Co-founded by Hong Kong artists Jessie Tam and Tianyi Zheng, Struggling Art Space grew and evolved from the graduate project “The Curse and the Spell of the Struggling Artist” of Jessie Tam in 2021. It began with personal failure on the way to becoming an artist. By receiving support and wisdom from friends, Jessie engraved quotes from friends on ready-made objects that are sold and used for daily use as a reminder of self-assurance. By looking at failures, imperfections, and struggles as little stones that kick us a bit, she experiments with possible ways to break the curse "Artists are stars in the sky some are seen some are not seen", and provides consultation for art practitioners. Since 2021, S_truggling Art Space has engaged in a wide array of collaborations with art institutions in the Netherlands as a not-for-profit and independent art initiative. With its exhibitions, discursive projects, workshops, and publications, S_truggling Art Space works with peer artists to deal with the competitive system in search of our own place within/ outside the art world. We explore the art world’s subconscious- desires that are influenced by but also shaping the economy, power dynamics, and social relationships in the art system, and forge a critical understanding and question the practice that aims for success and perfection.

“Who are we and what we do?”
S_truggling Art Space is an independent self-organised initiative, co-founded by Hong Kong artists Jessie Tam and Tianyi Zheng in 2021, growing from the art project “The Curse and the Spells of the Struggling Artists” by Jessie in 2021. Taking the form of a consultation office, we wait for artists and audiences to check their pulse, and count on the variance of struggles. If “Artists are stars in the sky some are seen some are not seen” is the curse in the art world, we invite artists to create magic spells to embrace our struggles, difficulties and failures encountered in the competitive art world, so as all the fear that comes along.
Instead of looking for success and perfection, we pay attention to every little stone that kicks us a bit on the way of art-making and we invite art practitioners to join us. S_truggling Art Space is based wherever there are possibilities and is run by Artist MeMe, Art Student MeMe, Curator MeMe, Collector MeMe, Art Writer MeMe currently. By naming ourselves as “MeMes”, we welcome collaboration and everyone could be “MeMes”. Since 2021, we have created discursive projects and engaged in a wide array of collaborations with different art institutions. To forge a critical understanding of the subconscious that is influenced by but also shaping the economy, power dynamics and social relationships in the art system, we work with peer artists in search of our positions within/without the art world.