China’s award-winning children’s author and artist transforms Mall Galleries into a ‘living picture book,’ telling the story of childhood, migration and home
Visualisation of ‘Little Xian’s Garden’ (WEST GALLERY) and Sock Forest (EAST GALLERY) in the ‘Home Sweet Home’ exhibition
www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/
Soak up charming, joyful paintings inspired by a childhood in China’s grasslands, while thousands of origami doves float above your head, and Chinese calligraphy flows beneath your feet. Meet a family of bears in search of socks to tell profound, universal lessons of love and acceptance, hear stories from the ‘Keeper of the Red House,’ unlocking the secrets and memories of five generations and explore the challenging emotions of childhood told through pen and ink. Introducing ‘Home Sweet Home’, a very special immersive exhibition and artistic experience for all the family showing at the Federation of British Artists’ Mall Galleries this summer.
The first show of its kind to be shown at Mall Galleries, ‘Home Sweet Home’ is the ambitious vision of award-winning Chinese children’s author (recipient of China’s prestigious Bing Xin Children’s Literature Award) and artist Huaicun Zhang Hon. RBA FRSA. A British-Chinese artist and storyteller, whose distinctive artwork speaks with a pure, energetic and disarming voice, Huaicun Zhang has brought together painting, illustration, literary storytelling and interactive installations to create a magical, and fully immersive exploration of the meaning of ‘home.’ Inspired by over thirty years of children’s storytelling – particularly her first fairy tale, Little Xian’s Garden and its accompanying picture book series – for just over three weeks the gallery will open up like a living picture book, with rooms filled with evocative artwork and heart-warming installations, all brought to life through light and sound.
There will also be a whole host of creative and interactive activities happening daily (and on specific days) for visitors of all ages to enjoy – make your own origami dove, design wings for a little ant, go on sock treasure hunts with bears in the Sock Forest and enjoy songs and storytelling throughout the exhibition. From Thursday to Saturday, at selected times, a live performer in the role of the ‘Keeper of the Red House’ will appear inside the house in the West Gallery, opening up its intriguing objects, leading lamp-lit readings of stories and poems and inviting visitors to leave their own messages (see below for further details.) All profits from the exhibition’s ticket, artwork and merchandise sales will go to Pencil Tree CIO, a UK-registered charity dedicated to supporting children’s creative education, emerging artists and international cultural exchange.
Two of the large paintings featured in the exhibition – ‘Little Xian’s Garden’
More than a traditional painting exhibition, Home Sweet Home is a cross-disciplinary artistic project, rooted in Huaicun Zhang’s childhood in the grasslands of north-west China and shaped by two decades in Britain, Home Sweet Home explores childhood, migration and home. The exhibition is designed for both children and adults, with the intention of firing up the imagination of children and inspiring adults to stop and remember their own childhood, identity and sense of home.
Huaicun Zhang Hon.RBA FRSA is a British-Chinese artist and award-winning author, recognised as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Chinese children’s literature. Affectionately known as “Mama Huaicun” amongst Chinese children, she uniquely combines story-telling, poetry and the visionary abilities of an artist, to create children’s books which hold a deep emotional resonance. To date, Huaicun Zhang has published nearly fifty literary works, including poetry collections, prose, children’s literature, picture books, and art books. ‘Home Sweet Home’ is a culmination of Huaicun’s work-to-date and is a personal love letter to her own family and the traditions of Chinese visual storytelling.
Of the exhibition Huaicun said; “This exhibition is an artistic, immersive journey into the meaning of home and how it shapes our inner worlds and personal experiences. I was born into a family of Tu ethnicity, a daughter of the Steppe, the Mongolian grassland in north-west China, and moved to Hong Kong, and then London. Home for me has always been like a train – always moving, always on the road. This process taught me to rethink the meaning of ‘home’ and to think of it as not just a place, but as a continuation of memory, emotion and culture.
“Although my own family very much informs the exhibition – the little girl Xian who is seen throughout is my own (now grown up) daughter – it touches on universal themes experienced in both British and Chinese culture. Through spaces like Sock Forest, The Red House, The Old Spider’s One Hundred Beds, and Little Xian’s Garden, adults may recognise something deeply familiar – not necessarily my story, but their own. A sock may remind someone of being cared for as a child. A red house may awaken the feeling of safety. A bed may bring back the memory of being tucked in by a parent. A garden may remind us of freedom, play, and the innocence of growing up close to nature.
“The feelings and symbols in the exhibition are universal emotional languages. I hope it will be a place where children can imagine freely, and adults can remember the home that informed their childhood and identity deeply.”
