The Museum of Lost Heirs
Wei Weng
05 - 28 March 2026
Exhibitions
Black.2 | 2025
Spring1883 Art Fair | 2025
Air Hunter / Heir Hunter | 2024
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The Museum of Lost Heirs is an ongoing project by Chinese artist Wei Weng. It originated as The Heir Hunter Office (2024) during a residency in Kyoto, where gallery visitors were invited to “claim” objects left behind by Japan-born individuals who had settled and passed away in the United Kingdom.
For this Australian debut at Void_Melbourne, inheritance narratives are translated into the immigrant languages spoken across Victoria.
AI chatbots calibrate the emotional tenor of an unreachable past for contemporary audiences—transforming bureaucratic loss into intimate encounter. The work connects present and future generations to the unclaimed stories left along the ambitious paths of migration.
About Wei Weng
Born in China and now based in Melbourne, artist Wei Weng is known for using photography, lacquer installations, and speculative text to explore sensory connections between nature and memory. Holding an MFA in Painting from the California College of the Arts (2005), her work has been exhibited in international galleries in cities such as Kyoto, Rome, and Melbourne. She was nominated for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (2023). Her recent projects Museum of Lost Heirs (2026) and Air Hunter (2024) challenge the liminal and poetic borders of storytelling.
Wei Weng | Courage 2025 | An Japanese message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots | Digital print on archival paper, framed | 30 cm x 21cm
Wei Weng | Mother’s Waves 2025 | An Arabic message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots | Digital print on archival paper, framed | 30 cm x 21cm
Wei Weng | Factory X 2025 | A Vietnamese message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots | Digital print on archival paper, framed | 30 cm x 21cm
Wei Weng | Minotaur’s Theatre 2025 | A Greek message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots | Digital print on archival paper, framed | 30 cm x 21cm
Wei Weng | Maiden’s Path 2025 | A Gaelic message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots | Digital print on archival paper, framed | 30 cm x 21cm
Wei Weng | Labyrinth 2025 | Digital print on cotton rag paper, archival di-bond | 120 cm x 80 cm
Wei Weng | Heartland 2025 | Digital print on cotton rag paper, archival di-bond | 120 cm x 80 cm
Wei Weng | Bottled Up Ambition (Red) 2026 | Urushi lacquer, plastic bottles, wood panel | 30cm x 30cm x 8cm
Wei Weng | Tall Poppies Syndrom 2026 | Urushi lacquer, eggshell, wood | 130 cm x 120 cm x 50 cm ( L )
Wei Weng | Tall Poppies Go Home 2026 | Urushi lacquer, eggshell, chain, wood | 160 cm x 10cm x 8cm ( R )