About me
Wanshu Li is a jewellery designer, maker, interdisciplinary artist, and researcher. She has recently been awarded a PhD degree for her thesis titled Exploring the potential of UV-reactive materials as body adornment through performance art at Birmingham City University.
Wanshu graduated with distinction from the Edinburgh College of Art (ECA) with a Master of Fine Art (Jewellery) in 2016. Before studying at ECA, Wanshu obtained a bachelor’s degree in Jewellery and Silversmithing from Beijing University of Technology, with a GPA of 3.94 out of 4.
Wanshu has obtained several national and international awards, including the winner of the 2017 JOYA Barcelona Award, the winner of the 2018 After JOYA Effect Fifth Edition Award at Athens Jewellery Week, and the winner of the 2020 Gold Award, Fashion Led Conceptual Jewellery by the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council. In 2018, she was granted a Tier 1 Global Talent Visa, endorsed by the England Crafts Council. The major jewellery exhibitions and fairs she attended include SOFA Chicago, New York Jewellery Week, JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery & Objects Fair, and Dazzle Exhibition London, etc.
Apart from developing her jewellery practice and research project, the journey through her roles as an Academic Tutor and Visiting Lecturer during her PhD studies at BCU has facilitated her passion for higher education in art and design.
Qualifications
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PhD in Art and Design, Birmingham City University (2018-2023)
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Learning and Teaching in Higher Education issued by the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA), Birmingham City University, 2021
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Postgraduate Certificate in Research Practice, Birmingham City University, 2019
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Master of Fine Art, Edinburgh College of Art, UK (2014-2016)
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BA (Hons.) Beijing University of Technology, China (2009-2013)
Working Experience
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2023 Academic Teaching Staff, Birmingham City University International College (2023-2024)
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2023 Visiting tutor at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
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2022 Peer Assisted Learning Mentor at School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
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2016 Self-employed as jewellery designer and maker (www.liwanshu.co)
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2015 (June-August) Apprentice at jewellery and silversmith workshop, Dali, Yunan, China.
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2013 - 2014 Administrative assistant at National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Beijing, China.
Voluntary Experience
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2021-2022 Graduate Plus, Champion Team at Birmingham City University.
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2016-2017 Artist in Residence at Edinburgh College of Art, United Kingdom.
Memberships
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Craft Cultures Research Cluster, Birmingham Institute of Jewellery, Fashion and Textiles.
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Association for Contemporary Jewellery (ACJ)
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Klimt02
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CLUSTER Jewellery London
Awards & Contest
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2022 Postgraduate Pedagogies Vol. 2, Cover Design Competition, second prize.
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2020 Gold Award, Fashion Led Conceptual Jewellery, the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council.
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2019 Shortlist of BKV Prize for Young Applied Arts, Internationale Handwerksmesse IHM, Munich Jewellery Week.
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2018 Tier 1 Exceptional Talent granted by England Art Council
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2018 Public Award, After JOYA Effect V Exhibition, Athens, Greece.
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2017 Winner, JOYA Award, Barcelona, Spain.
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2016 Selected Artist, Craft Design House Exhibition Competition, Edinburgh, UK.
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2015 Special Selection, Korea Jewellery Design Association 14th International Jewellery Design Contest.
Selected Exhibitions
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2022 Dazzle Invites pop-up and virtual exhibition, London.
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2022 Cluster Contemporary Jewellery Fair, London.
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2022 Art Market at Valentiny Foundation, Luxembourg (Represented by Ucic Art Jewellery).
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2022 New York Jewellery Week, (Represented by Charon Kransen Arts).
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2022 Research through Jewellery curated by Roberta Bernabei, Florence Jewellery Week,
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2021 Artistry-RE-Imagined, spotlight on the East, New York Jewellery Week. Charon Kransen Arts.
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2021 Shape of Nature. DBC International Designer Space, Beijing, China.
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2021 Beijing International Jewelry Art Exhibition, China.
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2021 ACJ Open members' online exhibition. https://acj.org.uk/index.php/2021-open/669-wanshu-li
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2020 “See the Big from the Small” Exhibition, The Closer Gallery, Beijing, China.
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2020 “Alternative Options” Exhibition, the second season of NoCC pop-up Gallery, Shanghai, China.
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2020 Metallophone 5: MUSEUM, the fifth Contemporary Metal Art Biennial in the Lithuanian National Museum
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2020 Artist & Fashion Curated Jewellery Exhibition by. Lacy Barry at AA-Collected, Berlin.
