was it the smell of solitude

2020

was it the smell of solitude is Hong Kong Exile’s newest large-scale multimedia performance project-in-progress.

Featuring fourteen performers, fog, powder, and intricate light choreography, solitude investigates Chinese funerary and ancestral tradition in a contemporary digital era. How do these performances around the afterlife intersect and communicate with the diasporic experience and imagination today? Through attempted ritual, object duets, and rhythmic dance compositions, solitude maps the transitions of grief, honour, and evolution. It shares stories that range from the profound to the profane, reckoning with the ever-shifting contradictions of the diasporic experience.

HKX PROJECT LEAD Natalie Tin Yin Gan
CREATED BY Hong Kong Exile (Natalie Tin Yin Gan, Milton Lim , Remy Siu) + Sandy Wang

ARCHITECT Sandy Wang

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION Milton Lim and Remy Siu
WORKSHOP PERFORMER CREDITS Zahra Shahab, Elysse Cheadle, Don Chow, Kaylee Louie, Chu-Lynne Ng, Eddy Van Wyk, Julia Siedlanowska, Daisy Thompson
TRAILER EDITED BY Remy Siu

We acknowledge the support of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts.