting an immersive blend of painting, Chinese calligraphy, poetry reading, vocal improvisation, poetic movement, and interactive performance.
This project emerged in 2022 during the artist’s creation of three limited-edition handmade artist books in traditional Chinese formats: the album, hand scroll, and folding sheet. Throughout this process, a core question emerged: What are the relationships and possibilities between pictorial imagery and the physical format of these traditional art objects?
When fully opened, these formats transform – becoming folding screens, miniature movable murals, or playful spatial installations. This realization inspired the artist to investigate further, drawing on scholar Wu Hung’s reflections in The Double Screen:
“What is a (traditional Chinese) painting? … Both kinds of scholarship approaches equate a painting with a pictorial representation… What is missing there is included in a painting’s physical form… and in all concepts and practices related to its materiality… This approach naturally breaks down the confines between image, object, and context, and provides a new ground for a historical investigation.”
The 36 Days I Roam explores these very boundaries – between image and object, between artwork and viewer. Through experimental multidisciplinary installations, Cui Jinzhe examines how visual language, installation media, and performative space can converge into a dynamic, living artwork.
Key components of the exhibition include three large-scale screen painting panel installations, sound and video elements, and, most distinctively, a 36-day live performance by the artist. Each day features a unique blend of poetic movement, vocal improvisation, live painting, calligraphy, and audience interaction – performed either in contemplative silence, accompanied by pre-recorded soundtracks, or in collaboration with live musicians.
The performance is grounded in Jinzhe’s 2024 publication, The 36 Days I Roam: A Long Poem and a Series of Paintings, a personal and poetic reflection on her travels through the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, and the mountains and temples of Lhasa. Each day’s performance draws inspiration from the corresponding text in the book, creating a time-based, evolving encounter between artist and audience.
Through this immersive project, Cui Jinzhe invites viewers into a poetic, spiritual, and deeply personal exploration – an integration of screen painting, poetry, live performance, and shared presence. This is a living exhibition that resists replication, favoring instead the raw immediacy and unpredictability of live art to provoke creativity, emotion, and human connection.
Artist’s Biography
Cui Jinzhe (pen name: Qiu Shi) is a painter, poet, and multidisciplinary artist based in Edmonton, Alberta. Born in Dalian, China, she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication from the School of Arts Design at Dalian University of Foreign Languages, and a Master’s Degree in Mixed Media from Dalian Technical University.
Since relocating to Canada in 2008, Jinzhe has continued her independent practice, focusing on the integration of visual art, poetry, and interdisciplinary performance – often within interactive or participatory contexts.
Her work centers on three major themes:
- Observing everyday life and the natural world to create works that reflect inner perception and imagination.
- Interpreting ancient Chinese literature and visual culture through a personal, contemporary lens
- Using painting and poetry as a foundation for contemplative, transformative live performances that engage community and inspire self-realization
Aspiring to create art that benefits all beings, Cui Jinzhe envisions a timeless artistic realm that connects ancient wisdom, contemporary life, and future possibilities.
Top Image: The 36 Days I Roam – Chapter 2 (detail), 2023, handmade artist book version in Chinese Album format, 12.5 x 12.5 x 0.75 inch
Photo by the artist
Presenting Partner:
