April Liu

April Liu (Liu Lei; 刘磊) (b. 2001, Shanxi, China) is a researcher and independent curator, and the founder of ArtEchive, an arts nonprofit platform. Working through writing, exhibitions, and public programs, she resists reducing her practice to a single statement, allowing projects to emerge from intuition, lived experience, and sustained research.

Her recent curatorial work often moves at the intersection of dream, desire, and the female condition, drawing from Asian literature and cinema. She has curated exhibitions in both the United States and China, and her current interests return to her hometown, focusing on environmental change, extraction, and the everyday politics of landscape. Her research is also shaped by the political environments she inhabits, with particular attention to how institutions produce visibility, discourse, and cultural memory.

April’s recent projects include a thesis on the politics of Chinese contemporary art within Hong Kong art institutions, as well as a separate research project on the institutionalization of AI in the art field. Her writing and presentations have been shared at Rhode Island School of Design and China Academy of Art.

She holds a BA in Cultural Management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and an MA in Global Arts and Culture from Rhode Island School of Design. Her professional experience includes roles with International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Christie’s, Pace Gallery, and other arts organizations.