Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade
Group show
HU Yinping, Jaffa LAM, Peter LIVERSIDGE, Moe SATT, Tromarama, Meng ZHANG
Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing
14 March – 30 April 2026
Group show
HU Yinping, Jaffa LAM, Peter LIVERSIDGE, Moe SATT, Tromarama, Meng ZHANG
Tabula Rasa Gallery, Beijing
14 March – 30 April 2026
Press release
Tabula Rasa Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade curated by Dr. Penny Dan Xu.
Children rehearse the fearful subjects of the real world again and again through play, within simulated spaces. This exhibition is one such seemingly innocent "playground": paper frogs locked in fierce struggle, sickles, rockets and villains knitted from wool, images concealed behind umbrella fabric, small spheres shifting under digital gravity... In truth, these six artists and collectives employ light, soft and almost naive creative strategies to lever open complex real-world questions, whether the brutal logic of power struggles, the circumstances of marginalised communities, or the razor-thin boundary between life and death.
The endpoint of play is not escape. It is a repeated questioning through each round of rehearsal, a search for resilience amid turbulence and uncertainty, and the courage to move gently forward through the fissures of reality.
The exhibition's spatial design, led by Half Bottle Studio, weaves the spirit of play throughout the viewing experience. Works have been intentionally hung at a lower eye level, accompanied by floor cushions and carpets for visitors to sit on. This physical "lowering" aligns with the way children naturally encounter the world, while also inviting adult visitors to shift their mode of looking and gain a new vantage point on reality.
As an extension of the exhibition's narrative, a "Store of Innocence" has been set up on-site, featuring a selection of handcrafted knit objects from Xiao Fang Store, artist objects by Ni Youyu, and a range of printed matter brought by the independent publishing studio SHU SHU, including a journal edited by children and their newly released board game "Madman."
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
HU Yinping was born in Sichuan in 1983, and currently lives and works in Beijing. Despite earning her MFA at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2010, her works are not limited to the materiality of sculpture. Instead, she channels chance meetings and fortuitous situations into insightful scenarios. Hu Yinping defines her art as a state between “event” and “work”, implying a deep connection between artistic practice and real life. Hu often labels the medium of her works as “event” and these works usually last for a period of time or are even ongoing. Such practices can be traced back to the three art groups she initiated after obtaining her MFA. Major solo exhibitions include You Can Start Anytime, UCCA Dune, Hebei, China 2025；Hu Yinping: Weaving Realities, McaM, Shanghai, China (2022); White, Andre, PLATESPACE, Beijing, China (2020); Snowy White Dove, Arrow Factory Space, Beijing, China(2018); Tourist, IAER, Venice, Italy (2017); Xiaofang, Arrow Factory Space, Beijing, China (2016); Thank you, Space 3, Chengdu, China (2016); Identity, Mocube, Beijing, China (2016); Born Savage, Heiqiao, Beijing, China (2016).
Jaffa LAM (b. 1973, Fuding, Fujian, China) is a Hong Kong–based artist known for her large-scale, site-specific, and mixed-media works. She frequently works with recycled materials such as wooden crates, discarded furniture, scrap metal, and used umbrella fabric. Lam’s practice often explores issues related to local culture, marginalized communities, history, and current social conditions. Recurring themes in her work include public art, the disappearance of urban craftsmanship, and cycles of regeneration within artistic production.Recent solo exhibitions include Behind the Blue, Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Shenzhen (2025); Sailing, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp (2023); Chasing an Elusive Nature, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong (2022); Piu3, Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2018); Jaffa Lam × Sam Tung Uk, Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong (2017); Looking for My Family Story, Lumenvisum, Hong Kong (2015); Jaffa Lam Collaborative: Weaver, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2013); Micro Economy, RMIT School of Art Gallery, Melbourne (2011); Travel with Rickshaw, Alliance Française, Dhaka (2005); and Murmur, Sha Tin Town Hall, Hong Kong (2003).
