The Museum of Lost Heirs
solo project
VOID_Melbourne
o5 - 25 March 2026
Lost Heirs are people open to connecting with inheritance beyond their known family, clan, or tribe — whether unclaimed objects, genetic traits, traditional skills, or stories carried by migration.
The Museum of Lost Heirs is an ongoing project by Chinese artist Wei Weng, originating as The Heir Hunter Office (2024) during a Kyoto residency, 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, with AI calibrating the emotional tenor of an unreachable past for contemporary audiences — transforming bureaucratic loss into intimate encounter, and connecting present and future generations to the unclaimed stories left along ambitious pathways of human migration.
gallery view
Wei Weng Bottled Up Ambition 2026
urushi lacquer, plastic bottles, hemp, ash, wood
30cm x 30cm x 8cm
(right) Wei Weng, Labyrinth 2025
digital print on archival dibond
120cm x 80cm
(left) Wei Weng, Tall Poppies Go Home 2026
urushi lacquer, eggshell, chain, wood
160cm x 10cm x 8cm
(left) Wei Weng, Tall Poppies Syndrome 2026
urushi lacquer, eggshells, wood
130cm x 120cm x 50cm
(right) Wei Weng, Tall Poppies Go Home 2026
urushi lacquer, eggshell, chain, wood
160cm x 10cm x 8cm
Wei Weng, Tall Poppies Syndrome, details
Wei Weng, Tall Poppies Syndrome, details
(top) Wei Weng Bottled Up Ambition 2026
urushi lacquer, plastic bottles, hemp, ash, wood
30cm x 30cm x 8cm
(bottom) Wei Weng, Mother’s Appetite 2026
urushi lacquer, mother of pearl inlay, abalone shells, chain, wood
200cm x 120cm x 120cm
The Museum of Lost Heirs, installation view
(top) Wei Weng, Heartland, 2025
digital print on archival dibond
120cm x 80cm
(bottom) Wei Weng, Mother’s Appetite 2026
urushi lacquer, mother of pearl inlay, abalone shells, chain, wood
200cm x 120cm x 120cm
Wei Weng, Mother’s Appetite 2026
urushi lacquer, mother of pearl inlay, abalone shells, chain, wood
200cm x 120cm x 120cm
(top) Messages to Lost Heirs (Japanese, Arabic, Vietnamese)
(bottom) Mother’s Appetite 2026
urushi lacquer, mother of pearl inlay, abalone shells, chain, wood
200cm x 120cm x 120cm
Father’s Egg
A Japanese message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbot, using unclaimed inheritance data of Japanese passing away overseas
digital print, 120cm x 60cm
Wei Weng, Messages to Lost Heirs: Courage 2025
a Japanese message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots
digital print on archival paper
60cm x 80cm
Wei Weng, Messages to Lost Heirs: Mother’s Waves 2025
an Arabic message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots
digital print on archival paper
60cm x 80cm
Wei Weng, Messages to Lost Heirs: Factory X 2025
a Vietnamese message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots
digital print on archival paper
60cm x 80cm
Wei Weng, Maiden’s Path 2026
a Gaelic message to lost heirs, written in collaboration by artist and AI chatbots
digital print on archival paper
60cm x 80cm
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
60cm x 80cm