About
Yitong Zhang is a multi-award-winning object maker, craft practitioner, researcher and poet in metal.
Prior to her doctoral study, Yitong graduated from the Royal College of Art in 2022 and the Glasgow School of Art with first-class honours in 2020, also travelling for an academic exchange to the California College of the Arts. Yitong’s artistic practice and research have spanned over 6 countries through exhibitions, curations, lectures, symposiums and workshops. In 2021, Yitong held a transdisciplinary exhibition in collaboration with 6 well-known Chinese poets, ‘Jewellery is a Poem’, in Beijing, which sparked her research interests in questioning the extent to which the principles and methods of poetry might offer insights for contemporary metal art practice.
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
2024- PhD, Design, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
2020-2022 MA, Jewellery & Metal, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2017-2020 BA (First-class Honours), Silversmithing & Jewellery, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
08-12/2018 Exchange, Jewellery & Metal Arts, Ceramics, California College of the Arts, USA
2016-2017 Foundation, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
HONOURS & AWARDS
2024 Nominated for Contemporary Cutlery Design Award, The Cutler’s Company, London
2023 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Award, Silver Award (3D Smallworkers section), London
2022 Nominated for Graham Hughes Award, Royal College of Art, London
2021 Behrens Foundation Bursary Award, Royal College of Art, London
2021 MA Dissertation Distinction, Archived by Royal College of Art Library
2020 New Designers: Goldsmiths’ Company Silversmithing Award, London
2020 Finalist for Visual Arts Scotland Graduate Showcase 2020, Glasgow
2020 Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council Award, Bronze Award (2D Smallworkers section), London
2019 Nominated for Outstanding Student of the Year Award, The Incorporation of Goldsmiths, Edinburgh
2018 Travel Bursary Award, Friends of the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow
2017 International Foundation Course Programme Scholarship, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
11/2025 Vertical, Horizontal and Spiral – Puyuan International Contemporary Jewellery Art and Design Biennale, Puyuan Town, CN
11/2025 Re-inspired
09/2025 Pangolin London, UK
03/2025 Munich Jewellery Week, Museum Mineralogia München, DE
04/2025 St Michael’s Church, Linlithgow, UK
11/2024 A Poem to be Worn, Jinjing Gallery, Shanghai, CN
09/2024 Alloy – Contemporary Craft Exhibition, Alsolike Gallery, London, UK
06/2024 Hybrid, the Haberdashery, Glasgow, UK
10/2023 Art within Reach, APSMuseum, Shanghai, CN
09/2023 Whispers of Objects – ‘Fear & Love’ International Exhibition for Contemporary Jewellery, International Contemporary Jewellery Centre, Shanghai, CN
05/2023 The Awards Exhibition, the Goldsmiths’ Centre, London, UK
03/2023 Ever Changes – Contemporary Metal Crafts, China Guardian Auctions, Changzhou, CN
03/2023 The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awards Exhibition, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London & Birmingham Assay Office, Birmingham, UK
12/2022 Longbai No.16 Club, Xinse Art Museum, Shanghai, CN
2022–24 Silver Triennial International
10/2023 Museum Zons, Dormagen, DE
08/2023 DIVA Museum for Diamonds, Jewellery and Silver, Antwerp, BE
04/2023 Silberwarenmuseum Ott-Pausersche Fabrik, Schwäbisch Gmünd, DE
02/2023 Inhorgenta Munich, Messe München, Munich, DE
10/2022 Deutsches Goldschmiedehaus, Hanau, DE
06/2022 RCA 2022 Graduate Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
05/2022 Absent Traces, Barge House, London Craft Week, London, UK
04/2022 In Process, Pump House Gallery, London, UK
11/2021 The 25 Stories, B.R. Gallery, Beijing, CN
10/2021 Beijing International Jewellery Art Exhibition, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, Beijing, CN
09/2021 Jewellery is a Poem – Contemporary Poetry and Jewellery Exhibition, Amazing Words Bookstore, Beijing, CN
07/2021 The Extraordinary Ordinary – Contemporary Craft Exhibition, AN+ Art & Design Centre, Shenzhen, CN
06/2021 Integration: Ancient & Modern – China International Contemporary Metal Art Exhibition, World Handicraft Industry Exposition Park, Shanghai, CN
04/2021 Beautiful!? – Contemporary Jewellery and Object Exhibition, B.R. Gallery, Beijing, CN
01/2021 WIP Show, Royal College of Art, Online
01/2021 Graduation Works Exhibition of Chinese Students from the Glasgow School of Art, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou, CN
12/2020 Art and Design Education: FutureLab, Art West Bund, Shanghai, CN
10/2020 National Intangible Cultural Heritage Heqing Silverware Forging Skills Exhibition, Prince Kung’s Mansion, Beijing, CN
09/2020 Metal Narrative – International Metal Art Exhibition, Beijing Design Week, The China Millennium Monument, Beijing, CN
07/2020 Graduate Showcase 2020, Visual Arts Scotland, Online
05/2020 The Glasgow School of Art Degree Show, Online
02/2020 The Goldsmiths’ Craft and Design Council Awarded Works Exhibition, Goldsmiths’ Hall, London, UK
11/2019 Itami International Jewellery Exhibition, The Museum of Arts & Crafts Itami, Itami, JP
04/2019 Splendour, The Reid Gallery, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
04/2018 Facets, Art School, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
05/2017 Launching, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, CN
CURATION
02/2026 Transforma(c)tion: Matter Dialogues, Inhorgenta & Munich Jewellery Week, Museum Mineralogia München, DE
09/2024 Alloy – Contemporary Craft Exhibition, Alsolike Gallery, London, UK
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
06/2025 Presenter, School of Design Doctoral Studies Symposium, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
03/2025 Presenter & Representative of the Glasgow School of Art, International PhD Day, Munich Jewellery Week, Handwerkskammer Rheinhessen & Galerie Handwerk, Munich, Germany
12/2024 Presenter, Research Degrees Training Program Symposium, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
10/2024 Guest Lecturer, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University, China
2023-2024 Artist in Residence, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, UK
11/2022 Guest Lecturer, Shenzhen Polytechnic University, Shenzhen, China