Jie-Song Zhang

Jie-Song Zhang was born in Beijing, China, in the Year of the Monkey, later immigrating to the United States where he was raised and educated. As an International Cultural Strategist, and as a Producer and Director of International Cultural Exchange projects, Jie-Song's work includes co-producing The Shanghai International Beatbox Competition, a national Chinese Hip-Hop event that drew participants from across the provinces and featured the participation of renowned international artists. Previously, he was a conceptual designer and consultant for LagosPhoto, the first international photography festival in the history of Nigeria, on behalf of the African Artists' Foundation (Lagos). In 2007, Jie-Song curated the Chinese contemporary art exhibition Red Blood of the Dragon's Psyche, featuring the work of 13 Chinese contemporary artists, and showing in New York and Europe. Jie-Song is currently developing a platform to connect communities of 40-50 countries across the world, as well as helping Google craft its first ever series of international panel discussions on the subject of race. As as a musician and performer, Jie-Song placed 2nd in the infamous Amateur Night competition at the legendary Apollo Theater, and followed up with a nationally televised performance on NBC for Showtime at the Apollo (2003-2004). In 2010, he was invited by the USA Pavilion to represent American culture to the world at the 2010 World Expo, in Shanghai. Jie-Song blogs for The Huffington Post, and is a blogger and multi-media contributor for National Geographic, for whom he documented the underground Hip-Hop movement in China (2010-2012).