Currents (2024), Stadtmuseum Berlin

As part of the Dekoloniale Artist Residency, Charlotte Ming collaborated with Yangkun Shi to create a three-piece installation Currents for the exhibition Colonial Ghosts, Resistant Spirits, on view at Museum Nikolaikirche in Berlin from November 2024 through May 2025.

The works bring to light the obscured history of German colonialism in China through an interdisciplinary approach combining photography, video, writing, archival imagery, and the explorations of foodways. They trace the legacies of this history across urban landscapes from Qingdao to Berlin, exposing the forgotten past and its underlying violence. Intertwining personal and historical narratives, the installation challenges the colonial gaze and reframe it to re-center reflect contemporary migration experiences.

Between the Waves (2024) examines the history of German colonial rule in Charlotte Ming’s hometown Qingdao, waving together personal memories, historical imagery, and her own migration experiences. Blending contemporary scenes and archival materials, including travel guides and photographs, the film questions how German perspective embedded in these historical records have shaped the narrative of Qingdao’s founding. Connecting the seas of Qingdao to the lakes of Berlin, Ming navigates the waters of her past and present, seeking healing in her own migration journey.

Greetings from Kiautschou Street (2024). Following Germany’s loss of its colonies after World War I, a “collective amnesia” has obscured its colonial past. Yet, traces of this history remain embedded in Germany's urban spaces, where street names still glorify brutal colonizers, colonial wars, and former colonial holdings.

Inspired by colonial-era postcards sent home by colonists with “greetings” from colonized lands, Charlotte Ming sends home her own postcards from Berlin streets that bear colonial names. Featuring night-time photographs of these streets captured by Yangkun Shi, the series aims to invert the colonial gaze and confront the remnants of colonialism through a migrant perspective. A participatory intervention is staged at Pekinger Platz.

The China Album of Hugo von Königslöw (2024-2025)

LWL-Museum Henrichshütte, Hattingen (2024); Stadtmuseum Paderborn, Germany (2025).

For the exhibition The China Album of Hugo von Königslöw , Ming contributed a critical perspective to the exhibition examining the photo album of mining assessor Hugo von Königslöw, who traveled to Qingdao in 1898 to survey natural resources, particularly coal.

Her essay for the catalogue, What Pictures (not) Tell, explores the spread of photography in colonial contexts and highlights the Chinese experience under German colonial rule. She connects this to global anti-Chinese sentiment, such as the impact of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Her pictures of Qingdao today are exhibited alongside the historical photographs.

Documenting China, Stories of Change

Photoville Festival, New York, 2018

From the surprising fate of China’s shrinking cities to the quiet resilience of young migrant women, this exhibition—curated by Charlotte Ming and David M. Barreda—features long-term projects by Chinese visual storytellers examining a country in constant transformation. Presented in collaboration with the Lishui Photography Festival.

China Through Chinese Eyes

Photoville Festival, New York, 2017

Ming co-curated the group exhibition China Through Chinese Eyes with David Barreda and Yan Cong. The exhibition showcased the work of Chinese photojournalists and visual storytellers, many of whose images had not been published or exhibited outside China before.