From 7 November 2026 to 11 April 2027, G MUSEUM of Nanjing presents “The Nature of Things”, a solo exhibition by artist Shao Fan, co-presented by Mirrored Gardens. Bringing together works created between 1995 and 2025, the exhibition offers a focused overview of the artist’s practice over three decades. Conceived in relation to Nanjing’s historical and cultural context, the exhibition is accompanied by a research film, “Dictionary of The Nature of Things”, produced specifically for the occasion. The spatial design, by Feichang Production, weaves together multiple threads to create a viewing experience that connects objects, painting and the city’s collective memory.
As an important centre of Jiangnan culture, Nanjing has developed a rich cultural heritage over the course of its history, shaped by long-standing traditions of garden-making, calligraphy, and the crafting of objects. It is against this backdrop that the exhibition unfolds: the ingenuity of making embodied in Ming-style furniture, the experience of brushwork carried by ink painting, and the city’s own cultural memory enter into a dialogue of contrasts and resonances.
Throughout Shao Fan’s practice, objects and painting are guided by a shared concern: how, through the becoming of things, might we come to understand the relationships between order, time and human existence? Situating works spanning three decades within the urban context of Nanjing, “The Nature of Things” invites visitors to slow down their pace of looking, to sense the nature of things through the interplay of mortise and tenon and ink and brushwork, and, through their encounters with the works, to arrive at insights of their own.
Shao Fan: The Nature of Things@G MUSEUM
Dates: 7 November 2026 – 11 April 2027
Venue: G MUSEUM, Nanjing
Acknowledgements
Video Documentation: Wen Peng
Spatial Design: Daily Making
Dictionary of “The Nature of Things”: The Pavilion
Co-presented by: Mirrored Gardens
(Text from G MUSEUM)
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
-
- The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.
The film stills above are taken from “Dictionary of The Nature of Things,” a research-based film produced in conjunction with Shao Fan’s solo exhibition “The Nature of Things” at the G MUSEUM, Nanjing. Film © The Pavilion, 2026. Images courtesy of The Pavilion.