Beijing exhibition explores materials as carriers of memory

Editor's Note: Independent jewelry designer Li Xiang is exploring how materials carry hidden stories and memories in "The Voice of Matters," an exhibition running through Sept. 5 at the Harmay gallery in Sanlitun, a popular shopping area in Beijing's Chaoyang district.

The show presents metal, concrete, and resin, not simply as materials but as carriers of industrial memory and natural processes. Li arranges the works to suggest that materials themselves hold memories of time, fracture and renewal.

The exhibition challenges traditional views by positioning materials as active storytellers rather than passive substances. Through careful staging, Li dissolves the boundary between subject and object, encouraging viewers to experience spaces and meanings beyond words. The project repositions jewelry and small objects as containers of history rather than mere decorative accessories.

This photo shows the exhibition preface for "The Voice of Matters" exhibition at the Harmay gallery in Sanlitun, a popular shopping area in Beijing's Chaoyang district, Aug. 19, 2025. The introduction explains that the show explores how materials like metal, concrete and resin carry memories and meanings, using non-traditional presentation methods to reveal hidden forces and cycles of change. [Photo by Liu Ziying/China.org.cn]