Cang Xin has been an important representative of Chinese performance art throughout the 90's. Constantly challenging the limits of his body and preconceptions of what performance art can be he has moved away from Western conceptual art to an altogether more searching and philosophical stance. His recent work has been inspired by Shamanism and includes his 'Licking' series in which he interacts with the internal spirit of each object.

In November 2006 Cang Xin was invited to London by The Red Mansion Foundation to take part in an artist residency, part of our wider programme of exchange activities. He stayed in London for 3 weeks during which time he produced a new series of work 'Identity Exchange: London Series', a continuation of the ongoing 'Identity Exchange' series.