Inaugurated by senior curator NanaBee, the 2026MET Art Residency and Exhibition Deifying Myth under the “Metaverse Exploration Team” series officially opened at the Dodo Art Museum in Beijing Jinbaohui. Bringing together 27 creators from across the Taiwan Strait, the exhibition reinterprets the ancient Chinese mythological system through contemporary artistic language, breathing new life into millennia-old cultural heritage in the digital era.
A seasoned writer and art educator as well as an established curator, NanaBee has devoted nearly two decades to intercultural activiities. Based in Beijing, she has long strived to build a platform for artistic dialogue among young creators. Integrating field research on traditional culture, local residency creation and digital artistic thinking, she founded two influential art brands: the youth art initiative “Metaverse Exploration Team” and the rural art project “RuralMix”. RuralMix centers on urban-rural integration and rural art experimentation, with nature, ecology and sustainable development as its creative foundation. Meanwhile, the Metaverse Exploration Team(MET) focuses on exploring urban cultural contexts and empowering artistic innovation among Generation Z. The two parallel initiatives jointly form a holistic artistic system that bridges tradition and modernity, rural areas and cities, as well as offline reality and virtual space.
The exhibition Deifying Myth represents a brand-new exploration in the Metaverse Exploration Team’s series of creative practices. Taking “myth” as the core of civilization and “deification” as a contemporary creative act, it breaks the inherent stereotype of rigid retro imitation prevalent in traditional Chinese-style art. Here, “myths” refer to the creation legends and ancient cosmological views passed down through generations of the Chinese nation, serving as a shared cultural root across both sides of the Taiwan Strait. “Deification”, by contrast, embodies contemporary young creators’ practice of deconstructing, reshaping and revitalizing ancient civilization from a brand-new perspective.
Prior to the exhibition, all participating creators undertook cultural field research on Beijing’s ancient architecture and immersive closed-door residency creation. They drew profound inspiration from the ritual culture and totems of Beijing’s ancient buildings, as well as ancient deities and imagery from Shanhaijing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). Adopting diverse contemporary mediums including painting, mixed-media installation, digital video and three-dimensional sculpture, the creators blend the romantic imagination of ancient myths with metaverse digital trends and the spiritual reflections of modern youth. Breaking free from outdated narrative frameworks, their works preserve the profound heritage and sacred essence of Chinese culture while incorporating youthful and international artistic expressions, demonstrating diverse and vibrant artistic creativity rooted in intercultural understanding.
As a vital carrier of cultural exchanges, the exhibition acts as an artistic bridge that dissolves regional boundaries and consolidates cultural consensus. Amid the rapid development of artificial intelligence and virtual technology, the original imagination embedded in ancient myths has become a core force against technological homogenization. More than a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional culture, the exhibition showcases the younger generation’s inheritance and innovation of national cultural veins, adding a vivid artistic footnote to the youthful and digital communication of sustainable human civilization development.
In addition, NanaBee has presented her original “Cosmic Dreams* series of works — a collection of creative pieces and lyrics that fuel her artistic inspiration, which are on display as part of the exhibition.
