A Traveling Nest

THE BLANC is proud to present A Traveling Nest, a solo pop-up exhibition with workshops by New York–based weaver and fiber artist Didi Wu.

Through sculptural works woven with both traditional and unconventional materials such as kudzu, horsehair, kibiso silk, broomcorn and agave, Didi reflects on migration, material memory, and emotional dissonance in contemporary urban life. Drawing on her journey from Asia to Europe to the U.S., she interlaces traditional basketry, broom-making, and weaving techniques to explore belonging, place, and the labor embedded in craft traditions.

The “nest” emerges as both shelter and metaphor—mobile, adaptive, and poetic—balancing function and abstraction. By blending techniques historically coded as masculine and feminine, Didi challenges inherited gender roles in craft.

Rooted in ecological awareness and diasporic knowledge, A Traveling Nest invites audiences to reconnect with tactile traditions in an increasingly synthetic world, and to see everyday materials as vessels of memory, labor, and resilience.

The exhibition is curated by Yuqing Luo.

On View: August 23 - September 5, 2025 (Closed on August 25 & September 1)

Gallery Hours: 11AM-5PM

Workshops: 2:30PM, August 30& August 31,2025

Location: THE BLANC, 15 East 40th Street, BLANC00 (GF), New York, NY 10016

Directions (BLANC00):

The entrance is located to the left of the main lobby doors when facing the building.

Artist

Didi Wu holds a BA in Journalism and a MA in Traditional Arts. She first learned loom weaving in Japan and later received systematic training in basketry in London. Since then, she has been constantly learning local interlacing techniques from craftsmen in various places wherever she travels. Many of her works are about woven structures, which she sees as an abstract form of how this world is constructed and connected. What she has been attempting to do is to unveil these forces and relationships in space, time and life.

Curator

Yuqing Luo is a scholar of cultural history. She earned her PhD from Columbia University and is currently working on a book about medieval Chinese folk religion. Her curatorial work bridges textual research with hands-on material practice and ethnography. When not writing, she enjoys foraging and practicing natural dye techniques.