Yantong Li (b.1998, Dali, China) is a researcher, curator and artist of ethnic Bai lineage
based in Toronto, Canada. He is a Master of Visual Studies (curatorial) graduate at the
University of Toronto. Li works at the intersection of transregional infrastructure, geopolitics, and
regional folklore in the Southeast Asian massif. Li’s current work engages with indigenous
cosmologies in Chinese borderlands and the concurrent dispersion of myths and languages
across borders and oceans.

Li often works collaboratively. His past curatorial and artistic works have been shown
internationally, include the Curatorial Awards at Jimei x Arles International Photography
Festival, Xiamen, China (2022); Durian-Durian: the First Trans-Southeast Asia Triennial,
Guangzhou, China (2023); Trinity Square Videos, Canada (2023); The New Gallery, Canada
(2024); Jackman Humanities Institute (2024); Goethe Institute Beijing, China (2025); Justina M.
Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto (2025).

During the SITE Toronto residency, Li will establish an interdisciplinary inquiry of shaoshu
minzu artists working in North America. The research and conversations will manifest into a
preliminary visual and textual record in the form of a video essay and publication.

This residency is a collaboration effort with SITE Toronto. XiR would also like to thank Aaron Kirsch for his generous in-kind support of this residency; as well as the financial support of Cooper Cole Gallery.