Education
| 2010 | Masters (with Distinction) in Photography, Graduate Scolarship Program, London College of Communication, London, UK |
| 2006 - 2008 | BA in Photography, Camberwell College of the Arts, University of the Arts, London, UK |
Selected Solo Exhibitions
| 2022 | The Forest Institute, Gillman Barracks, Singapore |
| 2020 | Robert Zhao Renhui: The Lines We Draw, ShanghART Singapore, Singapore |
| 2019 | The Lines We Draw, Yalu River Art Museum, Dandong, China New Forest, Mind Set Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan |
| 2018 | Final Report of the Christmas Island Expert Working Group, NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore HUGO BOSS ASIA ART 2017, BOSS Store Ngee Ann City, Singapore |
| 2017 | Christmas Island, Naturally, ShanghART M50, Shanghai, China The Nature Museum, commissioned by Singapore International Festival of Arts, 72-13, Singapore Christmas Island, Naturally, ShangART Singapore, Singapore The Bizarre Honour, Chip Bee Gardens, Singapore Singapore, Very Old Tree, National Museum of Singapore, Singapore |
| 2016 | The Natural History of an Island, DECK, Singapore |
| 2015 | A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World, Centre of Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, Australia |
| The tree that fell, The Substation, Singapore | |
| The Nature Collector, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, China | |
| 2014 | Flies Prefer Yellow, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, California, USA |
| Fake or Reality, Galarie Anzenberger, Vienna, Austria | |
| A Guide to the Flora and Fauna of the World, Primo Marella Gallery, Milan, Italy | |
| The Last Thing You See, 2902 Gallery, Singapore | |
| 2012 | The Institute of Critical Zoologists, Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK |
| Living Proof, Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand | |
| 2011 | The Land Archive, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore |
| 2010 | The Whiteness of Whales, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan |
| 2009 | If a tree falls in the forest, The Substation, Singapore |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2022 | Cuttings, Mizuma Art Gallery, Singapore Silent Spring, Galerie im Körnerpark, Berlin, Germany The Natural History of an Island, Three Shadows Photography Art Center, Beijing, China Free Jazz IV. Geomancers, NTU CCA, Singapore Rediscovering Lost Connections, Silvana S Foundation, JADA Art Gallery, Singapore Bukit Panjang Tourism Board, a project by Adeline Chia and Robert Zhao, Greenridge Shopping Centre, #02-13, Singapore |
| 2021 | Chengdu Biennale, Super Fusion, Tianfu Art Park, Chengdu Posthuman Ensemble, Asia Culture Center, Gwangju, South Korea A Show About Nothing, BY ART MATTERS, Hangzhou, China The New Cosmos of Photography Tokyo Exhibition 2021, Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan What a caterpillar calls the end, the world calls a butterfly, Field Studies, Singapore Tonight the Air is Warm, Kristin Hjellegjerde Gallery, London, United Kingdom Interspecies Futures, Center for Book Arts, New York, United States ANTHROPOLOGY OF ICE, Fotograf Festival 11, Fotograf Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic The Gift, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore |
| 2020 | From the Mundane World, Launch Exhibition of He Art Museum, He Art Museum, Guangdong In The Forest, Even The Air Breathes, GAMeC Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Bergamo, Italy Busan Biennale: Words at an Exhibition, an exhibition in ten chapters and five poems, Museum of Contemporary Art Busan, Busan, South Korea Meditations in an Emergency, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing The Seeds We Sow, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore |
| 2019 | Winter Exhibition, ShanghART Beijing, Beijing 2219: Futures Imagined, ArtScience Museum, Singapore Singapore Biennale 2019, Every Step in the Right Direction, Gillman Barracks, Singapore Observe, Experiment, Archive, Sunderland Museum and Winter Garden, London, United Kingdom Season 3, Orange County Museum of Art, California, USA The Time Tree, Fort Canning Park, Singapore Quasi-Nature: Bio Art, Borderline and Laboratory, Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing, China An Opera for Animals, Para Site , Hong Kong, and Rockbound Art Musuem, Shanghai, China Civilization: The Way We Live Now, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China |
