Zixiao Huang

Constellation(s): Identity, Mobility/Exchange

Zixiao Huang's research focuses on the communication between Renaissance Italy and China, and he studies how "China" as a geographical concept is visually depicted and viewed in Europe. Through his study, he hopes to expand the traditional scope of Italian arts into a global perspective. He received his M.A. in Art History from Temple University, where he also earned his B.A. in both Art History and Film & Media Arts.

Prior to his study at Pitt, Zixiao spent several years working and interning for major museums and non-profit organizations in Philadelphia and Chengdu, China, including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the Association for Public Art, the Penn Museum, Temple Contemporary, Sichuan Provincial Opera House, and the Chengdu Museum. In 2020, he was part of the curatorial team at the exhibition Floating Lights and Shadows: 500 Years of European Paintings co-organized by the Chengdu Museum and the Indianapolis Museum of Art, and participated in writing and publishing the exhibition catalog. Several recent writings by him in Chinese were also published online through Paragon Book Gallery's online platform.

During his study in Philadelphia, Zixiao studied Early Modern Italian arts and European missionaries' outreach in China, and wrote his thesis titled The Jesuits in China: Translation, Localization, and Failure. Part of his graduate thesis won the selection of the 42nd Annual Susman History Graduate Student Conference (canceled due to Covid-19) at Rutgers University. In Summer 2022, he participated in the Sangalli Institute's seminar on "the Archives of the Religious Orders and their Education Institutions: A New Perspective on Global Catholicism" in Rome, Italy.