Rate My Professor Zhao Feng

Zhao Feng is a professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Arts and Archaeology at Zhejiang University, where he has served as Dean since August 2023. Born in 1961, he earned a BA in Dyeing and Finishing (1978–1982) and an MA in Chinese Silk History (1982–1984) from the Zhejiang Institute of Silk Textile, now Zhejiang Sci-Tech University. He completed a PhD in Textile History of China at China Textile University, now Donghua University (1995–1997).

Zhao Feng’s career includes long-term roles at the China National Silk Museum, where he served as Director from 2010 to 2022 after earlier positions as curator and researcher beginning in 1991. He has held professorships and doctoral supervision duties in textile conservation and related fields at institutions including Donghua University since 2000 and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University since 2019. Additional appointments encompass membership on the Executive Board of the International Council of Museums (ICOM) since 2022, presidency of the Costume and Design Museum Committee of the Chinese Museums Association/ICOM-China since 2021, vice presidency of the International Alliance of Museums of the Silk Road since 2017, and presidency of the International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles since 2016. He has also served on the directing council of the Centre International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens (CIETA) since 1998 and as a member of China’s National Committee for Cultural Relics Authentication and Preservation since 2005. His research focuses on the history of Chinese silk, identification and conservation of textile relics, and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road. Key publications include Chinese Silks (2012, co-edited), Silks from the Silk Road: Origin, Transmission and Exchange (2015–2016, chief editor), A World of Looms: Weaving Technology and Textile Arts (2019), and multiple volumes on textiles from Dunhuang collections in UK, French, and Russian holdings (ongoing project since 2007). He has contributed catalog essays for exhibitions at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Guggenheim Museum and held visiting researcher positions at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1997–1998), Royal Ontario Museum (1999), and British Museum (2006). Zhao Feng has received fellowships such as the Sylvan and Pamela Coleman Fellowship and the Veronika Gervers Memorial Fellowship. He maintains editorial board roles, including with Textile History (London), and has delivered lectures and contributed to international museum initiatives.