WHO WE ARE

ChengHuai Art & Culture Association

Cheng Huai was founded in 2017 by a diverse group of McGill University students and young professionals.

We are a non-profit organization based in Montreal, Canada, which aims to support emerging and interdisciplinary practices across the fields of art, technology, and entrepreneurship in response to the changing nature of contemporary aesthetics.

We respond to these aesthetics with ongoing dedication to the philosophical root of "Cheng Huai" - wholeness between subject and object (see below). By seeing art as an extension of ourselves and our communities, and vice-versa, we begin to grasp the importance of diversity and accessibility in art creation and criticism.

The purpose of Cheng Huai is thus to provide new avenues through which students might access and enter the art industry, preparing young voices with the tools they need to make their mark in the professional world.

We do this through our networking events, our editorial program, and our collection of professional development resources.

Name Meaning

The name "Cheng Huai" (澄怀) is drawn from the texts of tenth century Chinese aestheticist and philosopher Zong Bing.

It professes a metaphysical disposition wherein the subject and object become a whole in aesthetic appreciation, and the self soars in its transcendence of physical experiences.

Carrying the spiritual message of "Cheng Huai" with ourselves, we hope to embark on an elevated journey wherein we, through intimate contact with art and the spaces which create it, might also ascend into an aesthetic appreciation which unifies, transcends, and renders whole.