LI MENG-ZHI (GRACE LI)
In 2021, I was admitted to the PhD program at the Imagination Research Centre, Lancaster University, UK. At the end of the same year, I co-founded the Guangzhou RoofArt Center as Chief Operating Officer. In 2022, I established Acute Angle Gallery in Guangzhou, curating and organizing multiple international and domestic exhibition projects. In 2023, I co-founded the Sino-Italian Institute of Arts at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. I hold a Master’s degree in Design Innovation from Loughborough University, UK, and have been engaged in interdisciplinary practice and research in service design, design thinking, and business innovation since 2014. I previously contributed to project research at the European design consultancy DESIGN IT (UK branch). Throughout 2021, I collaborated with Dr. Kensija Kuzmina in academic teaching and research, achieving several outcomes in sustainable design innovation. In 2023, I initiated the "tetto" academic project, partnering with the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, the Polish Four Domes Pavilion, and Trafo Center for Contemporary Art to promote experimental education programs. Since 2025, I have been serving as an operating partner for the member cultural space at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen.
In recent years, I have focused on industry-academia integrated commercial design innovation, product-service system design, speculative design, and the application of curatorial commerce. Against the dual backdrop of global ecological crisis and cultural democratization, I am committed to redefining the high-energy-consuming centralized operational model of traditional art institutions. Since 2020, I have employed curatorial commerce and distributed sustainable design strategies to drive systemic innovation in art spaces, proposing an integrated approach centered on “relational architecture” that connects art institutions, cultural nodes, and community resources within a region to form an organic cultural ecosystem.
As the lead of sustainable strategy, I directed a design team in developing the Roof Art Center—an over-10,000-square-meter rooftop art complex in Liwan’s Pearl River Piano Dream Park, which has become a cultural landmark renowned for its visionary architectural design and aesthetic paradigm. Within this project, I incubated the coffee brand Cafe Round, the academic gallery space Acute Angle Gallery, and the RoofNight event IP, implementing year-round sustainable operations. Over five years, we have organized more than 300 large-scale events, transcending traditional art operational models by integrating commerce, culture, lifestyle, and community engagement. In 2024, I expanded this approach to the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen, further implementing the “relational architecture” concept in venue operation and membership community building, fostering local cultural communities through annual cultural event programs.
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