The exhibition will showcase a variety of Chinese storytelling styles and artistic techniques in the oil paintings, watercolours, pencil drawings and installations shown. Chinese philosophy and symbolism inform some of the messages of Huaicun’s stories – “dripping water wears through stone” is a message echoed in her “The Old Spider’s One Hundred Beds” story and the metaphors of The Red House resonate with the Chinese idea of “Falling leaves return to their roots.” The stories also express a typically Eastern narrative aesthetic – concerned with slowing down and paring back stories to preserve their emotion. The Forest Guardian, a scarecrow in the North Gallery, is a symbol of modern China’s disappearing rural life and scattered throughout the room are strings of traditional Chinese candied hawthorn (Tanghulu) — one of the most recognisable tastes of childhood in China. Accompanied by the sound of old street vendors calling out, the installation evokes the sensory memory of another time. Many of the artistic works showcased are typical of central principles found in Chinese aesthetics – for example the conscious use of negative space (called liubai in Chinese painting) and the influence of ink painting.
The West Gallery will display an important collection of pen and ink drawings, entitled “Small Stories, Big Feelings,” which capture the hidden emotions of childhood and the invisible weight of growing up. Long before society began to address the issues of children’s mental health, Huaicun Zhang was discussing anxiety and emotions in her drawings. Created over twenty years ago, as intimate ink diaries while raising her daughter Xian, these works capture something rare: childhood before it learns to disguise itself. At first glance, these works seem playful, tender and light but they address the deeper issues of pressure, loneliness, love, fear, resilience and wonder. Today, in a world where children carry increasing academic pressure, emotional uncertainty and invisible psychological weight, these works return with startling relevance. Part diary, part poetry, part social witness, Huaicun Zhang’s ink cartoons reveal a truth that crosses all cultures: the inner life of a child is often far bigger, heavier and more fragile than adults are willing to see.
Exhibition Rooms and Immersive Elements
The Red House – Entering The Story (WEST GALLERY)
With Live Performer – The Keeper of The Red House
The journey begins at The Red House, the emotional entrance to the exhibition.
A life-sized red doorway welcomes visitors into the world of Home Sweet Home.
From Thursday to Saturday each week, a live performer appears as The Keeper of the Red House.
The Keeper welcomes visitors into the exhibition, asks questions, offers clues and invites visitors into hidden games and stories throughout the gallery.
The Keeper may ask:
- Have you ever lost your way home?
- Can you find all one hundred spider beds?
- Which sock does not belong?
- What does home smell like to you?
These questions become keys to the journey.
The scent of warm bread, books and wood drifts through the entrance, awakening memory.
Around the Red House, tiny ants travel across the floor — inviting children to notice the smallest journeys and hidden paths.
Visitors do not simply enter the gallery. They enter the story.
Little Xian’s Garden – A world of wonder (WEST GALLERY)
A dreamlike garden shaped by childhood imagination and collective making.
Created in collaboration with children through the Home Sweet Home Schools Project.
Inside the space:
- hanging clouds made by schoolchildren
- origami birds and doves folded by children
- original music created especially for Home Sweet Home
- layered soundscapes of wind and birdsong
Visitors are invited to wander slowly, look closely and discover the hidden details of the garden.
A space of wonder, curiosity and imagination.
The Old Spider’s One Hundred Beds – Search, Count, Discover (NORTH GALLERY)
A room filled with one hundred hidden spider beds.
Each bed is different in size, from the smallest to the largest.
Visitors are invited to:
- search for all one hundred beds
- count them
- discover where they are hidden
Some beds are easy to find.
Others are hidden in unexpected places.
Alongside the beds:
- Huaicun’s paintings appear from her smallest works to her largest
The room becomes a game of searching and noticing.
A place where the smallest details matter.
The Forest Guardian – Passing Through Memory (NORTH GALLERY)
A scarecrow stands between worlds.
It is a symbol of departure — the moment when home becomes something remembered rather than lived.
At the entrance to this space:
- traditional candied hawthorn sticks (Tanghulu) evoke childhood street memories
- nostalgic props recreate the feeling of another era
- old market sounds
- traditional street sellers’ calls
- distant busy town noises fill the room
This space creates a sensory memory of old streets, childhood and leaving home.
Visitors pass through memory before moving on.
Sock Forest – Following the Thread (EAST GALLERY)
A playful and interactive forest inspired by Huaicun’s sock stories:
- The Lost Sock
- The Odd Sock
- The Holy Sock
- The Smelly Sock
Seven large paintings expand these four stories into a wider visual world.
