Open call: "Under the Common Sea" upcoming group exhibition

Accent Sisters invites submissions for “Under the Common Sea 海的下面还有海” (working title), a group exhibition exploring the diverse lives, experiences, and cultural practices of Chinese diasporic communities in the United States. The title “Under the Common Sea 海的下面还有海” draws from Fred Moten and Stefano Harney’s concept of the undercommons: forms of collective life, knowledge, and relation that take shape beneath or beyond the structures of institutional recognition. Here, the exhibition looks beyond familiar narratives of professional success and economic achievement and turns its attention to the many ways Chinese diasporic populations build lives, relationships, and communities through art, culture, care, education, service, organizing, and other forms of labor.

A collaboration between Muyi Xiao of Hǎi 海, a new project from Asia Society’s ChinaFile, and Amy Yuanchen Qian of Accent Sisters, the exhibition brings together artwork and cultural practice which engage with Chinese and Sinophone diasporic experience in the United States, with a particular focus on New York City. We are interested in practices that rethink cross-cultural lived experience and landscapes, explore forms of cultural and communal labor, and engage with the local contexts in which diasporic communities create, sustain, and reinvent their lives. We are looking for practices including but not limited to:

• Social / Communal Practices ( submission could take the form of video documentation, photography, etc.)
• Painting and drawing
• Photography
• Moving image and video
• Sculpture and installation
• Text-based work
• Performance

About the organizations:

Hǎi 海 is a new platform from Asia Society’s ChinaFile. The project tells human-centered stories about how China lives in the world.

Accent Accent, founded in New York by Na Zhong, Jiaoyang Li and Hongru Pan, has grown from a platform for bilingual writers and poets to an Academy, a Bookstore, a bilingual Publishing House, and an Art Gallery.

The curators will select shortlisted artworks together.

About the curators:

Muyi Xiao is an Editor at Hǎi 海, also a Senior Fellow at ChinaFile, Asia Society. Previously she was a reporter at The New York Times. Muyi has worked in visual journalism space with a focus on China stories for 14 years. She’s also a musician and DJ.

Amy Yuanchen Qian is a curator, writer and close collaborator with artists based between New York and China. Amy has served curatorial positions at MoMA PS1 and NYU Abu Dhabi Art Gallery and has organized public programs at Giorno Poetry Systems and Asia Art Archive in America. Recent exhibitions curated by Amy include We made it up to remember … (Hessel Museum of Art, 2026) and Growth Postures (Tutu Gallery, 2026). She holds an MA from the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College and a BA in Art History from NYU Abu Dhabi.

Requirements

They welcome submissions from artists at all stages of their careers who work across visual arts and crafts, engaging with Chinese diasporic or Sinophone experiences, cultural practices, and communities in the United States, with a particular focus on New York City.

Works may address, but are not limited to, questions of migration, language, cultural memory, community, care, education, service, organizing, cultural production, and alternative forms of labor. They understand “Chinese diaspora” as a diverse and evolving category that encompasses different nationalities, ethnicities, languages, generations, migration histories, and relationships to China and Chinese culture.

They have limited space and equipment to accommodate performing arts.

Artist eligibility:

Artists should be able to commute within New York City for artwork drop-offs, pick-ups and installation. Selected works will be presented at Accent Sisters, 89 5th Ave, New York, NY. They currently do not have exhibition budgets to cover production or shipping costs. Therefore, existing works would be preferred. If needed, they have a very limited printing budget for works that require printing.

Application Instructions

Please submit via the Google Form by September 25, 2026, 11:59 PM EST: https://forms.gle/kVCVNbAJLWZTndZL9

Key Dates:

● Submission Deadline: September 25, 2026, 11:59 PM EST
● Results announced: September 27, 2026
● Opening Date: October 15, 2026
● Exhibition: October 15 - November 5, 2026