Welcome to Feiyu’s Portfolio

About

Feiyu Wang

I am an urban studies researcher with a background in writing, media, and artistic practice. Before returning to academia, I worked for more than a decade in cultural institutions, including theatre and documentary production. I am currently completing an MSc in Urban Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Université Libre de Bruxelles.
My work
My work moves between research, writing, and artistic practice.
I am interested in cities as lived environments

My background combines academic research with experience in cultural and media institutions, including theatre and documentary production. These experiences continue to shape how I approach research: attentive to everyday life, visual storytelling, and the social worlds that unfold in urban spaces. In my current work in urban studies, I explore how people experience and negotiate cities through daily practices, migration, and emerging infrastructures. I am particularly interested in ethnographic approaches and creative methods that connect research with observation, narrative, and visual forms.

What I do
Whether through academic research, writing, photography, or short film, I explore the stories of cities and human beings.
Short Films
https://youtu.be/Ew0kbgQFRokn
https://youtu.be/Ew0kbgQFRokn
https://youtu.be/Ew0kbgQFRokn
https://youtu.be/Ew0kbgQFRokn
Click to Watch

A Journey in Reverse Direction

Artist Zhu Lanqing discovered an abandoned villa in her hometown island of Dongshan. The floral hairpin in an elderly woman’s bun, a youth pausing his electric scooter by the shore, a man herding horses by the sea… Only when looking back at her homeland from thousands of miles away did she realize the extraordinary within these everyday scenes.
As a visual artist, Zhu Lanqing embarked on “a journey in reverse direction,” using photography to rebuild her connection with her hometown of Dongshan Island. To her, this inward search was not about nostalgia for the self. Starting from Dongshan Island—both familiar and alien—she glimpsed the ambitious 1990s and the unfulfilled dreams of a small southeastern town. Through dusty memories and a cyclical sense of time, she moved toward understanding others and the world.

https://youtu.be/UM9KVdJgdSA
https://youtu.be/UM9KVdJgdSA
https://youtu.be/UM9KVdJgdSA
https://youtu.be/UM9KVdJgdSA
Click to Watch

Chaoshan Nomad

Thirty years ago, artist Sun Xiaofeng employed metaphors in his artistic practice to critique the prevailing consumerism and cartoon culture of the era. In his hometown of Chenghai, Shantou, young people toiled relentlessly on “toad machines”, digging up their first fortunes in this coastal town of the south.
In 2023, as curator, Sun Xiaofeng brought the history of China’s first photographic materials factory, the AD Film Factory, into an exhibition. Within this rags-to-riches narrative lie both the sighs of an era and the unyielding spirit of the Chaozhou people.
What is a homeland? What does Chaozhou-Shanwei signify? Previously, Sun Xiaofeng might have described it as the scent of basil leaves and pearl cabbage, the bonds of family and affection rooted in this place. Yet returning now to reconnect with his homeland and himself, he has gained a deeper understanding of the Chaozhou-Shanwei spirit, discerning more clearly the unique blend of adventurous enterprise and Confucian culture that defines this region.

https://youtu.be/JNdmWiKkaV0
https://youtu.be/JNdmWiKkaV0
https://youtu.be/JNdmWiKkaV0
https://youtu.be/JNdmWiKkaV0
Click to watch

Faces of Frigid Zone

The small northeastern city of Hegang is the hometown of film director Geng Jun, and also the setting for all his cinematic narratives. Beyond the viral sensation of purchasing a flat for fifty thousand yuan, Geng Jun’s lens captures the collective emotional memories of Hegang’s residents for this former coal mining town. Much like how people seek warmth in the cold, Geng’s films document fragments of life while freezing emotional landmarks within the small city. As cities evolve and Hegang transforms, many of the emotional landmarks in Geng Jun’s narratives have vanished. The two Hegang cities that once mirrored each other now exist only as a simulacrum woven from light and shadow.

https://www.nowness.com/topic/china/quanzhou-cai-wenyou
https://www.nowness.com/topic/china/quanzhou-cai-wenyou
https://www.nowness.com/topic/china/quanzhou-cai-wenyou
https://www.nowness.com/topic/china/quanzhou-cai-wenyou
Click to Watch

Portrait of a Place: Quanzhou

A Nowness Produced Short Film
Directed by me
Voiced by the daughter of renowned Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang, this film is about the local culture of Quanzhou. Located by a port, the town has its own language, music, theater, and food—a unique mix of tradition and inclusiveness. It is also the birthplace of Hokkien culture, the influence of which can be seen today in Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Theater Works
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The Storm in Emptiness, Er Ma & Laoshe’s Six Pieces, Workshops in the Dome Studio

Multimedia performance project by stage designer Tim Yip, combining music, dance, and scenography in an experimental theatre production.

Stage adaptation of Lao She’s novel Er Ma, exploring cross-cultural encounters through contemporary theatre.

Masterclasses and performance workshops at The Dome Studio with theatre and screen practitioners.

Contact

If you would like to connect about research, writing, or creative projects, feel free to reach out.

jellyfishwang@gmail.com
Based in Brussels and working across research, writing, and visual storytelling.