Opening the Door to a Growing Network: CAWA and the Visibility of Asian Women Artists

Chen Ke, Bauhaus Gal No. 33, 2023, oil on canvas, 200 x 300 cm. Courtesy of the artist and Perrotin. Chen is one of the women artists featured on CAWA's website.

In a cultural landscape where voices remain fragmented or unheard, platforms dedicated to weaving together stories, research, and creative visions become vital portals. They open doors — not just to individual artworks, but to entire ecosystems of practice, dialogue, and legacy. Through Doorzine and broadly through our activities at Doors, we strive to build a platform for all voices, featuring artists from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds reshaping identity, language, and memory — from Tunisian collectives revisiting history to Chinese practitioners navigating diasporic experience.

In the same spirit, we are always drawn to initiatives that build these connective pathways with intention and depth. One such initiative is CAWA (Connecting Asian Women Artists), a dynamic online platform and non-profit dedicated to showcasing and promoting the creative and research works of Asian women artists. Its mission is to forge a communication platform, artistic community, and support network for Asian women, advocating for equal dialogue and cultural inclusivity.

In recent months, CAWA has presented a range of compelling updates on the practices, achievements, and research related to Asian women artists.

These include the latest exhibitions featuring Asian women artists around the world; regularly updated artist portfolios highlighting multiple generations of practitioners; and publications led by Asian women artists—such as Dance in Herland, compiled from artist Luka Yuanyuan Yang’s feature film Chinatown Cha-Cha and five short films on diasporic Chinese communities.

CAWA has also featured in-depth essays that illuminate the work of Asian women artists from diverse perspectives. For instance, “Constructing a Soundscape: A Century of Resonance of Women’s Art in Singapore” revisits the women who shaped Singapore’s modern and contemporary art history through a feminist lens. It examines the conditions of their artistic production, foregrounds their achievements, and demonstrates their far-reaching influence across different eras.

Over the past year, CAWA has developed a diverse content matrix across multiple platforms.

Cover of the publication “Dance in Herland” by Luka Yuanyuan Yang, 2025.

Instagram

Drawing on current events and developments in the art world, CAWA’s Instagram offers timely updates and concise observations on Asian women artists. Recent coverage has highlighted the participating Asian women artists, their works, and their representation at the 2025 Shanghai Biennale and the Taipei Biennial. It has also spotlighted influential Asian women artists, including Ayoung Kim, Christine Sun Kim, Lin Tianmiao, and Guan Xiao.

Followers can stay closely connected to the achievements and expanding visibility of Asian women artists worldwide while participating in an emerging network of interaction and exchange.

A visual overview of CAWA’s Instagram account.

Follow CAWA on Instagram: cawa_art_cawa

Newsletter

CAWA sends a monthly newsletter featuring a curated selection of significant updates from all CAWA platforms. The Newsletter provides subscribers with a clear, thoughtful guide to the month’s highlights. Recent recommendations include essential exhibitions such as At Home in the World, a major Georgette Chen retrospective at He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, and Duan Jianyu: Yúqiáo, the inaugural show of the newly launched YDP space in London. 

A visual selection of CAWA’s newsletters

The Newsletter also highlights key publications on Asian women artists, including Dance in Herland, which traces the lives of diasporic Asian women dancers in Chinatowns, and Women Artists in Singapore — a panoramic volume that presents the creative achievements and historical significance of Singaporean women artists.

Subscribe to CAWA’s Newsletter.

Website

The CAWA website is continually building a comprehensive database of Asian women artists.

A visual overview of CAWA’s website

The ARTISTS column currently includes profiles of more than 100 artists from across Asia or with Asian backgrounds. This evolving database grows alongside CAWA’s documentation of exhibitions, research, and publications. CAWA aims for it to serve as both a valuable resource for readers and an essential archive for art professionals. 

The LATEST column provides a consolidated overview of global exhibitions featuring Asian women artists. Nearly 30 exhibitions have been compiled to date, ranging from major solo shows by Lin Tianmiao, Lee Bul, and Kim Lim to feminist-oriented group exhibitions such as Connecting Bodies: Asian Women Artists at MMCA in Seoul and Green Snake: Women-Centred Ecologies at Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong. 

The LIBRARY column gathers foundational texts and experimental publications related to Asian women artists, including many artist-initiated projects. Discovery the diverse range of experiences of both women in art and women of art across histories and geographies through titles including Women in Ancient Chinese Art by Feng Youheng and Gifted as It Is: Women’s Art and Us by Zhai Yongming.

CAWA invites writers and researchers worldwide to contribute in-depth features to the FEATURES column. These long-form essays enable readers to gain deep insight into the works of Asian women artists by revisiting the making of Half of the Sky (1998), the first group exhibition to introduce contemporary Chinese women artists to the Western world, or by exploreing alternative relationships between humans and technology through the practices of a new generation of Asian women artists working with technological themes

Visit CAWA’s website at https://cawa.art.

As the year draws to a close, CAWA extends an open invitation to artists, writers, researchers, and engaged audiences to join its growing network. It stands as a testament to what focused, collaborative effort can build: a more resilient, dynamic, and impactful support system dedicated to advancing the work of Asian women artists.

To learn more, explore the database, or contribute to the conversation, you can follow CAWA on Instagram, subscribe to its newsletter, visit the website at https://cawa.art, or contact CAWA at info@cawa.art.

CAWA was launched with support from CHANEL.

Related DoorZine Articles

A New Generation of Chinese Artists Living in France

Seven Chinese artists of the new generation spoke about navigating between two cultures, their reflections on identity—between China and the West—their academic paths, and the ways in which these experiences nourish and transform their artistic practice, with a constant spirit of lucidity and critical awareness.
Read More
Related Projects

Focus on Tunisia at Menart Fair 2025

TYPEExhibition
LIEUMenart Fair (PARIS, FRANCE)
DATESOctober 25 - 27, 2025
ARTISTESHéla Ammar, Asma Ben Aïssa, Meriem Bouderbala, Rafram Chaddad, Chiraz Chouchane, Férielle Doulain-Zouari, Farah Khelil, Amira Lamti
COMMISSAIREVictoria Jonathan

“Habiter le flux 不居” : French-chinese special issue of the LEAP magazine

TYPEART MAGAZINE
PUBLICATION DATEOCTOBER 10, 2024
EDITORSHE JING, YOU YIYI, VICTORIA JONATHAN
CONTRIBUTORSNICOLAS BOURRIAUD, ESTELLE ZHONG MENGUAL, PENNY YIOU PENG, EMANUELE COCCIA, NICOLAS IDIER, YAO QINGMEI, SHEN YUAN, FRÉDÉRIQUE AÏT-TOUATI, WANG MIN'AN, MICHEL LUSSAULT, JÉRÉMIE DESCAMPS, GONG YAN, IRIS LONG...

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter – get your foot in the door!