Moe SATT (b. 1983, Yangon, Myanmar) is a performance and multidisciplinary artist currently based in Amsterdam. His practice spans performance, video, photography, and drawing, often exploring the body as a site of political, social, and cultural negotiation. Through minimal gestures, repetitive actions, and bodily choreography, Satt examines themes of identity, vulnerability, and resistance, often reflecting on the socio-political context of Myanmar and broader global conditions.Recent solo exhibitions and presentations include Rest the Thumbs on the Cheekbones, Delfina Foundation, London (2024); f n’ f (face and fingers) performance, The Tanks, Tate Modern, London (2024); Hunting & Dancing: 15 Years, Nova Contemporary, Bangkok (2023); F N’F (face and fingers), Delfina Foundation, London (2020); a solo presentation with Nova Contemporary at Art Basel Hong Kong (2019); If I Say It’s True Seven Times, Myanm/art Gallery, Yangon (2018); Memoir Cocktail, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco (2017); and Alphabet No.22, Institut Français de Birmanie, Yangon (2016).
Peter LIVERSIDGE (b. 1973, Lincoln, UK) is a London-based conceptual and performance artist whose practice begins at his kitchen table, where he sits alone writing hand-typed proposals on an old manual typewriter. These pages outline a range of possible—and sometimes impossible—ideas for performances and artworks across nearly every medium. Each proposal exists first in Liversidge’s mind, then on the page, then in the imagination of the reader, and occasionally as a physical object or happening. In every case, the initial artwork is the bookwork that presents the collected ideas, allowing the reader to engage, curate, and interact with each concept one-on-one. Liversidge emphasizes that the creative process is as important as its realization: some proposals are enacted, while others remain only as text, all existing equally as part of the work.Major solo exhibitions and projects include Rules of the Library, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (2026); Sign Painting Studio, Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre, London (2024); Winter Drawings and Spring Boats, Ingleby, Edinburgh (2023); Either/Or, Kate Macgarry Gallery, London (2022); Rural Time, East Quay Watchet, Somerset (2021); an echo, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2020); Topsy Turvy, Pavement Gallery, Manchester (2019); Out/Exit, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (2018); and Proposals for Antarctica, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, Cambridge (2016).
Tromarama is an artist collective based in Indonesia, founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. Their work plays with the connections between technology, society, and daily routines. Using video, installations, and interventions with everyday objects, their projects often explore the thin line between labor and leisure within online platforms. They are interested in how digital platforms reshape social behaviors and economic practices, exposing the tensions and contradictions inherent in this evolving landscape. They live and work between Bandung and Jakarta. Major solo exhibitions include Ping Inside Noisy Giraffe, SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul (2025); Auto Ally, Document, Chicago (2024); Deep Pressure, Document, Paris+ (2023); Contraflow, Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); MOTHERTHUMB, ROH, Liste Art Fair, Basel (2023); Personalia, ROH, Jakarta (2022); and The Lost Jungle, Museum MACAN, Jakarta (2021). Earlier solo projects include OTW, Ark Galerie, Jakarta (2013); KIDULT, Tembi Contemporary, Jogjakarta (2011); and MAM PROJECT 012, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010).
Meng ZHANG (b. 1983, Tianjin, China) attended the Aufbaustudium at the Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in Germany from 2016-2018, and now she is working in Stuttgart and Beijing. In her depictions of trivial moments and fragments of everyday life, Zhang Meng blends and extends the materials retrieved from dreams, memories, childhood and mythologies. She tries to connect the visual image with her inner world and subconscious, illuminating the fragility of existence, conveying a sense of vulnerability and estrangement.In her recent works, she exploited her spiritual experiences as a language of art, such as the practice of yoga, the connection with inner child, the introspection and healing of trauma, attempting to reach beyond the tangible reality. Her drawings/art become an experimental and expanded record of her spiritual trajectory where reality, spirituality, and the visual communicate. This is also tangible in the media she employs, charcoal, pencil, hot wax, and paper, which are naturally brittle, slippery, and ephemeral, opening countless perceptual possibilities and inviting one to find oneself in the garden of forking paths. In 2025 Zhang Meng completed a residency at the Jan Van Eyck Academie. In 2022-23, Zhang Meng received the Artist Award from the Stiftung Kunstfonds in Germany and completed a residency at Schloss Plüschow in Germany in 2020.
