Much of Gu Xiong’s work focuses on the dynamics of globalization and on identity shifts for individuals and local cultures; he addresses integration and assimilation, histories both collective and personal, and cultural synthesis across boundaries.

His mixed-media installation for MOA, Becoming Rivers, references the Fraser and Yangtze Rivers as a personal metaphor for migration and the formation of self-identity. Drawn out of his own experience as a migrant to Canada from China, the work also builds on his current research with individuals living and working on the rivers’ banks. Gu Xiong considers the history of each river as a route for colonization, migration, and movements toward global uncertainty. The installation is comprised of photographs, an imaginary map, and a metaphorical river of over 1500 small white boats that flows from outside to inside the museum space.

When asked by the curator how he would describe his artwork Becoming Rivers in terms of a question it asks, Gu Xiong answered, “How can different cultures intertwine through personal journeys, and move together into a new space?”