PENG ZUQIANG, photo by Rehan Miskci, courtesy the artist.
On December 12 at Beijing’s UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Zheng Yuan and Peng Zuqiang were named the respective winners of the 2020 Huayu Youth Award Jury Prize and Special Jury Prize, for artists under 35 years of age. Zheng and Peng received a cash award of RMB 50,000 (USD 7,600) and RMB30,000 (USD 4,600), respectively.
Zheng was conferred the grand prize for his one-hour video installation
The last step of touch down (2020), comprised of a montage of archival clips from 1950 to 1989 depicting foreign political leaders and ambassadors descending from aircrafts during their visits to China. Inspired by American president Richard Nixon’s historical 1972 visit to Beijing, Zheng explores the construction of histories for Chinese political and diplomatic relations, as well as the process of globalization. Born in Lanzhou, Zheng obtained his masters from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2015, and works primarily with time-based media such as archival materials and footage.