Her works are featured in several museum and gallery exhibitions such as: I thought, I had lost half a soul here, Meyer Riegger (Berlin, 2025); Paris Internationale 2024 (solo, Paris, 2024)； In Harmony With The Way, ShanghART (Shanghai, 2024); Xinkang Restaurant, Blunt Society (Shanghai, 2024); On a Sentimental Moon, Tabula Rasa Gallery (solo, Beijing, 2023); Forest-Stift, Luis Leu (Germany, 2023); Karls Ruhe, AroundSpace Gallery (solo, Shanghai, 2022); Fragmentation is Abstraction, C-space (Berlin, 2022); Reigionale 23—We are so many here, Kunsthalle Basel (Basel, 2022); Works on Paper, Stevenson Gallery (Cape Town, 2021); LISTE Art Fair Basel 2021 (dual solo, Basel, 2021); Tones and Toes, Tabula Rasa Gallery (solo, London, 2021); Ich Singe, Nordheimer Scheune (solo, Nordheim, 2021); Let Painter Talk, Taikang Space, (Beijing, 2021); NINININI PENG, neewhom, Gebäude im Passagehof 24 (Karlsruhe, 2019); Regionale 19, Kunsthalle Palazzo (Liestal, 2018), among others.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Dr. Penny Dan XU is a London-based independent curator with over 13 years of experience across the globe’s major cultural hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, and Brussels. Holding a PhD in Art History, she is the founder of Across Platform, a non-profit community dedicated to scholarly research and independent knowledge production. In addition to her curatorial practice, she serves as an advisor to the art organization Baopu FELT. Her curatorial practice champions multi-layered collaborations between researchers, artists, and curators, fostering a dynamic synergy of diverse intellectual backgrounds. By navigating the intersections of disparate media and geographies, she seeks to ignite profound dialogues that transcend boundaries. She is the recipient of the 2025 Hyundai Blue Prize.
Tabula Rasa Gallery is pleased to present the group exhibition Innocent Rehearsal: Ball, Paper, Blade curated by Dr. Penny Dan Xu.
Children rehearse the fearful subjects of the real world again and again through play, within simulated spaces. This exhibition is one such seemingly innocent "playground": paper frogs locked in fierce struggle, sickles, rockets and villains knitted from wool, images concealed behind umbrella fabric, small spheres shifting under digital gravity... In truth, these six artists and collectives employ light, soft and almost naive creative strategies to lever open complex real-world questions, whether the brutal logic of power struggles, the circumstances of marginalised communities, or the razor-thin boundary between life and death.
The endpoint of play is not escape. It is a repeated questioning through each round of rehearsal, a search for resilience amid turbulence and uncertainty, and the courage to move gently forward through the fissures of reality.
The exhibition's spatial design, led by Half Bottle Studio, weaves the spirit of play throughout the viewing experience. Works have been intentionally hung at a lower eye level, accompanied by floor cushions and carpets for visitors to sit on. This physical "lowering" aligns with the way children naturally encounter the world, while also inviting adult visitors to shift their mode of looking and gain a new vantage point on reality.
As an extension of the exhibition's narrative, a "Store of Innocence" has been set up on-site, featuring a selection of handcrafted knit objects from Xiao Fang Store, artist objects by Ni Youyu, and a range of printed matter brought by the independent publishing studio SHU SHU, including a journal edited by children and their newly released board game "Madman."
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
HU Yinping was born in Sichuan in 1983, and currently lives and works in Beijing. Despite earning her MFA at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2010, her works are not limited to the materiality of sculpture. Instead, she channels chance meetings and fortuitous situations into insightful scenarios. Hu Yinping defines her art as a state between “event” and “work”, implying a deep connection between artistic practice and real life. Hu often labels the medium of her works as “event” and these works usually last for a period of time or are even ongoing. Such practices can be traced back to the three art groups she initiated after obtaining her MFA. Major solo exhibitions include You Can Start Anytime, UCCA Dune, Hebei, China 2025；Hu Yinping: Weaving Realities, McaM, Shanghai, China (2022); White, Andre, PLATESPACE, Beijing, China (2020); Snowy White Dove, Arrow Factory Space, Beijing, China(2018); Tourist, IAER, Venice, Italy (2017); Xiaofang, Arrow Factory Space, Beijing, China (2016); Thank you, Space 3, Chengdu, China (2016); Identity, Mocube, Beijing, China (2016); Born Savage, Heiqiao, Beijing, China (2016).
