Allan Xia

INFO

Name	Allan Xia (he/him)
Country of Birth	China
Place of Residence	Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland
Artform	Design
Decades Active	2010s, 1990s

ABOUT

Allan Xia is a multidisciplinary visual artist and creative entrepreneur who works across illustration, comics, and game development. Xia is the founder and director of Chromacon (2012-2019) — the award-winning biennial independent arts festival that “connects Kiwi illustrators, comic artists, animators, sculptors, game developers and their original works with the wider community”. Xia’s practice is rooted in cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary collaboration, particularly in strengthening Sino-New Zealand creative relationships. He advocates strongly for increased connection between East Asia and New Zealand and has worked with various international organisations, such as NongYuan International Arts Village, to lead creative exchanges and international opportunities for New Zealand artists.

Originally born in Sichuan, China, Xia immigrated to New Zealand when he was eight years old. He describes the experience as “a massive culture shock” and reflects on how he struggled to make friends due to the language and cultural barriers. This experience encouraged an interest in storytelling: “I think the lack of social engagement pushed me to become more interested in reading. I read a lot of everything, fiction especially, in Chinese and English”. Referencing epic Chinese historical-fantasy texts such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Journey to the West, Xia comments that “[his] love for storytelling was developed before visual arts”.

Despite a continual interest in drawing and comics since childhood, Xia did not consider a creative career until high school, where he decided to pursue film and game design. Realising he needed to learn more foundational art skills, he opted to leave high school early and spend time in Chengdu and Beijing “doing boot camp style art tuition classes”. After returning to New Zealand, he completed a Bachelor of Digital Design at Auckland University of Technology in 2010.

While working as a technical artist in the film industry between 2010 and 2012, Xia began to participate in local group exhibitions and art collectives, citing a need for more “real life engagement [with] his work”. These experiences became a deep source of inspiration for Xia, and he comments on the personable nature of community arts events and launches: “It was a very intimate way to engage with the art and the artist – whatever they saw was made by the person right in front of them.” Wanting to replicate this experience, Xia began planning a small-scale community arts festival that allowed artists and audiences to connect more organically. In spite of Xia’s expectations for a modestly-sized event, the idea quickly gained momentum and support — the inaugural festival saw over 70 artists and 2000 visitors. Commenting on his surprise, Xia says:

For the first Chromacon in 2013, I thought it could be like twenty or thirty artists who I personally knew, but then word kinda spread and more people signed up. It just grew. It is a free event, but [I] was still surprised with how many people came.

By 2019, the festival had grown into “New Zealand’s largest biennial festival of homegrown illustrators, comic artists, toy designers, game developers and animators” and launched its own creative distribution platform called Chroma.

The success of Chromacon led to Xia being awarded a place on the 2013 ART Venture programme for creative entrepreneurs. Xia considers this a turning point in his creative career where he “really evolved” and gained skills in creative production and project management. He has continued to work in arts management with a specific focus on creating opportunities for New Zealand and Asian artists to connect. In 2016, Xia organised IMAGE & IMAGINATION Sino-New Zealand Arts Exchange — a short artist residency that allowed three female contemporary painters from New Zealand to visit NongYuan International Arts Village in Chengdu, China. He also collaborated with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise in 2018 to host a Chinese delegation at the New Zealand Game Developers Conference. Xia has spoken extensively on Sino-New Zealand creative relationships, as well as his experiences in creative production and arts management — notable events include the 2014 UNESCO and Te Papa China in the Pacific Symposium, and the 2018 Asian Aotearoa Arts programme.

Beyond Chromacon, Xia’s art practice is often situated in visual narrative and emerging technologies, with a specific interest in engaging audiences through interactive storytelling: "My central kaupapa is about creating meaningful and authentic works, emotionally engaging experiences.” His most recognized work is the award-winning interactive story, Golden Threads, created in partnership with Auckland Museum as part of the 2017 Being Chinese in Aotearoa exhibition. Xia collaborated with poet and writer Renee Liang to create an immersive digital experience that explores the lives of 19th-century Chinese migrants in New Zealand. In 2020, Xia co-created Towards the Enduring Light — a short, experimental game that reflects on life in Wuhan during the 2020 Covid outbreak. International gaming magazine PC Gamer described Towards the Enduring Light as “a quietly reflective game that delivers its message in a respectful, and thoughtful way”.

Xia currently resides in East Auckland, where he is the director of Kognika, a boutique creative agency. He is also a member of the Asian New Zealand Foundation’s Leadership Network, where he often travels between Taiwan, Japan, China and Hong Kong.