The 2026 degree show at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts will open on May 19 and run through June 27, the academy announced recently.

This year's exhibition is organized around the concept "Zidingyi" (自钉义), a play on the similar-sounding "Zidingyi" (自定义), meaning "self-definition". By replacing the character "定", associated with definition, with "钉", meaning a nail or screw, the theme alludes to the long-standing idea of being "a screw in the machine", a metaphor for an individual serving as one functional part of a broader social system.

Source: South
Editor: Wen Junhua