Sunny Sun, Director of the A4 Art Museum
Ms. Sunny Sun, Director of A4 Art Museum, Deputy Executive Director of LUKE Cultural and Charitable Group, received a Master of International Business Management from the University of Wales, and now works and lives in Chengdu.
Since 2007, she has studied, planned, and carried out a series of contemporary art exhibitions as well as relevant cultural and educational activities, and has worked persistently to seek innovative artistic concepts and emerging artists.
In 2008, after thorough preparation, with funding from Chengdu Wide Horizon Investment Group, Ms. Sun established A4 Art Museum, which was one of the few non-profit art museums in China at that time. A4 Art Museum integrates academic development, research on arts programs, and promotion of contemporary art education. Ms. Sun has been working as the Director and Artistic Director of A4 Art Museum since then. From 2008 to 2023, A4 Art Museum has held more than 80 contemporary art exhibitions including Theme Exhibition of International Contemporary Art, Young Artist Series, Artist Case Study Initiatives, etc., cooperated with nearly 500 well-known artists and over 40 professional curators.
Ms. Sun is dedicated to promoting public engagement in art museums and society as a whole. In 2014, she founded the iSTART Children’s Art Festival and has led the project to its eighth edition, generating a wide-ranging impact on families, schools, and the community. As a culture strategist, Ms. Sun is committed to exploring the role that art and museums play in urban ecology. She has gradually developed A4 Art Museum into one of the most important non-profit private art museums in China, with an innovation-driven team, abundant sources for academic research, and various experimental public engagement programs.
Li Jie, Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the A4 Art Museum
Li Jie started his independent exhibition practice in 2006. He was the curator of A4 Contemporary Art Center from 2011 to 2015, the chief curator of Chengdu A4 Art Museum since 2016, and vice director of Chengdu LUXULAKES·A4 Art Museum since 2021. Through a series of art exhibitions, local art projects, and iSTART children’s art festival projects, Li Jie is constantly developing the art museum’s public relations and social co-creation mode.
In 2012, he was invited by Goethe Institute to attend the 13th Kassel Documenta Curator Communication Project, Germany. In 2013, he was invited by Yokohama Creative City Art Center to Yokohama Creative City Art Center Resident Program, Japan. In 2014, he attended the Alternative Route: Symposium on Contemporary Art, History and Current Issues in Asia, Japan. In 2016, he was invited by Japan Foundation to participate in young curator exchange program, Japan and in the same year he won Asian Cultural Council Cai Guoqiang Fellowship. In 2017, he won the 1th Hyundai Blue Prize: Sustainability Curator Award.
Cai Liyuan, Artistic Director of the A4 Residency Art Center and curator of the A4 Art Museum
Cai Liyuan, currently resides and works in Chengdu. From 2010 to 2016, she worked as an assistant curator at A4 Contemporary Art Center. From 2017 to 2019, Cai Liyuan served as a curator at the A4 Art Museum and head of the exhibition and academic department. Since 2020, Cai Liyuan has been the artistic director of the A4 International Residency Art Center, primarily responsible for international artist residency projects, the planning and promotion of the LUXELAKES Community Art Season project, and various contemporary art exhibition projects. Over the course of 11 years, Cai Liyuan has established partnerships with over 20 countries and regions, hosting 138 resident artists and showcasing the outcomes of over 80 projects. Through long-term collaborations with significant international institutions and organizations such as the French Cultural Center, Goethe-Institut (China), Swiss Cultural Foundation, Paris International Art City, res artis, Transartists, among others, Cai Liyuan has connected external and local resources, making A4 one of China’s longest-standing and most professional residency programs. It has become a platform for promoting urban and regional culture and establishing deep exchanges and communications. Currently, Cai Liyuan focuses on the localization and intervention methods of art planning and practice, the relationship between public art and urbanization/regional development, and the practical value of community art in urban spaces. She has long been committed to conducting extensive investigations and research on domestic and international residency projects, experimental art projects, and public art projects, exploring various strategies and methods for integrating art projects, space development, and regional connections.
Wang Yalei, Director of the A4 Archive Center.
Ya Lei Wang, curator and art critic. Former resident critic at Chengdu LiaoLiao Art Communication Agency; Head of YiPingFang Reading Public Library and host of YiPingFang Lecture Hall; Editor and journalist at Art World magazine; Host of “New Art Salon” on Sichuan News Frequency FM106.1. Author of research works including “The Affairs of Painting: The Art of He Duoling” (2023), “From the Streets to Language: Southwest Performance Art” (2019), “A Brief History of Chinese Art in the 21st Century: 2000-2018” (2019), and “Narratives of Guiyang: The Development History of Contemporary Art in Guiyang: 1978-2012” (2012). Curator of exhibitions such as “Expanding Life – Reshaping the Landscape of Life” (2024), “Gathering Light – The Solitary Journey and Mutual Gaze of Art” (2022), “Deferred Consciousness: Ten-Person Art Exhibition” (2021), and “Slow Future” (2019). Contributor to professional media outlets including Painting Journal, Hi Art, The Bund Art Review, and Art and Design.