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2020 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council, Promotion Exhibition at Birmingham Assay Office.
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2020 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Competition/Exhibition. London.
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2019 New York Jewellery Week (Represented by Charon Kransen Arts).
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2019 SOFA Chicago, USA (Represented by Charon Kransen Arts).
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2019 Handmade by Machines Symposium Exhibition, Vittoria Street Gallery, SoJ, Birmingham.
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2019 Group Exhibition, Edinburgh College of Art, 2019 Elements.
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2019 "East Asia", Galerie Biró Schmuck, Munich.
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2019 "Précieux!?" Exhibition at Alliages Art Gallery, Lille, France.
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2019 Group Exhibition, Oeno Gallery, Ontario, in Canada.
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2019 "Précieux!?" Collective Launch Exhibition, Plymouth, UK
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2019 Shortlist of BKV Prize for Young Applied Arts, Internationale Handwerksmesse IHM, Munich.
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2018 Group Exhibition, Cyprus Art Gallery, Girona, Spain.
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2018 New York Jewellery Week (Represented by Charon Kransen Arts).
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2018 SOFA Chicago, USA (Represented by Pistachio Contemporary Art Jewellery )
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2018 Nexus: Meetings at the Edge, Ruthin Craft Centre, Denbighshire, United Kingdom.
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2018 JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery Fair, Guest Artist, Spain.
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2018 Artistar Jewels Touring Exhibition, Eleni Marneri Gallery, Athens, Greece.
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2018 Artistar Jewels Touring Exhibition, ICKX Contemporary Jewellery Gallery, Brussels, Belgium.
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2018 Blue. Sign from the Sea, Group Exhibition, ESH Gallery, Milan, Italy.
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2018 JOYA Effect V Exhibition, Athens, Greece.
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2018 AUTOR Contemporary and Art Jewellery International Fair, Bucharest.
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2018 Nexus: Meetings at the Edge, Fife Contemporary & Ruthin Craft Centre, United Kingdom.
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2018 Bijoux! Contemporary Art Jewellery Fair, Norton Museum of Art, Florida, USA.
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2018 Artistar Jewels, Palazzo Giureconsulti, Milan, Italy.
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2017 Elements 3, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
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2017 FORM Miami Art Fair, USA (Represented by Charon Kransen Arts).
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2017 SOFA Chicago, USA (Represented by Pistachio Contemporary Art Jewellery )
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2017 JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery Fair, Spain.
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2017 Parallel Practices, AIR Jewellery Residence, The Light House, Glasgow.
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2017 Tendence, International Frankfurt Fair, Germany.
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2017 Future Makers Exhibition, Manchester Craft and Design Centre, United Kingdom.
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2017 Fresh Exhibition, Fusion Jewellery Gallery, London, United Kingdom.
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2016 Visual Art Scotland FLY 2016 Graduate Showcase, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
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2016 Gill Wing Jewellery Exhibition, London, United Kingdom.
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2016 Dazzle Exhibition, Oxo London, United Kingdom.
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2016 Kath Libbert “New Taste” Jewellery Exhibition, United Kingdom.
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2016 Great Northern Graduates Exhibition, Manchester, United Kingdom.
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2016 Craft Design House Exhibition Competition, Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
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2016 New Designers, London, United Kingdom.
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2016 Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show, United Kingdom.
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2013 Chinese Contemporary Metal Art Exhibition & Seminar.
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2013 Beijing International Contemporary Metal & Jewellery Art Exhibition, China.
Solo Exhibition
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2019 Go with the Glow Solo Exhibition, 30 Mar-14 April, Bini Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
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Popeye Loves Olive Art Space, Solo Exhibition, Athens, Greece (date is not confirmed).
Gallery stocks
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Bini Gallery, Melbourne, Australia.
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Charon Kransen Arts, New York, United States.
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Cyprus Art Gallery, Girona, Spain.
Conferences & Lectures
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2023 Presented at Inside/Out Festival, PGR studio, research event at Birmingham City University.
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2022 Presented at Borders, Cultures and Communities Conference, PGR studio, Birmingham City University.
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2022 Contemporary Jewellery Online Lectures at Sichuan Fine Arts Institute
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2020 Presented at Inside/Out Festival, PGR studio, research event at Birmingham City University.
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2019 Lightning Talk, Handmade by Machines Symposium Exhibition, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University.
