A bi-lingual artist-ethnographer Mary Ann O’Donnell has documented urbanization and cultural change in China’s flagship Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen since 1995. Her ethnographic studies have been published in leading academic journals, while her work as a public intellectual aims to bring ethnographic insights into regional history available to the public through exhibitions, translations, and online publications.
O’Donnell is currently developing Journeys of Delta Objects, a digital publication that explores the trajectories of objects within, beyond and into the Pearl River Delta (PRD) since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. She is the co-editor of Learning from Shenzhen: China’s Post Mao Experiment from Special Zone to Model City (Chicago, 2017) and her ethnographic research has been published in leading academic journals, including positions: east asian cultures critique, TDR: The Drama Review, and the Hong Kong Journal of Cultural Studies. She co-translated Years of Sadness: The Autobiographical Writings of Wang Anyi (Cornell University 2009) and Li Yifan’s creative documentary film, We Were SMART (2020).
O’Donnell’s public outreach has been primarily through the Handshake 302 Art Space, which she co-founded in 2013. In addition, she has participated in every edition of the Shenzhen Biennial since its establishment in 2005, serving as the executive curator of 迁徙—故乡与他乡，可家里实在发现与中西文化交流｜Migrations: Home and Elsewhere exhibition at the Longhua (Dalang) sub-venue (2019), and co-curator of the 自在溪涌｜At Ease in Xichong exhibition at the Dapeng (Xichong) sub-venue (2020) and Handshake 302 Satellite site in Baishizhou (2013).