The 2026 degree show at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts will open on May 19 and run through June 27, the academy announced recently.
This year's exhibition is organized around the concept "Zidingyi" (自钉义), a play on the similar-sounding "Zidingyi" (自定义), meaning "self-definition". By replacing the character "定", associated with definition, with "钉", meaning a nail or screw, the theme alludes to the long-standing idea of being "a screw in the machine", a metaphor for an individual serving as one functional part of a broader social system.
Through this concept, graduating students express an awareness that they may take on practical roles in society after leaving campus, while still seeking to preserve the right to define themselves. It also reflects a generation that understands the world may not offer them a ready-made place, yet remains determined to adapt, create spaces of their own, and choose how they connect with it.
The exhibition schedule is as follows.
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