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2019 Lecture at Melbourne Polytechnic, Australia.
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2018 Emerging Artist, Lecture Series at SOFA Chicago, United States.
Publications & Press Release
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Postgraduate Pedagogies (2022) Vol. 2, page 266.
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Findings (2018), Article by Lynne Speake, ‘Precious Collective’ on online community forming relationships and challenging perceptions. Issue 67, page 27.
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JOYA Barcelona (2018) Catalogue.
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Artistar Jewels (2018), pages 474-475.
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Palm Beach Florida Weekly (2018), ‘All that glitters may be BIJOUX! at the Norton’, 22nd February.
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Crafts Magazine (2017), Crafts Christmas Gift Guide, Issue No. 269 November/December, page 73.
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Design&Kunst (2017), ‘Viva Espana’ GZ, November 2017, page 102.
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JOYA Barcelona (2017) Catalogue.
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The Guardian (2016), ‘Tentacular spectacular’, 27th May 2016, page 7.
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Yorkshire Post (2016), ‘Jellyfish Jewels’, 27th May 2016, page 12.
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The Courier (2016), ‘Picture of the Day’, 27th May 2016, page 35.
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The Herald (2016), ‘A Fish Called Wonder’, 27th May 2016, page 8.
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Western Morning News (2016), 27th May 2016, page 18.
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Skinny Magazine (2016), Edinburgh College of Art Degree Show, May Edition, Cover page.
Interviews & Featured Articles
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JOYA 2018- The Interview: Wanshu Li https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yD0-GznRgo
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Interviewed by Helen Chen, '漂洋過海從歐洲來:Wanshu Li 的夢幻珠寶展'. SBS Australian public broadcasting. 5th April 2019. https://www.sbs.com.au/language/mandarin/zh-hant/audio/piao-yang-guo-hai-cong-ou-zhou-lai-wanshu-li-de-meng-huan-zhu-bao-zhan?fbclid=IwAR3AKIOmoEB6xrCdO-i1eLz1sJxEcmIxxWtrMw_rAIHuazfuqv1OspF1OmM&language=zh-hant
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Walking around the Fair you could see many already well-known jewellery artists. A Review of JOYA, Barcelona Art Jewellery & Objects Fair 2018.https://klimt02.net/forum/articles/review-joya-barcelona-art-jewellery-objects-fair-2018-carolin-denter
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Winner of JOYA 2017 Award: Wanshu Li, interviewed by Klimt02, 19th November 2017 https://klimt02.net/forum/interviews/winner-joya-2017-award-wanshu-li-interviewed-klimt02-yuxi-sun-carolin-denter
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Wanshu Li. Edinburgh College of Art. Selected Graduate 2016, Klimit02 Article, 26th July 2016. https://klimt02.net/forum/articles/wanshu-li-edinburgh-college-art-selected-graduate-2016-edinburgh-college-art
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Craft Scotland Online Journal, 12th December 2017.https://www.craftscotland.org/journal/article/the-craft-edit-december
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Dazzle: Jewellery at OXO, SEEN London Magazine, 13th December 2016.http://seenlondon.com/2016/12/13/dazzle-jewellery-at-oxo/
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A Live and Intimate Wearing Experience for the Body. Interviewed by Craft Design House. https://craftdesignhouse.com/journal/wanshu-lis-jewellery-creations/
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Wanshu Li is the Winner of JOYA Barcelona Art Jewellery Fair 2017. Interviewed by Marietta Kontogianni, JEWELRYbox, 21st November 2017.https://www.facebook.com/notes/jewelrybox-by-marietta-kontogianni/wanshu-li-interviewed-by-marietta-kontogianni-enggr/815747988550305/
Current Activity
2021-2023 I am currently working on a collaborative performance/opera project, Lipote: An Interconnected Journey. This project is funded by Help Musicians and British Council 2022 UK-China Connections through Culture (CtC) Grants. This is my first interdisciplinary collaboration with artists, researchers, and musicians from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Birmingham-based artists and London-based artists. In this show, my role is to design wearable objects, costumes, scenic installations, etc., with UV-reactive and fluorescent materials.
Live performance
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Lipote: An Interconnected Journey. Open rehearsal. Birmingham RougePlay Theater, August 31, 2021.
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Lipote: An Interconnected Journey. A preview performance at the LAB, Birmingham City Conservatoire, December 18, 2022. (The show is available to watch at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpN5Fx35QyM)