Jun Zhang 

Blubber Town

‘Blubber Town’ is a wall hanging produced on a circular knitting machine and forms part of an installation comprising multiple objects. The textile features illustrative drawings of whales alongside stories drawn from centuries of Dutch and global whaling history. The project examines the colonial history of whaling, the mythical Arctic city of Smeerenburg, and whale-related folklore from around the world. Before whales became commodities, they were revered as mystical beings. ‘Blubber Town’ reinterprets these marginalised narratives and reflects on ecological colonisation and post-humanist perspectives. 

The work was shown in ‘Prospects’ during Art Rotterdam 2025 from 28 to 30 March, in ‘RE_NATURE’ on 20 and 21 September, and at the Larnaca Biennale in Cyprus from 15 October to 28 November 2025.