Since X Zhu-Nowell joined Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) as artistic director in 2023, the Shanghai institution has undergone a transformation that is both structural and conceptual. She began staging exhibitions that construct historical dialogues across unexpected geographies and centering voices historically marginalized in dominant narratives. These shifts reflect what Zhu-Nowell calls a “resistant institution”—she positions RAM as a site where multiple temporalities and political languages coexist without reconciling.

In January 2025, Zhu-Nowell was appointed executive director and chief curator of RAM. In this conversation, she discusses the curatorial thinking behind recent exhibitions, what institutional resistance means in practice, how RAM engages communities both within and beyond traditional museum audiences, and the ambitious projects taking shape in 2026.