Yujie Zhou

Yujie Zhou (they/them) is a Chinese visual artist based in Helsinki, Finland. They navigate performativity and a decoded notion of language through photography, textiles, video, and publishing. Based on the juxtaposition between their nationalist upbringing and their current life in Finland, their practice interrogates dominant historical narratives and power structures while reframing collective individuality.

Zhou holds a Master’s degree in Arts from Aalto University, majoring in Photography with a minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures. Selected solo exhibitions include Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland; Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland; Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland; and Vent Space, Tallinn, Estonia. Selected group exhibitions include the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland; alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany; the Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore.

Zhou has been awarded the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024 nomination by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway; the Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023); shortlisted for the PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant’s Main Prize; and nominated artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, and Selectee of the Copenhagen International Photography Festival, Copenhagen, Denmark (2025).

Zhou has been granted residencies at Kone Foundation’s Saari Residence, HIAP (Helsinki), Temple Bar Gallery + Studios (Dublin), Pioneer Works (New York), and Künstlerdorf Schöppingen (Germany).

Solo Exhibitions
2026 (upcoming) Forum Box, Helsinki, Finland
2026 (upcoming) Titanik, Turku, Finland
2025 Making Myself Invisible, Kone Foundation’s Puhuri by Patisserie Teemu Aura, Helsinki, Finland
2024 White Shadows, Vent Space, Tallinn, Estonia
2024 White Shadows, Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland
2023 QWERTY, Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland
2023 Four Women, Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland
2022 Four Women, BFoto Festival, Barbastro, Spain

Selected Group Exhibitions
2025 Invisible Race, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2025 Into the Light, Copenhagen International Photography Festival, Copenhagen,Denmark
2025 Was I ever really here?, Old Pfizer Factory, curated by the School of Visual Arts MA Curatorial Practice, Brooklyn, New York, USA. 2024 Save as Text, Singapore International Photography Festival, Singapore
2024 Way of the World - Works from Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation Collection, Rovaniemi Art Museum, Rovaniemi, Finland
2023 I Made You To Find Me, Berlin Art Week, alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany
2023 MoA in Photography 23, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2023 Performing the Photobook, FORMAT Photography Festival, Derby Museum, Derby, UK
2023 Tides, Espoo Culture Center, Espoo, Finland
2022 Booked, MUU Helsinki Contemporary Art Centre, Helsinki, Finland
2022 Wonder(ful), Dipoli Gallery, Espoo, Finland

Selected Awards
2025 Copenhagen Photo Selectees 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark
2024 PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant, Main Priza, Shortlist
2024 FUTURES Photography 2024, nominated by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway
2023 Plat(t)form, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2023 Young Artist Grant, Finnish Art Sociery, Finland
2023 New Gaze 4,Vontobel Contemporary Photography Sponsorship Prize, Finalist, Zürich, Switzerland
2022 EMERGENTE 2022 Award, BFoto Festival, Spain
2022 The 4th 1839 Photography Prize, Finalist, China

Selected Fellowships / Residencies
2026 (upcoming) Treasure Hill Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan
2025 Stiftung Künstlerdorf Schöppingen Foundation, Münsterland, Germany
2025 Pioneer Works, Artists-in-Residence program by Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. New York, USA.
2025 Tempel Bar Gallery + Studios,TBG+S/HIAP International Residency Exchange 2025, Dublin, Ireland
2024 Saari Residency-Kone Foundation, Finland
2024 HIAP, 11-month Artist in Residency, Helsinki, Finland

Selected Grants
2025 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, One-Year Artist Grant
2024 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Six-Month Artist Grant
2024 Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, One-Year Working Grant
2024 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Project Grant
2023 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Project Grant
2023 Finnfoto, Project Grant
2023 Young Artist Grant, Finnish Art Society, Finland
2022 Finnfoto, Project Grant

Selected Screenings
2024 Contestations.ai, Helsinki, Finland
2024 Fotofestiwal, Łódź, Poland
2024 Kranj Foto Fest 2024, Slovenia
2024 Verzasca Foto, Switzerland
2024 PhMuseum Days 2024, Italy

Members
FUTURES Photography
Artists’ Association of Finland
Association of Photographic Artists Finland
Catalysti - Association of Transcultural Artists in Finland
KIILA Finland

Education
2021-2023 Master of Arts, Aalto University, Finland.
Major in Photography. Minor in Textiles — Material and Structure.
2015-2019 Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering.
University of Illinois Chicago, USA
Changchun University of Science and Technology, China