About Kong Ning

Born in Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia, in 1958, Kong Ning lived through political turmoil during which her parents fell victims. Under persecution, her father committed suicide and her mother survived repeated suicide attempts. In 1980, right after her mother was cleared of political infamy, Kong Ning and her mother migrated to Beijing. She worked for seven years at the Public Prosecutor's Office of the Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate, from 1981 to 1988. She passed the bar exam in 1989 and started working as a defense lawyer for death row criminals until 2001, when she opted out of the legal profession for a new career as an artist. She endured a divorce, suffered through surgery following a misdiagnosis, and was admitted to a mental hospital even though she was not mentally ill. She has designed and built her own villa that she refers to as the Rose Citadel. She paints old paintings, creates environmental protection devices, stages art exhibitions throughout the world that focus on protecting the earth, and writes poetry every day. Self-disciplined and productive, Kong Ning has created nearly 1,000 large oil paintings, many of which are collected by art institutions and private collectors. For over 10 years, she wore wedding gowns that she made for herself to showcase her love for the earth and call for peace and environmental protection. She made 38 handicrafts in the pattern of tree leaves, masks, little blue dolls, water droplets, doves, etc. Her documentary movie Marrying a Horse won recognition at a film festival. Her art exhibitions, themed “Marrying the Blue Sky, ”“Life like a Drop of Water, ” and “Little Blue Doll, ” have garnered worldwide media attention. On December 12, 2017, Kong Ning attended the Paris Summit to do a “Little Blue Doll” art performance. Her photo with the “Doll” became one of 25 photos the Summit released to the general public. Her environmental protection campaign has won appreciation from French President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron.