Tan Zi Hao Malaysian, b. 1989

Tan Zi Hao (Kuala Lumpur) is an artist, writer, and researcher. His idea has taken shape across a diverse range of works involving soil ecology, language politics, interpretive etymology, mythical chimeras, and organic assemblages from carrier shells (the Xenophoridae family) to household casebearers (Phereoeca spp). Most of his artworks are conceived with an ideological intention to challenge essentialism by privileging the assemblage.

Tan completed his Ph.D. in Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, undertaking fieldwork research on animal imagery in the Islamic art of Cirebon, West Java. He also holds an MA degree in International Relations and a BA degree in International Communications Studies from the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus. Tan’s works have been displayed in multiple group exhibitions in Malaysia, Singapore, and Manila. In 2021, Tan was selected to participate in the Asian Art Biennale at the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (NTMoFA).