About Xiaojie Zhu

Xiaojie
A native of Wenzhou, China
Life Experiences
* stonemason, woodworker, benchwork, accountant
* Dean of the Wenzhou Furniture College
* Visiting Professor of Yangtze University School of Art
* Visiting Professor of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
* Visiting Professor of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts
* Visiting Professor of the Marmsten Furniture College, Linköping University, Sweden
* Curator of the Wenzhou Design in Cologne Furniture Exhibition, Cologne, Germany
* Curator of the ‘EAST Design Show’ at the China International Furniture Expo
* Curator of ‘Stone Infinite’ Design Exhibition at the Xiamen International Stone Exhibition
* Curator of "Take a Seat" Design Exhibition at Milan Design Week
* Co-curator of "Revelations China" International Fine Craft & Creation Biennial
* Artistic Director for Opal Furniture Enterprise
* Artistic Director for Ceramic Brand "OUCERAMIC"
* Furniture Designer of the China Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo
* Designer for Dutch Ceramic Brand "WORK"
* Designer for Denmark Furniture Brand "KOPENHAGEN FUR"
* Designer for Italian Furniture Brand "CASANOVA"

▪ Representative Works:
1.Ceramic Design Series
* Agate Series
* Waterfowl over the Oujiang River
* Fragrance Bottle
* Jiangxin Twin Bottles
* Stone Flower Vase
* Sexy Cup

2.Furniture Design Series
* Coin Chair
* Rose Chair
* Pastoral Chair
* Forest Table
* Long Flowing Water Table
* Flowing Water Tea Table

3.Architectural Design Series
* Wenzhou Mansion
* Wenzhou College of Design
* Luxu Design Museum, Suzhou
* Wenzhou Tianzhu Temple
* Zhou Family Ancestral Hall
* Wenzhou Dragon Boat Sports Center

4.Publications
* A Guidebook for Furniture Designers, China Light Industry Press
* Zhu Xiaojie on Furniture Design Series, Jilin Art Publishing House
* Non-Original Design Design is none original

▪ Life’s Journey
Born in Wenzhou, China, 1955
Graduated from Cuiwei Primary School, Wenzhou, 1966.
---Started learning crafts after dropping out of school---
Graduated from Wenzhou No.1 High School, 1972.
---Struggled to making a living ---
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Wenzhou Timber Company, 1983.
Founded the State-owned: Wenzhou Urban Interior Design Supporting Service Company, 1986.
Study abroad to Australia, 1989.
Returns to China to establish the furniture brand, "Opal" in 1993.
Exhibited at the "Wenzhou Design in Cologne" Furniture Exhibition in Cologne, Germany, 2009.
Commissioned to design furniture for the China Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo in 2010.
Furniture designer for the “Show the World” handicraft tour, invited by the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Zhu Zheqin in 2010.
Editor-in-Chief and member of the jury review committee for the National Designer Qualification Examination textbook Basic Knowledge for Furniture Designers, in 2011.
Co-participated with Freeman Lau in the "Chair Affection-Chairplay” exhibition at the Art Museum of Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts, an event curated by Hangjian, in 2011.
Curated three consecutive "Sit Down" exhibitions in Milan from 2012 to 2015 to showcase China's way of life to the world.
Curated “Slow Seating , Enjoy Chinese Craftsmanship” exhibition in China’s first Design Exhibition at the Guan Shanyue Art Museum in 2012.
"QI AND XI" Xiaojie solo exhibition curated by Zeng Hui at the Today Art Museum in Beijing in 2013.
Established the first apprenticeship program at Wenzhou Polytechnic in Wenzhou Furniture College in 2014.
Collaborated with Poltrona Frau, a famous century-old Italian furniture brand, served as their chief designer of CASANOVA
in 2015.
Appointed as chief curator for the “EAST Design Show” for the CIFF in 2015, Served 9 consecutive editions
Designed the Dragon Boat Sports Center for the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2020.
Chief curator of “Stone Infinite” Design Exhibition at the Xiamen International Stone Expo, 2021.
Registered trademarks over a thousand design works in 2022. Opal is named "National Copyright Demonstration Unit".
Sole Exhibition "The Works of Xiaojie" curated by Fang Xiaofeng, host of Hang Jian at the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts in 2023.
In 2024, built the Luxu Design Museum into Luxu Design Island.
In 2024, invited to serve as the Co-curator of “Revelations China”International Fine Craft & Creation Biennial, one of the official events celebrating the 60th anniversary of Sino-French relations.

Looking back on Past Creative Journeys
From architecture to making accessories for living,
From writing books to teaching and curating
They all related to design despite or "their great variety"
In Xiaojie’s words,
I still long to go back to where it started, to be a craftsman once again...