| 2018 | The 9th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT9), The Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, Australia Post-Nature—A Museum as an Ecosystem: Taipei Biennial 2018, Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan From the Archives, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore Two houses: Politics and histories in the contemporary art collections of John Chia and Yeap Lam Yang, Institute of Contemporary Arts Singapore, LASALLE, Singapore Present Future, Supernormal, Singapore Fotofestiwal 2018, Art_Inkubator, Łódź, Poland Starting from the Desert. Ecologies on the Edge: 2nd Yinchuan Biennale, Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, Yinchuan, China PhotoESPAÑA, Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa, Madrid, Spain The 5th Onassis Fast Forward Festival, 15 Derigny St., Athens, Greece OH! Emerald Hill, OH! Open House, Singapore |
| 2017 | Jakarta Biennale 2017, Gudang Sarinah Ekosistem, Jakarta, Indonesia HUGO BOSS ASIA ART 2017, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China 7th Moscow Biennale: “Clouds ⇄ Forests”, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia Children's Biennale: Dreams & Stories, National Gallery of Singapore, Singapore Traces of the Future: Contemporary Art from Southeast Asia, Mizuma Art Gallery, Tokyo, Japan SUPER/NATURAL, Gajah Gallery, Yogyakarta, Indonesia On Sharks and Humanity, Parkview Museum, Singapore Chobi Mela IX, Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| 2016 | Singapore International Photography Festival: The Archive as Conversation, National Library, Singapore Why are we doing what we are doing ?, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore 20th Biennale of Sydney, Sydney, Australia |
| Prudential Eye Awards Exhibition 2016, ArtScience Museum, Singapore | |
| 2015 | No Boundary: An Exhibition featuring Singaporean Artists, ShanghART Gallery, Singapore |
| What it is about when it is about nothing, Mizuma Gallery, Singapore | |
| Arles Discover Award Exhibition, Arles, France | |
| 2014 | Signature Art Prize, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore |
| The Origin of Beauty: Dramatic Nostalgia, Busan Museum of Art, Busan, South Korea | |
| Ocean of possibilities, Noorderlicht Festival of Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands | |
| Going, Going until I Meet the Tide, Busan Biennale, Busan, South Korea | |
| Origins, Memories & Parodies, Daegu Photo Biennale, Daegu, South Korea | |
| Mapping Asia, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong | |
| Truths, Facts, Fictions, Lies, PhotoIreland, Ireland | |
| A time of dreams, Moscow International Biennale of Young Art, Moscow, Russia | |
| Landscape: the virtual, the actual, the possible?, Times Museum, Guangdong, China | |
| Grandprix Fotofestiwal, Poland | |
| Unearthed, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore | |
| Ghost Nature, Gallery 400, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinoi, USA | |
| Projections Animalieres, La Box, Bourges at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Art, Bourges, France | |
| The Land Archive, 24/7, Sculpture Square, Singapore | |
| Do you believe in Angels?, MO_Space, Manila, Philippines | |
| 2013 | If the World Changed, Singapore Biennale, Peranakan Museum, Singapore |
| Photoquai 4, Museum de Branly, Paris, France | |
| Novel Ecologies, Cross Art Projects, Sydney, Australia | |
| The Artist, The Book and the Crowd, The Substation, Singapore | |
| Living in the ruins of the 20th Century, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia | |
| International Festival of Photography, Mineiro Museum, Belo Horizonte, Brazil | |
| The Realm In The Mirror, The Vision out of Image, Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China | |
| Engaging Perspectives, New Art From Singapore, Centre of Contemporary Art, Singapore | |
| President’s Young Talent Exhibition, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore | |
| Edit, Image Phobia and Fetish, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, China | |
| Earth Works, PPOW Gallery, New York City, New York, USA | |
| Adapting to the Anthropocene, UNESCO House, Paris, France | |
| Going where, ShanghART Gallery, Singapore | |
| Encounter: The Royal Academy in Asia, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore | |
| Beast Bloom for Thee, Galeri Canna, Jakarta, Indonesia | |
| Between Conversations, Yavuz Fine Art, Singapore | |
| 2012 | Terra Cognita, Noorderlitcht Festival of Photography, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| FutureMap, Zabludowicz Collection, London, UK | |
| FutureProof, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore | |
| Hijacked III, Contemporary Photography from the UK and Australia, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, Perth, Australia | |
