At its core, Edge Dwellers explored the experiences of individuals and communities who exist in transitional spaces: geographical, cultural, and psychological. The exhibition was organised by MBA students attending the Contemporary Art: Sale, Display and Collecting international program at IÉSA Paris (Institut d’Études Supérieures des Arts). It foregrounded stark and evocative imagery that invited viewers to reconsider conventional perspectives and engage with stories often overlooked. By centring voices from the margins, the exhibition highlighted creativity and vulnerability as powerful forms of resistance and self-definition.

The curatorial vision emerged from the lived experiences of international students navigating life abroad, suspended between the familiarity of home and the uncertainty of new environments. This state of “in-betweenness,” shaped by cultural dissonance, language barriers, and shifting identities, became both the subject and the driving force of the exhibition. Edge Dwellers transformed these tensions into a deeply personal yet collective exploration of growth, adaptation, and transformation, celebrating the beauty that arises from inhabiting spaces in-between.

A strong emphasis on introspection and autofiction structured the exhibition’s narrative. Artists were invited to engage in self-examination, translating memories, emotions, and experiences of displacement into creative forms. Through autofiction, where autobiography merges with fiction, artists reimagined and reframed their stories, challenging dominant narratives around Asian diasporic identities. The resulting works formed a dialogue between the personal and the universal, reflecting the fluidity and adaptability inherent to diasporic existence.