In July 2026, K:art Studio reunites with Trinity Art Studios to present the Estuary Artist Residency, a month-long residency programme bringing together four Chinese artists working across painting, sculpture and digital media.

Curated and organised by K:art Studio founders Manka Yue and Angel Qin, the residency features painters Jannie and Victoria Yuan, sculptor Yuange Sheng, and digital artist Yucen Liu. Throughout July, the artists will develop new work within Trinity Art Gallery, responding to the surrounding landscape of Trinity Buoy Wharf and its enduring relationship with the River Thames.

Taking the harbour as its central concept, the residency explores cultural migration, global circulation and shifting identities in an era of increasing mobility. London and Shanghai are situated respectively at the Thames Estuary and the Yangtze River Delta. Both developed into major international ports at the meeting point of river and sea, shaping global trade routes and facilitating cultural exchange across different historical periods.

As global supply chains and patterns of human movement continue to be reconfigured, the harbour has re-emerged as a powerful metaphor through which to understand contemporary social and geopolitical structures. The project approaches the estuary not only as a geographical site, but also as a philosophical space where freshwater and seawater meet, mix and continuously transform one another.

Working across painting, sculpture and digital media, the participating artists examine the harbour as a site where historical routes, logistical networks, personal memories and cultural identities intersect. Through a shared period of research and production, the residency creates a space for artistic exchange between London and Shanghai, considering how identities and places are continually reshaped through movement, encounter and translation.