Jaffa LAM (b. 1973, Fuding, Fujian, China) is a Hong Kong–based artist known for her large-scale, site-specific, and mixed-media works. She frequently works with recycled materials such as wooden crates, discarded furniture, scrap metal, and used umbrella fabric. Lam’s practice often explores issues related to local culture, marginalized communities, history, and current social conditions. Recurring themes in her work include public art, the disappearance of urban craftsmanship, and cycles of regeneration within artistic production.Recent solo exhibitions include Behind the Blue, Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Shenzhen (2025); Sailing, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Antwerp (2023); Chasing an Elusive Nature, Axel Vervoordt Gallery, Hong Kong (2022); Piu3, Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2018); Jaffa Lam × Sam Tung Uk, Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong (2017); Looking for My Family Story, Lumenvisum, Hong Kong (2015); Jaffa Lam Collaborative: Weaver, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong (2013); Micro Economy, RMIT School of Art Gallery, Melbourne (2011); Travel with Rickshaw, Alliance Française, Dhaka (2005); and Murmur, Sha Tin Town Hall, Hong Kong (2003).
Moe SATT (b. 1983, Yangon, Myanmar) is a performance and multidisciplinary artist currently based in Amsterdam. His practice spans performance, video, photography, and drawing, often exploring the body as a site of political, social, and cultural negotiation. Through minimal gestures, repetitive actions, and bodily choreography, Satt examines themes of identity, vulnerability, and resistance, often reflecting on the socio-political context of Myanmar and broader global conditions.Recent solo exhibitions and presentations include Rest the Thumbs on the Cheekbones, Delfina Foundation, London (2024); f n’ f (face and fingers) performance, The Tanks, Tate Modern, London (2024); Hunting & Dancing: 15 Years, Nova Contemporary, Bangkok (2023); F N’F (face and fingers), Delfina Foundation, London (2020); a solo presentation with Nova Contemporary at Art Basel Hong Kong (2019); If I Say It’s True Seven Times, Myanm/art Gallery, Yangon (2018); Memoir Cocktail, Kadist Art Foundation, San Francisco (2017); and Alphabet No.22, Institut Français de Birmanie, Yangon (2016).
Peter LIVERSIDGE (b. 1973, Lincoln, UK) is a London-based conceptual and performance artist whose practice begins at his kitchen table, where he sits alone writing hand-typed proposals on an old manual typewriter. These pages outline a range of possible—and sometimes impossible—ideas for performances and artworks across nearly every medium. Each proposal exists first in Liversidge’s mind, then on the page, then in the imagination of the reader, and occasionally as a physical object or happening. In every case, the initial artwork is the bookwork that presents the collected ideas, allowing the reader to engage, curate, and interact with each concept one-on-one. Liversidge emphasizes that the creative process is as important as its realization: some proposals are enacted, while others remain only as text, all existing equally as part of the work.Major solo exhibitions and projects include Rules of the Library, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh (2026); Sign Painting Studio, Royal College of Nursing Library & Heritage Centre, London (2024); Winter Drawings and Spring Boats, Ingleby, Edinburgh (2023); Either/Or, Kate Macgarry Gallery, London (2022); Rural Time, East Quay Watchet, Somerset (2021); an echo, Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh (2020); Topsy Turvy, Pavement Gallery, Manchester (2019); Out/Exit, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh (2018); and Proposals for Antarctica, UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, Cambridge (2016).
