Foam presents Hometown, Hailun Ma’s first international museum solo exhibition outside China. The exhibition introduces one of the leading voices of a new generation of Chinese image-makers, whose work moves between autonomous practice, editorial photography and fashion commissions. From long-standing collaborations with Nike and A.P.C. to commissions for publications including Vogue China, T Magazine China and i-D, Ma has developed a photographic language in which fashion becomes a means of observing contemporary society. The artist turns her camera toward the gestures, styles, and relations that shape everyday life in her home region Xinjiang.

Born and raised in Xinjiang and later educated in New York, Ma brings a perspective shaped by living between cultures. Her work examines the relationship between people, place and identity across Central Asia and contemporary China, drawing on personal experience while engaging broader questions of belonging, representation and cultural continuity.

The exhibition brings together several of Ma’s recent series, including Xinjiang Fashion Guide, Streetculture, Family and Urban Arts. Together they present a portrait of everyday life in Xinjiang through family relationships, youth culture and local style. Alongside these series, the exhibition includes a selection of magazine covers created for international fashion publications. Many of the photographs are bright, playful, and marked by moments of humour; in her work, she moves fluidly between carefully staged compositions and spontaneous encounters. Moving beyond generalized representations of Xinjiang, Hometown offers a perspective rooted in everyday experience. Ma photographs the people and places she knows, allowing ordinary moments to reveal the complexity of contemporary life. Her images speak before they are explained, inviting visitors to look closely at how home is continually shaped through family, migration, friendship, and the cultures people create together. In doing so, Hometown shows a personal portrait of one of China's most culturally diverse regions.

About the artist

Hailun Ma (1992) was born in Ürümqi, Xinjiang. The artist has already appeared in nearly a dozen exhibitions in various venues, from New York to Miami to Mumbai and her native country China. Ma has worked with clients like Nike, A.P.C. and Burberry, and her images has been featured in publications such as New York Magazine, i-D, GQ China and Vogue, including her April 2024 cover with Rihanna. In 2024, she was named to the BoF 500 list of global fashion power players, becoming one of the few female visual creators from China to receive this recognition.

The international publication Hometown accompanying this exhibition is published by Lannoo and made possible by the generous support of Outset Netherlands.

Hailun Ma – Hometown can be seen from 18 September 2026 – 20 January 2027 at Foam. Open daily 10am – 6pm, Thurs/Fri 10am – 9am. Open daily 10.00 – 18.00 hrs, Thurs/Fri 10.00 – 21.00 hrs.
  

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