About me
Personal Bio
My name is XirouMy grandfather gave me this name: Xi It means strength, light and joy, and Rou It means soft, tender, and supple. So he had a good hope and prospect: that she would become a woman who was both strong and gentle at the same time.
I was born in Hunan (China, 1992)I grew up very happily with my maternal grandparents and my cousin in a village. I studied Fine Arts in Guangzhou, China, and before finishing, I wanted to study something else abroad to explore the world. Through a mixture of ignorance and intuition, I decided to come to Spain.
I arrived in Spain in 2013, at 21 years old. Twelve years have passed: my entire youth, lived as a lady-child. There were times—between 2016 and 2018—when I felt like a rootless plant, blown away by the wind and sowing itself wherever it falls. But after several years of cultivation and flowI feel like the seeds have been planted and the roots have grown strong and sustained. I'm surrounded by loved ones, with real faces, and together we've initiated some very positive initiatives of creation and action. I feel happy.
The development of my identity process is based on the transnationality and the interculturality, a very concrete and specific reality: moving to another country in late adolescence, the life experience of starting over, growing toward maturity, the need to search for and build a social and political identity, both individual and collective. Obviously, this personal growth is closely intertwined with my professional development.
Throughout this process, I have taken on multiple roles: Artist, researcher, educator, intercultural and artistic mediator, cultural manager and advisor, performer and actress, with the aim of expanding the scope of action, meeting multiple needs, and weaving multi-layered networks. I've tried to create a universe.
Currently, at this vital stage, I'm still a lady-childSometimes I cry, I complain, I get discouraged by the very real realities I have to face. More often, I remain excited about the world, filled with curiosity, beauty, and love.
Photos: Laura C. Vela.
Short CV
Xirou Xiao (Hunan, 1992) www.xiaoxirou.com
Born in China, based in Madrid since 2013. PhD from the Faculty of Fine Arts (Complutense University of Madrid). She primarily works as an a/r/tographer (artist + researcher + educator). She is also performer, artistic and intercultural mediator, curator, cultural manager, and advisor. Her passion is collective creation in the artistic, educational, cultural, and social fields.
She is the creator and director of the company performance Cangrejo Pro, co-founder of the Liwai Intercultural Action Association, director of the artistic and community mediation project天马行空 TIĀN MǍ XING KŌNG and coordinating member of the Chinese Diaspora Network in Spain.
She is a member of the advisory committee for the renovation of the National Museum of Anthropology (2024-2025). She is co-curator of the temporary exhibition "ZHŌNGGUÓ. El País del Centro" at the National Museum of Anthropology (2023-2024). She is a collaborator of the 5th Chinese Video Artists Festival (2025). She is a co-author of the book Treinta (Comisura, Madrid, 2024). She is the director of the "Dramas+ Barrio Usera" project at the National Drama Center (2024) and the casting director and cultural advisor for the film Chinas (Arantxa Echevarría, 2023). She is a collaborating professor of the Master's Degree in International Cultural Management and Social Innovation at UCM (2021-present).
He has collaborated in several artistic, cultural and educational actions with cultural institutions in Spain: the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Equality, the Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, the National Museum of Anthropology, New York University in Madrid, the Complutense University of Madrid, the Autonomous University of Madrid, the University of Barcelona, the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the University of Zaragoza, the Matadero Madrid Creation Center, the Conde Duque Cultural Center, the Dos de Mayo Art Center CAM, the CAM Young Art Room, the Artium Museum in Vitoria, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León, the Carmen Thyssen Museum in Malaga, the Palace of the Arts in Valencia, the Contemporary Art Center of Burgos CAB, Casa Asia, the Confucius Institute of Madrid, Barcelona and Zaragoza, etc.
Professional experience
Academic training
Other Formation
I work in museums and art centers
2024 Museum of Contemporary Art of Castile and León (MUSAC), León
2024-2025 National Museum of Anthropology, Madrid
2020-2021 Prado Museum, Madrid
2019-2025 Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum, Madrid
2019-2022 Conde Duque Cultural Center of Madrid
2019 Dos de Mayo Art Center (CA2M), Móstoles
2017 and current Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid
Intercultural mediation
2025
She works as an intercultural mediator in the educational field in the Usera District, Madrid.
2025
Provides training Education and cultural mediation in museums at the Situated Mediation School of the Tentacular Museum program.
2024
Teaches mediation in the exhibition Colonial memory at the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum, Madrid.
2024
Gives the lecture Interculturality and heterogeneity of the Chinese Diaspora in Spain at the Faculty of Commerce and Tourism in the Complutense University of Madrid, SIIM-UCM.
2023-2025
Directs the mediation and community project Savia x天马行空 TIĀN MǍ XÍNG KŌNG at the Reina Sofía National Art Center Museum.
2022
Gives the lecture Intercultural mediation with the Chinese diaspora in Spain in it Master in Cultural Heritage Management of the University of Zaragoza.
2022
Gives the lecture Intercultural Mediation with the Chinese community of Madrid at the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the Autonomous University of Madrid
2021-2025
Teaches classes on Intercultural mediation and the Chinese diaspora in Spain the Master's Degree in International Cultural Management and Social Innovation from the Complutense University of Madrid.
2021
Provides training Cultural mediation and new practices n the Association of Cultural Mediators of Madrid.
2019-present
Co-founder of the Liwai Intercultural Action Association
2019
Teaches the training course Sexual Health in a Cultural Key – Chinese Population in collaboration with UNAF at the CMSc Usera.
2019-2021
Directs the mediation and community project天马行空 TIĀN MǍ XÍNG KŌNG with Chinese families at the Conde Duque Cultural Center in Madrid.
2018-2019
Collaborate on the project Storywalker: Stories from Qingtian to Usera (documentary and community theatre with new technologies) at Intermediae, Madrid.
2016-2019
She works as an intercultural mediator in the program Integracenter of the Madrid City Council.