Tromarama is an artist collective based in Indonesia, founded by Febie Babyrose, Herbert Hans, and Ruddy Hatumena in 2006. Their work plays with the connections between technology, society, and daily routines. Using video, installations, and interventions with everyday objects, their projects often explore the thin line between labor and leisure within online platforms. They are interested in how digital platforms reshape social behaviors and economic practices, exposing the tensions and contradictions inherent in this evolving landscape. They live and work between Bandung and Jakarta. Major solo exhibitions include Ping Inside Noisy Giraffe, SongEun Art and Cultural Foundation, Seoul (2025); Auto Ally, Document, Chicago (2024); Deep Pressure, Document, Paris+ (2023); Contraflow, Kiang Malingue, Hong Kong (2023); MOTHERTHUMB, ROH, Liste Art Fair, Basel (2023); Personalia, ROH, Jakarta (2022); and The Lost Jungle, Museum MACAN, Jakarta (2021). Earlier solo projects include OTW, Ark Galerie, Jakarta (2013); KIDULT, Tembi Contemporary, Jogjakarta (2011); and MAM PROJECT 012, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2010).
Meng ZHANG (b. 1983, Tianjin, China) attended the Aufbaustudium at the Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe in Germany from 2016-2018, and now she is working in Stuttgart and Beijing. In her depictions of trivial moments and fragments of everyday life, Zhang Meng blends and extends the materials retrieved from dreams, memories, childhood and mythologies. She tries to connect the visual image with her inner world and subconscious, illuminating the fragility of existence, conveying a sense of vulnerability and estrangement.In her recent works, she exploited her spiritual experiences as a language of art, such as the practice of yoga, the connection with inner child, the introspection and healing of trauma, attempting to reach beyond the tangible reality. Her drawings/art become an experimental and expanded record of her spiritual trajectory where reality, spirituality, and the visual communicate. This is also tangible in the media she employs, charcoal, pencil, hot wax, and paper, which are naturally brittle, slippery, and ephemeral, opening countless perceptual possibilities and inviting one to find oneself in the garden of forking paths. In 2025 Zhang Meng completed a residency at the Jan Van Eyck Academie. In 2022-23, Zhang Meng received the Artist Award from the Stiftung Kunstfonds in Germany and completed a residency at Schloss Plüschow in Germany in 2020.
Her works are featured in several museum and gallery exhibitions such as: I thought, I had lost half a soul here, Meyer Riegger (Berlin, 2025); Paris Internationale 2024 (solo, Paris, 2024)； In Harmony With The Way, ShanghART (Shanghai, 2024); Xinkang Restaurant, Blunt Society (Shanghai, 2024); On a Sentimental Moon, Tabula Rasa Gallery (solo, Beijing, 2023); Forest-Stift, Luis Leu (Germany, 2023); Karls Ruhe, AroundSpace Gallery (solo, Shanghai, 2022); Fragmentation is Abstraction, C-space (Berlin, 2022); Reigionale 23—We are so many here, Kunsthalle Basel (Basel, 2022); Works on Paper, Stevenson Gallery (Cape Town, 2021); LISTE Art Fair Basel 2021 (dual solo, Basel, 2021); Tones and Toes, Tabula Rasa Gallery (solo, London, 2021); Ich Singe, Nordheimer Scheune (solo, Nordheim, 2021); Let Painter Talk, Taikang Space, (Beijing, 2021); NINININI PENG, neewhom, Gebäude im Passagehof 24 (Karlsruhe, 2019); Regionale 19, Kunsthalle Palazzo (Liestal, 2018), among others.
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Dr. Penny Dan XU is a London-based independent curator with over 13 years of experience across the globe’s major cultural hubs, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Paris, Milan, and Brussels. Holding a PhD in Art History, she is the founder of Across Platform, a non-profit community dedicated to scholarly research and independent knowledge production. In addition to her curatorial practice, she serves as an advisor to the art organization Baopu FELT. Her curatorial practice champions multi-layered collaborations between researchers, artists, and curators, fostering a dynamic synergy of diverse intellectual backgrounds. By navigating the intersections of disparate media and geographies, she seeks to ignite profound dialogues that transcend boundaries. She is the recipient of the 2025 Hyundai Blue Prize.
Tabula Rasa Gallery (London)
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
Unit One, 99 East Road,
Hoxton, London
N1 6AQ
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