Liang Shaoji, Silkworm Installation Artist, Dies at 81 in Shanghai

Key facts

• Liang Shaoji died on September 14 in Shanghai following an illness, his dealer ShanghART announced.
• He was 81 years old, born in Shanghai in 1945.
• Barred from arts school during the Cultural Revolution, he worked in a textile factory before entering the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou in 1986.
• He trained under Bulgarian artist Marin Varbanov and took up "soft sculpture," a fiber-based movement Varbanov co-established.
• Liang began his Nature series in 1989, using live silkworms in installations, video art, and performances.
• His work was shown at the National Art Museum of China (1989), ShanghART Space (2007), Hayward Gallery (2012), Al Riwaq (2016), and the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (2017).
• In 1999 his work appeared in the 48th Venice Biennale, the sixth Istanbul Biennale, and the fifth Lyon Biennale simultaneously.
• He received the Chinese Contemporary Art Award in 2002 and the Prince Claus Award in 2009.
• His recent solo exhibitions were "Sea of the Cloud" at Shenzhen's Sea World Culture and Arts Center (2024) and "Silk Radiance" at the Liangzhu Museum (2025).
• Liang called the silkworms his artistic "collaborators" and saw equality between himself and the insects.