On September 15, 2025, at 4:00 PM, the exhibition Nothing but an illusion officially launched at the ICI Open Museum of the Institute of Creativity and Innovation (ICI), Xiamen University. Attendees included Professor Mark Ellul, Co-Executive President of the University for the Creative Arts (UK), Professor QIN Jian, Dean of the ICI; Associate Dean (UK) Philip Lambert Deputy Dean HE Dongmei;, and representatives of faculty and students.
During the opening ceremony, students from the Experimental Media course of the 2023 cohort, their instructors, and visitors stepped into a media time and space constructed with sound, video, performance, and installation, immersing themselves in the generation and dissolution of "illusions." Here, media is no longer the neutral channel of transmission—it acts as a physical prism actively generating illusions. Experimentation and critique question media’s essence while exposing the mechanisms behind illusion production. Through the students’ acute media literacy and theoretical awareness, Nothing but an illusion translates individual encounters with reality into exploratory moments of reflection.
As a milestone exhibition for the Digital Media Arts program of the ICI of Xiamen University, it showcases students’ engagement with media theory and transforms classroom practice into a public academic dialogue.
The exhibition is being held in the Open Museum of the ICI, Xiamen University until September 28, 2025.
OPENING REVIEW
ON THE EXHIBITION
