1952-7
Learned sketching, watercolour and oil painting at Nanjing 10th Secondary School
1957-62
Wished to study art at the Central Academy in Beijing but his family persuaded him to study French at the Beijing Institute of Foreign Language
1962-1970
Worked as a translator while continuing to paint and to write novels in Beijing
1979
First publications of essays, short stories in literary reviews
1981
Published First Essay on the Techniques of the Modern Novel
1982
His play, Alarm Signal, was the start of experimental theatre in China
1983
Forbidden to publish and perform in China
1985
His play The Wild Man gives rise to a new debate. Invited by the DAAD (Germany) and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he spends eight months in Europe. His first exhibition at the Berliner Kunsterhaus Bethanien was successful.
1986
The rehearsals of The Other Shore are suspended in Beijing before the play is even staged.
1987
Invited by the Morat Institute for Kunst and Kunstwissenshaft and the French Ministry of Culture, he leaves China to settle in Paris. He pursues the writing of The Soul Mountain that he had started in China in 1982.
Left China for Paris, France where he now resides
1989
After the Tian An Men events, Gao finishes The Soul Mountain and writes the play Escape that gives rise to a total ban on the entirety of his works in China. He settles in France as political refugee.
1990
His novel The Soul Mountain is published in Taiwan.
1991
Translated by the Academician Goran Malmqvist, The Soul Mountain is published by Forum Publishing in Sweden.
1992
Translated by Goran Malmqvist, The Soul Mountain is produced by the Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern of Stockholm.
Awarded the title Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France
1994 Awarded the French Community of Belgium Prize for his play
1994-00 His plays are translated, published and performed internationally
1997
Granted French citizenship
1998
His novel One Man’s Bible is published in Taipei.
2000
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature and the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur
2001 Honorary doctorate degrees bestowed by Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Aix-Marseille, Provence, France
2002
Awarded the Golden Plate Award by the American Academy of Achievement
Member on the editorial board of La Comédie Française.
2003
Member of the Académie universelle des Cultures
"Year of Gao" in Marseille, France, featuring his painting, theatre, opera and cinema
2005
Honorary doctorate degree bestowed by the University of Taiwan
2006
Awarded Library Lions by the New York public library.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1985
People’s Art Theatre, Beijing, China
Berliner Kunsterhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany
Alte Schmid, Vienna, Austria
1987
Département de la Culture, Lille, France
1988
L’Office Municipal des Beaux-Arts et de la Culture, Wattrelos, France
1989
Ostasiatiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Krapperus Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
1990
Centre Culturel de Lumière de Chine, Marseille, France
1991
Espace d’Art Contemporain Confluence, Rambouillet, France
1992
Espace d’Art Contemporain le Cercle Bleu, Metz, France
Centre Culturel de l’Asie, Marseille, France
1993
Galerie d’Art la Tour des Cardinaux, l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
Maison de la Culture, Bourges, France
Galerie Hexagone, Aachen, Germany
1994
Espace d’Art Contemporain le Cercle Bleu, Metz, France
Teatr Polski, Poznam, Poland
Galerie d’Art la Tour des Cardinaux, l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
1995
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
1996
Palais de Justice, Luxembourg
Galerie d’Art la Tour des Cardinaux, l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
Espace d’Art Contemporain le Cercle Bleu, Metz, France
Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
1997
The Gallery Schimmel Center for the Arts, New York, USA
1998
Galerie d’Art la Tour des Cardinaux, l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
4 Arts, Caen, France
Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Michael Goedhuis Gallery, London, UK
1999
Le Printemps du livre, Cassis, France
Boulevard des Potes, Bordeaux, France
Scène Nationale de Bayonne, Bayonne, France
Le Printemps du Livre, Cassis, France
2000
Asia Art Center, Taipei, Taiwan
Espace d’Art Contemporain le Cercle Bleu, Metz, France
Morat Institut für Kunstwissenschaft, Freiburg, Germany
Galerie Frank Pagès, Baden-Baden, Germany
Galerie d’Art la Tour des Cardinaux, l’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, France
Bibliothèque de l’Académie Suédoise, Stockholm, Sweden
2001
Palais des Papes, Avignon, France
Gao Xingjian – A Retrospective, Palais des Papes, Avignon, France
National History Museum Taipei, Taiwan
2002
Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain
Museo d'Arte Moderna, La Corogne, Spain
2003
Haggerty Museum, Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Mons, Belgium
Musée de La Vieille Charité, Marseille, France
Musée des Tapisseries, Aix-en-Provence, France
Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporian (FIAC), Paris, France
2004
Galerie La Tour des Cardinaux, Marseille, France
“Encres” in Galerie Claude Bernard, Paris, France
Centre of Contemporary Culture, Barcelona, Spain
Alisan Fine Arts/Artemis Fine Arts, New York, USA
2005
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
Galerie Frank Pagès, Baden-Baden, Germany
2006
iPRECIATION Fine Arts, Singapore
Institut Français, Berlin, Germany
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Bern, Switzerland
Gao Xingjian Experience, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
2007
Gao Xingjian: End of the World, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany
The Snite Museum of Art, Notre Dame University, USA
2008
New Works by Gao Xingjian 2007-2008 (as part of Gao Xingjian Festival by The Chinese University of Hong Kong & ‘Le French May Festival 2008’ by The Consulate General of France in Hong Kong & Macao), Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong
Selected Group Exhibitions in Hong Kong
2005
Encre/Chine: Ink Paintings by Jean Degottex, Gao Xingjian and T’ang Haywen,” University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong
2007
The New Face of Ink Paintings – Modern Ink Painting Group Exhibition and Symposium, Sino Group, Central Plaza Wan Chai, Olympian City 1 West Kowloon
Public Collections
Artothèque de Nantes, France
Musée Guimet, Paris, France
Théâtre Molière, Paris, France
Maison de la Culture de Bourges, France
La Ville de Marseille, France
Nobel Foundation, Sweden
Krapperrus Konsthall, Malmö, Sweden
Museum of Modern Art, Stockholm, Sweden
Ostasiatiska Museet, Stockholm, Sweden
Musée des arts modernes, Stockholm, Sweden
Leibnitz Gesellschaft für Kulturellen Austausch, Berlin, Germany
Morat Institut für Kunst und Kunstwissenschaft, Freiburg, Germany
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, USA
National History Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Taiwan
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Singapore Art Museum, Singapore