{"id":66614,"date":"2026-07-30T11:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/?p=66614"},"modified":"2026-07-30T11:56:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T10:56:44","slug":"home-sweet-home-an-immersive-exhibition-a-journey-into-childhood-and-the-meaning-of-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/home-sweet-home-an-immersive-exhibition-a-journey-into-childhood-and-the-meaning-of-home\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00abHome Sweet Home\u00bb: An Immersive Exhibition \u2014 A Journey into Childhood and the Meaning of Home"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Designed for both children and adults, the project explores universal experiences connected with childhood, family, growing up, migration and the search for one\u2019s place in the world. The exhibition draws on Huaicun Zhang\u2019s memories of growing up in the grasslands of north-west China, her many years of literary and artistic work, and her experience of living between different countries and cultures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The artist was born into a family of Tu ethnicity and grew up amid the landscapes of Qinghai. She later lived in Hong Kong before moving to the United Kingdom. According to Zhang, for a long time home felt to her like a train that was always on the move. This experience led her to see home not simply as a geographical place, but as a continuation of memory, emotional bonds and cultural traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition begins with \u00abThe Red House\u00bb, a symbolic entrance into a world of memory. From Thursday to Saturday, the Keeper of the Red House appears there to welcome visitors, read stories and poems by lamplight, invite them to search for hidden objects and encourage them to leave their own messages about home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In \u00abLittle Xian\u2019s Garden\u00bb, inspired by Zhang\u2019s fairy tale of the same name, clouds and hundreds of paper birds folded by children float overhead, while the sounds of wind and birdsong fill the space. Chinese calligraphy moves across the floor, and images and lines of text seem to extend beyond the frames of the paintings. Little Xian, the heroine of many of the artist\u2019s works, was inspired by Zhang\u2019s daughter, who is now grown up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the North Gallery, visitors are invited to find \u00abThe Old Spider\u2019s One Hundred Beds\u00bb, ranging from the tiniest to the largest and hidden in unexpected places. The installation refers to a story about time, dreams and the invisible threads that connect human lives. The same gallery also features \u00abThe Forest Guardian\u00bb, a scarecrow symbolising the disappearance of rural life and the moment when one\u2019s native home becomes a memory. The atmosphere is enhanced by the sounds of old markets, the calls of street vendors and references to tanghulu, the traditional Chinese snack of candied hawthorn fruit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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One of the most playful parts of the project is \u00abSock Forest\u00bb, inspired by four of Huaicun Zhang\u2019s children\u2019s books about a lost sock, a sock with a hole, a smelly sock and an odd sock. Seven large paintings are connected by a glowing thread, which becomes especially visible when the room darkens. Following it, children and adults search for clues, uncover stories and discover hidden details. At the centre of the forest, a family of bears is gathered for afternoon tea \u2014 an image of domestic warmth, care across generations and the simple rituals of family life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exhibition also includes a series of graphic works entitled \u00abSmall Stories, Big Feelings\u00bb, created by the artist more than twenty years ago. These drawings explore anxiety, loneliness, fear, love, resilience and other emotions that children can find difficult to express in words. The works feel particularly relevant today, as increasing attention is being paid to children\u2019s emotional wellbeing and mental health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Creative activities take place in the gallery every day. Visitors can fold an origami dove and add it to the collective installation, design wings for a little ant, draw their family story, write a letter to someone close to them or to their future self, take part in a search for lost socks, and leave a message about home, friendship and love. On Saturdays, visitors are invited to bring their own pair of socks and share the story behind them, while Sundays feature musical storytelling sessions for the whole family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abThe feelings and symbols presented in the exhibition form a universal emotional language. I wanted to create a space where children could imagine freely, while adults could remember the home that shaped their childhood and identity,\u00bb says Huaicun Zhang.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abHome Sweet Home\u00bb brings together more than thirty years of the artist\u2019s work in literature and the visual arts. The exhibition features oil paintings, watercolours, ink and pencil drawings, calligraphy, book illustration, and light and sound installations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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All proceeds from ticket sales, artworks, books and merchandise will support the work of the UK-registered charity Pencil Tree CIO<\/em>, which promotes children\u2019s creative education, supports emerging artists and encourages international cultural exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abHome Sweet Home\u00bb<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dates:<\/strong> 23 July\u201315 August 2026
Opening hours:<\/strong> Daily, 10 am\u20135 pm
Venue:<\/strong> Mall Galleries, West, East and North Galleries, London
Admission:<\/strong> \u00a310
Children under five:<\/strong> Free. Advance booking is recommended<\/p>\n\n\n\n

School and organisation bookings:<\/strong>
info@penciltreecio.org<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organiser and charity partner:<\/strong>
Pencil Tree CIO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Until 15 August, London\u2019s Mall Galleries is hosting \u00abHome Sweet Home\u00bb, a major immersive exhibition by British-Chinese artist, poet and children\u2019s author Huaicun Zhang. The gallery has been transformed into a living picture book, where painting, literature, light projections, music and interactive installations are brought together through a shared exploration of home \u2014 real and imagined, left behind and rediscovered, and preserved in human memory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66615,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[],"type_post":[184],"column":[],"class_list":["post-66614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66614"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66614\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66620,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66614\/revisions\/66620"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66614"},{"taxonomy":"type_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/type_post?post=66614"},{"taxonomy":"column","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/londoncult.co.uk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/column?post=66614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}