Ven Qiu

Ven Qiu is a memory worker based in the Bay Area, co-parented by Chinese immigrants and the internet. Interested in how technology and institutions mediate cultural memory, they study how online cultures are shaped by deletion, censorship, and digital obsolescence. They draw from their work as a tattooer, archivist, and researcher to explore the textures of memory and new archival practices. Their work most often involves oral history, field recording, body-modification, scent, and born-digital media. Qiu also moonlights as a meme admin.