Yujie Zhou

Born in China. Based in Helsinki, Finland

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 with a major in Photography and a minor in Textiles—Materials and Structures at Aalto University, Finland. Selected solo exhibitions include QWERTY at Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Helsinki, Finland (2023); Four Women at Photographic Centre Peri, Turku, Finland (2023); White Shadows at Taidekeskus Mältinranta, Tampere, Finland (2024); and White Shadows at Vent Space, Tallinn, Estonia (2024). Group exhibitions include MoA 23 at the Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki (2023); Make Me Find You at alpha nova & galerie futura, Berlin, Germany (2023); and Disrupted Narratives at the Singapore International Photography Festival (2024).

Selected awards include the Finnish Art Society’s Young Artist Grant (2023), artist for Plat(t)form 2023 at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland, the FUTURES Photography Talent 2024 nominated by Fotogalleriet, Oslo, Norway, shortlist for the PhMuseum 2024 Photography Grant’s Main Prize, and selectee for Copenhagen International Photography Festival(2025).

In 2024, they were granted the Kone Foundation’s Saari Residency, Finland and an 11-month Artist Residency at HIAP, Finland. Zhou is the recipient of the Temple Bar Gallery + Studios & HIAP International Residency Exchange in Dublin, Ireland (2025); the Artist-in-Residence at Pioneer Works, supported by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (2025). 

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

Solo Exhibitions
2026 (upcoming) Forum Box, Helsinki, 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 (upcoming) Invisible Race, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki, Finland
2025 (upcoming) Gallery Loisti, Helsinki, Finland
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
2022 Daughter of Chaos, Goddess of Night, Mother of all, V1 Gallery, Aalto University, Finland
2021 Growing from Moss, A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, China

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 (upcoming) 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
2022 DAMA@Narva Art Residency, Narva, Estonia
2021 Yeshan Art Residency, Fuzhou, China

Selected Grants
2025 Arts Promotion Centre Finland, Project Grant
2025 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
2024 Kone Foundation’s Saari Residence
2024 Finnfoto, Project Grant
2023 Young Artist Grant, Finnish Art Society, Finland
2023 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

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