| 2011 | We who saw signs, Institute of Contemporary Arts, Singapore |
| Territories of the real and unreal, Langgeng Art Foundation, Yogyakarta, Indonesia | |
| Animal Talk, Jendela, Singapore | |
| Right Here, Right Now, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK | |
| Not too far away, 2902 Gallery, Singapore | |
| 2010 | “Haven’t You Heard?”, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong |
| When Species Meet: A gaze that is nonhuman, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland | |
| Emerging Wave, GoEun Museum of Photography, Busan, South Korea | |
| Art & The Law, M1 Fringe Festival, Jendela Gallery, Singapore | |
| Cut 2010: New Photography from Southeast Asia, Parallel Universe, Valentine Willie Fine Art, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Singapore | |
| 2009 | A touch of violence, National Gallery of Arts, Tirane, Albania |
| Photocinema, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK | |
| 2008 | We decided to go to the zoo but it was raining, PhotoLevallois Festival, Paris, France |
Awards
| 2021 | Excellence Award, New Cosmos of Photography 2021, Tokyo, Japan |
| 2019 | Finalist, 12th Benesse Prize, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore |
| 2017 | Finalist, HUGO BOSS ASIA ART 2017, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, China |
| 2016 | Nominee, Prudential Eye Awards |
| 2014 | Finalist, APB Foundation Signature Art Prize, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore |
| 2011 | Deutsche Bank Award In Photography, University of the Arts, London, UK |
| 2010 | Young Artist Award, Singapore |
| 2009 | Arts Creation Fund, National Arts Council, Singapore |
| United Overseas Bank Prize, Painting of the Year Award, Singapore | |
| 2008 | Honourable Mention, PhotoLevallois Festival, Paris, France |
Museum Collections
| National Museum of Singapore, Singapore UBS Art Collection, UBS Global Statoil Art Collection, Stavanger, Norway Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, U.S.A UOB Art Collection, Singapore Singapore Art Museum, Singapore |
Publication
| 2014 | Altered Realities Robert Zhao, Katarzyna Majak, Archivo |
| The Origin of Invented Species Robert Zhao Renhui, Profiles by Sylvia Tsai, ArtAsiaPacific |
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| 2013 | Enough Room to Fall, President’s Young Talents, catalogue, Tan Siuli |
| Speculative Everything, Aesthetics of Unreality, book, Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, MIT Press | |
| Misrepresented, The Design Society Journal No.6 |
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| Art Cities of the Future, book, Phaidon Press | |
| Contemporary Photography in Asia, book, Prestel Publishing | |
| Zhao Renhui: A Photographer’s Obsession with Animals, The Muse |
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| 2012 | Art Forum, Openings, Essay by Jeffrey Kastner |
| Nature, Documents of Contemporary Art, Whitechapel, book, MIT Press |
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| LAND Journal, Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore | |
| Asian Art News, March/April, Exploring Artifice and Context, Interview by Steven Pettifor | |
| Punctum, Issue 3, Essay by Lisa Botos |
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| 2011 | Fotografia, Zhao Renhui, Essay by Katarzyna Perlak |
| 2010 | NY Arts, New York, Summer 2010, Voices, Artist’s Interview |
| Public art, Korea : June, Issue 045 |
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| Cabinet, Issue 38, Pulau Pejantan |
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| The Straits Time, Life!Arts, Interview, The Japanese side of whaling, August 07 |
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| Art Forum, Best of 2010, December, Selected by Pauline J.Yao |
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| 2009 | Extra 03, Feature, Antwerp FotoMuseum, The Zoo as Cinema |
| Portfolio Magazine, Contemporary Photography in Britain, Cover and feature, Issue 49 |
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| 2008 | L’oeil de la Photographie, France, Nov, Image of the Month |
Residencies
| 2017 | NTU Centre for Contemporary Art, Singapore |
| 2014 | Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco, California, USA |
| 2013 | Earth Observatory of Singapore, Singapore |
| 2012 | National Museum of Wales, Residency by Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff, UK |
| Langgeng Arts Foundation, Residency on Dutch Colonial Archives | |
| 2011 | Bangkok University Gallery, Bangkok, Thailand |
| The Arctic Circle Residency | |
| Ffotogallery, Penarth, UK | |
| 2010 | Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan |
