![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/a7ae93672c0cee40857f45ec0221ba0e906fe976.png\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
February 23, 2026 \u2014 12:01am<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n
Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n Save this article for later<\/p>\n Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n Got it<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The idea of \u201cChinese art\u201d might call to mind Ming vases, calligraphy and possibly Maoist social realist paintings of heroic workers.<\/p>\n You are probably not thinking of robot chairs with clapping hands, hanging Gothic cathedrals made of leather, or an eight-metre-long cruise ship beached on the gallery floor.<\/p>\n These are just some of the spectacular works that will be on show for free at the HOTA (Home of the Arts) Gallery on the Gold Coast from April in This Moment, an exhibition of highlights from the White Rabbit Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art in Sydney.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Announced during a week when a platoon of dancing robots startled the world<\/a> with a martial arts demonstration on Chinese TV, This Moment will offer a glimpse into the technological and manufacturing might that has helped elevate Chinese artists on the world stage.<\/p>\n The White Rabbit Collection is owned by Australian philanthropist Dr Judith Neilson AM, whose charitable foundation aids public health in Africa as well as justice for women, girls and First Nations people in Australia.<\/p>\n Neilson, whose wealth is estimated at $1.23 billion<\/a>, has displayed her collection to Sydney art fans at her purpose-built White Rabbit Gallery since 2009.<\/p>\n \u201cFor more than 25 years I have been travelling to China where I believe the most interesting art in the world is produced,\u201d Neilson said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amazing country is so vast, diverse, and hugely populated. It inspires so many artists and fuels such competition \u2013 resulting in the best to the worst and everything in between.\u201d<\/p>\n HOTA Gallery curator Julie McLaren said the exhibition was \u201ca huge coup\u201d for the regional gallery and that works in the show would \u201csmash preconceived ideas\u201d about Chinese art.<\/p>\n \u201cArtists working in China are referencing ancient traditions, but melding with new mediums to explore what it means to live in China today,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n On entering the exhibition visitors would be confronted by an enormous work titled Deluge: Noah\u2019s Ark by Peng Hung Chih, made from nearly 6000 pieces of 3D-printed plastic to form the twisted carcass of a half-cruise ship, half-whale.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the work that we really wanted to show on the Gold Coast because it speaks to global concerns about climate and weather patterns,\u201d McLaren said, adding that she had experienced her first cyclone, Alfred, on the Gold Coast last year.<\/p>\n Another work, Chorus by Liu Chang, involves 12 chairs equipped with hands that eerily come to life and give a round of applause to visitors when they stand on a podium.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of artists are working with AI and computer technology, but also speaking about the concerns around these technologies and how they\u2019re part of our lives,\u201d McLaren said.<\/p>\n Related Article The show is far from a piece of \u201cofficial\u201d Chinese culture. Artists in China risk persecution, with arguably the nation\u2019s top artist (now in exile), Ai Weiwei, repeatedly arrested and detained by authorities.<\/p>\n \u201cChinese artists are extremely brave. A lot of them don\u2019t care whether they get put in jail,\u201d Neilson recently told the Australian Financial Review.<\/p>\n McLaren said some works in This Moment take a critical look at power structures of the PRC as well as exploring universal issues.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are moments of beauty and delight, and of humour. Humour is especially important in the times we\u2019re living in now, and really important in art.\u201d<\/p>\n This Moment: Highlights from the White Rabbit Collection of Chinese Contemporary Art runs April 18 to October 11 at HOTA Gallery, Surfers Paradise, and admission is free.<\/p>\n Get alerts on significant breaking news as it happens. Sign up for our Breaking News Alert<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Judith](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/f24451c1bdbfd67008a62b5e7db3d8586d525905.jpeg\")
Judith Neilson.James Brickwood<\/p>\n![\"Sets](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/6247ae6b45453234646a7b6a1b87e0d0436c7fddee452f3ac064892bb4a15a9c.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1767353291_492_a7ae93672c0cee40857f45ec0221ba0e906fe976.png\")
Nick Dent<\/a> is a Culture Reporter at Brisbane Times, covering arts and things to do in the city.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"February 23, 2026 \u2014 12:01am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,460,134],"class_list":["post-498002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}