Aowen Jin is a Chinese-born British artist and social commentator.
Early life
Aowen Jin was born in Luoyang, Henan in China. She moved to the United Kingdom as a student when she was 18, and initially studied Law & Economics at Durham University. After rediscovering a passion for art she switched to studying Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London. During her degree she was commissioned to produce painting works for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and for Queen Elizabeth II's 80th Birthday, and was named by both Dazed & Confused magazine and The Times Magazine as one of the UK's top emerging artists. Aowen was part of Goldsmith's graduate exhibition at Free Range Shows in 2006, titled "Textile Collective".
In 2010, Jin interviewed 300 Chinese women for her "Made in China: One Child" exhibition, which was exhibited in London and at the 2010 Shanghai Expo. The exhibition explored both positive and negative impacts of China's One Child Policy, especially on the first generation of women born under the policy. The show created extensive discussion about the policy in the British press, including on BBC Impact Asia, BBC China, BBC Woman's Hour, Stylist magazine and The Times.
Social commentary
Following the One Child Policy exhibition, Jin became a regular social commentator on issues related to Chinese women, including on Al Jazeera, China Daily and various programmes for the BBC. In October 2013 she was asked to review the Chinese Masters exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum for the flagship BBC arts show, Front Row. In 2013 she was one of the 100 women selected for the BBC's 100 Women Conference, and in 2014 was asked to present a contribution for UNESCO's World Radio Day. In addition to commentating for media organisations, Jin also provides Chinese cultural consultancy to investment banks and corporations.
Factory Girls exhibition
From 2012 to 2013, Jin lived undercover with factory workers in Southern China's Guangdong, and worked with them to create performance art for her 2013 Factory Girls exhibition. The exhibition compared the modern perception of China's female factory workers to their day-to-day reality, and was covered by BBC Outlook, BBC Weekend, BBC Chinese and Ms. magazine. The exhibition was also accompanied by a documentary about China's factory girls, featuring Martin Jacques and Leslie T. Chang. In March 2014 Jin was asked to present her Factory Girls exhibition at the Southbank Centre's Women of The World Festival.
Sound Fountain
In 2013, Jin was commissioned by Goldsmiths, University of London to produce an artwork for the first official visit of British Chancellor George Osborne and London Mayor Boris Johnson to Beijing. For the commission she produced a live "Sound Fountain", made of common British garden equipment, which danced to sounds that were transmitted live from various locations around London. The artwork was exhibited in Beijing's 798 Art Zone.
Light artworks
In early 2015, Jin announced that she would be creating an permanent exhibit called "i18n" at the Horniman Museum, launching in February 2015, made up of invisible paintings that could only be seen under UV light. On announcing the exhibition at the museum she said: "The founder of the museum had the most extensive collection of Chinese tea artifacts in the world. He tried to bring Chinese culture and lives back to Britain through objects and steam ships. I will try bring them to the local community by using gods and technology." Following this project, Jin was commissioned by Birmingham Hippodrome and Arts Council England to use artworks to engage with Birmingham's Chinese community. Her artwork, named "Midlight", was an interactive light show that reacted to sound and posts on Twitter. It was exhibited at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Cathedral, and Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum in late 2015, culminating in a Chinese New Year show at the Cathedral in February 2016. In 2016 it was announced that Jin was selected for that year's Museums at Night project, where a new light artwork would be shown in a UK museum chosen by the public.
