12 Meditation Chamber - Salt        10 November - 15 November 2026
Chakme

Galerie Dengyun is pleased to announce the presentation of 12 Meditation Chambers – Salt, a solo project by Chakme, in the xiàn chǎng sector of the 2026 West Bund Art & Design fair. The project is initiated by Mian Mian and curated by Li Zhenhua.

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Enter a space from one direction—a space large enough for just one person. This space, formed from red salt from the Qinghai Plateau, shapes a perfect square. Gather your thoughts, breathing calmly, and watch the twelve short films at your own pace; technology grants us boundless imagination and spatial freedom. Inside the meditation chamber, the screens displaying these short films serve as windows; as you look out, you find yourself stepping into a specific moment—that instant from director Chakme’s film The Little Ring.

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Outside the space, handcrafted yak-hair ropes from the Qinghai Plateau are arranged into another perfect square, a protective form commonly used in art museums. Whilst defining the physical space, it also constructs another imaginary space for the entire project. Bells are tied to ropes that ring whenever touched. Listen in the stillness; find solace amidst the clamour.

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I hope you, too, will share in this moment in which all things are delicately interconnected: within the meditation room, whether you look, listen or close your eyes, feel the energy of the salt and the earth, sense your connection to the universe, experience solitude, and feel your own innate, unique and perfect existence…

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Eventually, I hope you will experience both the tranquillity and the turbulence that meditation brings, for meditation is ultimately about how you view the world, how you view yourself, and how you gain insight as time flows quietly by.

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12 Meditation Chambers is a project conceived by Chakme, comprising twelve meditation spaces crafted from different materials. Together with his other work—a cyanotype print of stellera paper inspired by The Little Ring—they form an intriguing parallel universe. One is co-created by the artistic space and the participants; the other is a gift from the sun and the stellera plants.

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I would like to thank Mianmian for inviting me to participate in this project, and I am grateful to the Dengyun Gallery and the West Bund Art Fair for their support. I am also grateful to Chakme for his trust and inspiration, and to everyone who has devoted their efforts to this project.

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Curator: Li Zhenhua

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​Written in Tuscany, Italy, on Sunday, 27 September 2026