A journey of discovery into the world of contemporary Chinese rock culture

During the 2024/25 summer term, Generation Z students at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, under the academic supervision and guidance of Prof. Dr. Klaus Siebenhaar, carried out a series of research projects and used the findings to develop an experimental exhibition format entitled ‘A DAY IN THE LIFE – Dreams of a Chinese Generation Z DJane’. The approach was experimental – methodologically experimental, that is – because documentary material was incorporated into an autobiographical narrative.

The exhibition was presented in the summer of 2026 as a pop-up exhibition (2 days) at Galerie Friese. Following on from the ‘Beijing-Berlin-Bohemian’ exhibition, it is another joint project between Galerie Friese, the IKMW and CAFA.

Original posters, photographs, fashion and extensive video footage shed light on a Chinese youth and music culture – straddling the underground and the mainstream – that is scarcely recognised in the West. Western and Asian aesthetics (psychedelic, K-pop) are just as clearly recognisable as entirely independent, genuinely Chinese forms and trends such as ‘Academic Bars’ or vintage rock shops. This research-based exhibition is akin to a journey of discovery into the lifestyle, self-presentation, dreams and even nightmares of a generation that, for the first time, represents a global phenomenon.