Inside:
- seven large paintings placed throughout the forest
- a glowing fluorescent thread unravelling from a central ball of yarn
- the thread physically connecting every painting
When the room darkens, only the glowing thread remains visible.
Children are invited to:
- follow the glowing thread
- search for clues
- play story-led games
- discover hidden details
Bear Family – Afternoon Tea (EAST GALLERY)
At the centre of Sock Forest, the Bear Family sits together having afternoon tea.
A family gathered around the table.
A moment of stillness inside the journey.
The Bear Family represents:
- warmth
- protection
- generational care
- everyday rituals of home
A reminder that home is often found in the smallest shared moments.
Interactive Activities at Home Sweet Home
Throughout the exhibition, visitors of all ages are invited to take part in a series of interactive activities – moments to make, imagine, play, remember and share.
Daily Activities
Origami Dove Making
Fold a white dove and add it to Little Xian’s Garden – a growing installation of peace, hope and home.
Design Wings for the Little Ant
What if a tiny ant could fly? Create a pair of wings and imagine where it might go.
Draw Your Family Story
Draw a memory, a person, or a moment that feels like home.
The Home Post-box
Write a letter to someone you miss, someone you love, or to your future self.
Light & Shadow Drawing Wall
Step into a world of moving light, floating words and hidden drawings. Watch shadows shift across the walls and discover how stories can appear through light.
Inside the Sock Forest – The Sock Forest is filled with playful interactive games for children and families:
Find the Lost Sock
Can you spot the missing socks hidden in the forest?
Odd Sock Matching Game
Match the odd socks and discover that different can still belong together.
Sock Story Hunt
Follow clues hidden among the socks to uncover tiny stories, memories and surprises.
Sock Message Wall
Leave a small note about home, family or friendship and add it to the growing forest.
Every Saturday
Saturday Sock Stories
Bring your own pair of socks and share the story behind them – lost, loved, mismatched or remembered. Your socks may become part of the growing Sock Forest.
Every Sunday
Sunday Story Songs
Join the Bear Family and Little Xian for songs, stories and shared moments of home.
Light and Music
Light & Ink Projection – Stories in motion
Throughout the exhibition, projection and light extend Huaicun’s stories beyond the frame.
The light show acts as a living companion to the paintings.
Visitors will experience:
- Huaicun’s handwritten calligraphy moving across the floor beneath their feet
- flowing ink spreading and dissolving like memory
- large-scale projected scenes of The Red House and Little Xian’s Garden unfolding across the walls
Together, these projected worlds symbolise Huaicun’s childhood, artistic journey and the landscapes of memory she carries.
Sound & Original Music – The Invisible Storyteller
Sound moves through every room of the exhibition.
Each space carries its own atmosphere through:
- original music composed especially for Home Sweet Home
- birdsong
- wind
- market sounds
- distant voices
- nostalgic street calls
Sound guides visitors through the emotional landscape of the exhibition.
It connects the rooms like an invisible thread.
Work for sale
A number of exclusive books, merchandise and art prints will be available for sale, with all profits going to Pencil Tree CIO, a charitable organisation set up by Huaicun Zhang and her family to support children’s creative education, emerging artists, and international humanitarian projects.
Works include:
- The Red House series — a collection centred around home, family, memory, and time.
- Little Xian’s Garden series, which continues the fairy-tale world at the centre of the exhibition. These works are filled with flowers, clouds, birds, animals, and dreamlike landscapes.
- Limited-edition oil reproductions from the Sock Series, inspired by the picture books Holy Sock, Smelly Sock, Lost Sock, and Odd Sock. These transform everyday objects into visual stories about searching, losing, companionship, and finding home again.
- Wearable art socks and coasters — playful pieces that come directly from the stories themselves, allowing people to carry part of the exhibition into everyday life.
- Books will also be available, including On the Train of Autumn and Huaicun Comics, both of which are closely connected to the wider storytelling world of the exhibition.
The exhibition runs from 23rd July until 15th August. Advanced booking is highly recommended, here: https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/exhibitions-events/home-sweet-home-huaicun-zhang-frsa-hon-rba
23 Jul 2026 – 15 Aug 2026. West, East and North Galleries
Home Sweet Home is a major solo exhibition by artist, poet and children’s author Huaicun Zhang
Exhibition Open to Public: Thursday 23 July – Saturday 15 August, 10am – 5pm
Admission: £10
Free for children under 5
For school and organisation bookings, please contact: [email protected]