was it the smell of solitude

2021

was it the smell of solitude is Hong Kong Exile’s newest large-scale multimedia performance project led by choreographer Natalie Tin Yin Gan and currently in working phase. 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.

LED BY
Natalie Tin Yin Gan

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

ARCHITECTURAL CONSULTATION BY
Sandy Wang

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION BY
Milton Lim and Remy Siu

WORKSHOP ARTIST CREDITS
Zahra Shahab, Elysse Cheadle, Don Chow, Kaylee Louie, Chu-Lynne Ng, Eddy Van Wyk, Julia Siedlanowska, Daisy Thompson, Antonio Somera

FOOTAGE EDITED BY
Remy Siu

SUPPORTED BY
SFU Cultural Programs, SFU School of Contemporary Arts, the City of Vancouver, British Columbia Arts Council, and Canada Council for the Arts