We teach its history through art, culture workshops, exhibition & artist features
NÜSHU GLOBAL ASSOCIATION KICKOFF: HER SCRIPT, OUR ECHOES
NÜSHU GLOBAL ASSOCIATION KICKOFF: HER SCRIPT, OUR ECHOES
LET HER ART MAKE HER STORY
What happens when a woman’s voice, once written in a language shared between women, travels across generations and across the world?
Join us in New York City for the Nüshu Global Association Kickoff — an evening dedicated to Nüshu, women’s writing, cultural memory, and contemporary art.
Nüshu (女书) is a distinctive writing tradition historically associated with women in Jiangyong, Hunan, China. Beyond its written form, Nüshu carries stories of friendship, emotion, memory, creativity, and women’s lived experiences.
HER SCRIPT, OUR ECHOES invites us to look at Nüshu not only as a remarkable cultural heritage, but as a continuing conversation between the women who wrote before us and the people who encounter their voices today.
Through art, documentary, conversation, heritage works, and a hands-on writing experience, we will explore how an ancient writing tradition can continue to inspire contemporary creative expression.
WHAT TO EXPECT
· ART
Discover traditional Nüshu works by inheritors Hu Xin and Hu Shuzhen, alongside contemporary artworks that reinterpret Nüshu as a language of memory, identity, and cultural expression.
· DOCUMENTARY
Watch selected documentary material that offers a glimpse into the history, practice, and living heritage of Nüshu.
· ARTIST TALK
Join a conversation exploring Nüshu through the lens of contemporary art, cultural preservation, identity, and women’s voices.
Mingwei (Trista) Zhong is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, curator, and researcher exploring Nüshu, women’s voices, cultural memory, and traditional heritage. She holds dual master’s degrees from Brown University and RISD. Her Nüshu artwork was published in 4N Magazine, Issue 4, and she curated Whispers in Nüshu: Memory and Echoes in Dali, China. She has organized six Nüshu salons across four cities in China and traveled to Jiangyong, Hunan, to learn Nüshu embroidery and the making of Sanchaoshu (三朝书) directly from cultural practitioners. Her handmade Sanchaoshu will be presented at the event.
Lingna Chen is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently pursuing her MFA at Boston University. Originally from China, her practice explores women’s experiences, language, memory, migration, and connections across cultures and generations. Nüshu has become an important part of her artistic research, through which she explores how women preserve memory and express intimate experiences through language and craft. Working across embroidery, fiber, painting, installation, poetry, plants, and moving image, Chen is interested in slow, repetitive practices and themes of fragility, resilience, belonging, and female lineage.
Lu Lyu is a kinetic artist whose practice explores the narrative potential of kinetic sculpture. Through form and movement, she investigates coexisting opposites within a single object—soft/hard, stretching/squeezing, positive/negative. Language and written characters have been recurring elements in her work.
· NÜSHU WRITING
Take part in an introductory, hands-on Nüshu writing experience. Learn about the distinctive forms of Nüshu characters and create your own piece of writing.
No previous Chinese writing or calligraphy experience is required.
EVENT AGENDA
6:00 PM — Welcome & Opening
Arrive, explore the works, enjoy drinks and snacks, and connect with fellow participants.
6:30 PM — Nüshu: A Brief Introduction
An introduction to Nüshu, its cultural context, and the women who carried this writing tradition across generations.
7:00 PM — Documentary Screening
Selected documentary material exploring Nüshu and its living heritage.
7:30 PM — Artist Talk
A conversation connecting Nüshu, contemporary art, cultural heritage, and women’s voices.
8:00 PM — Nüshu Writing Experience
A guided introduction to Nüshu writing. Create your own Nüshu characters and experience the visual language firsthand.
8:45 PM — Closing & Community Connection
A moment to share, reflect, and continue the conversation.
WHO IS WELCOME?
Everyone.
You don’t need to speak Chinese, know Nüshu, practice calligraphy, or have any background in Chinese culture.
This evening is for anyone curious about:
Art & visual culture
Nüshu history & heritage
Women’s history & voices
Writing systems & calligraphy
Intangible cultural heritage
Contemporary art
Cultural memory & storytelling
Come to learn.
Come to create.
Come to listen.
ABOUT NÜSHU GLOBAL ASSOCIATION
Nüshu Global Association is an emerging cultural initiative dedicated to bringing Nüshu to a wider global audience through art, education, cultural exchange, and community engagement.
We explore Nüshu as both cultural heritage and a source of contemporary creative inspiration — creating spaces where its history, visual language, women’s voices, and stories can continue to be encountered and reinterpreted.
This kickoff marks the beginning of our journey to connect people across cultures through Nüshu.
PRESENTED BY
Nüshu Global Association
In collaboration with:
@Waave Foundation
@Rotohaus
@FuzhouSisters
LOCATION
1030 6th Ave · 5th Floor · New York City
The event will take place in Midtown Manhattan(near Bryant Park), conveniently accessible by public transportation.
CONTRIBUTION
$10 Suggested · Pay What You Can
$5 minimum contribution
We want this event to remain accessible to a broad community. Your contribution helps support future cultural education, community programming, and Nüshu-related initiatives.
If $10 is not accessible to you, please choose the minimum contribution. If you would like to contribute more and support future programs, you are warmly welcome to do so.
Drinks & snacks are included.
@FuzhouSister, our event collaborator, will also provide a tasting of traditional Fuzhou Qinghong Wine (青红酒).
We teach its history through art, culture workshops, exhibition & artist features