Dr. Jiaying Chen is an interdisciplinary scholar and independent curator whose work explores how bodies navigate geopolitical, technological, and cultural transformations through art, philosophy, and the spaces in between.
Moving between research and exhibition-making, she approaches curating as a way of thinking—one that brings embodied experience, sensory perception, and critical reflection into relation. Through her research framework, Somatic Topologies, she follows the ways bodies register, negotiate, and reconfigure changing conditions. She also works across contexts, tracing how ideas, artistic practices, and forms of knowledge travel across Global Asia.
Chen received her Ph.D. in Philosophy from East China Normal University before completing postdoctoral research at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She is the recipient of the Hyundai Blue Prize (2019) and has collaborated with international cultural institutions including the Goethe-Institut, Pro Helvetia, and Longlati Foundation. Her writing haa appeared in academic journals, art publications, and edited volumes, including Literature Compass and Springer publications. She is currently translating Elaine Scarry’s influential work The Body in Pain into Chinese and hosts the podcast Share the Fire.