Unanchored Harbour
Tsuen Wan City Hall, Hong Kong
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Never merely a place,
But something carried through movements
A trace of memory, an instinct to hold on.
This city shifts. We pause, we scatter.
Between fragments and space, what lingers is not always fixed,
But it asks to be seen.
Not a destination, perhaps a quiet journey
Towards somewhere might be sensed of belonging.
Context:
The project began with the invitation to four choreographers and two architects to reflect on home. Over months of exploration, rehearsals, and discussions, ideas were slowly tested and materialized. Tsuen Wan City Hall became the stage for this inquiry, both as a performance venue and as a space to consider how architecture, memory, and emotion converge. The project created a dialogue between city, body, and imagination, situating personal experience within a wider urban and cultural context.
Concept:
Home was explored as both a tangible and spiritual space. It migrates, it changes, it can be at once personal and collective. The project examined the ways in which memory and attachment inhabit space, how domesticity can be reinterpreted, and how the act of moving and dwelling shapes perception. Through movement and scenography, home became a fluid structure, continuously shifting and evolving within the performance and installation.
Set 1: Her Shells
When time propels forward, she grows and her past shell could no longer accommodate her changes. She moves into another new shell, in search of values necessary to construct her ideal home. And when the clock turns again, she unconsciously morphs into one new body that her current shell cannot contain.
She departs, and this familiarly resembling procedure loops repetitively into a routine of honing and sculpting somewhere she belongs.
Shells of her past gather here, a citadel of hers, protecting the present shell she now claims to others home. Rhythms resonating her once home leaks from the shells, applauding her arduous journey through time to culminate her one and only home. She continues to shape her shell, despite unknowing her near future, her home is always around when she is here to shape.
Set 2: Dreamy Departure Devices
She said to herself, “This is the last time”. Determined to move onto a new adventure, she had her last venture into a hysteric dream to seek for her perfect kingdom.
Doghouse capsule where she could not stretch her body fully…
Stone pillows who smear and gossip irritating words around her…
Continuously evolving politics of land and tides which she decided to drift on a boat…
She can no longer call herself belonging anywhere, and she murmured to her inner self… “Does that matter?”. Aggregation of her artifacts presence within her dream portray a home of her, a plethora of luggages evidence of her courage to search for home no matter where the next destination leans towards good or bad.
Process:
Workshops and rehearsals began with conversations about what home means to each performer. Individual reflections were gradually transformed into physical forms through set and stage design. The performers’ experiences and memories of home informed the spatial layout, the construction of domestic structures, and the visual language of the performance. Ideas moved from abstract concepts of home to tangible scenography that could be inhabited, observed, and experienced.
Production:
Four performance stages were developed, each inspired by diverse domestic precedents from around the world. White cardboard houses of varying sizes were fabricated, creating a flexible and evocative installation. Shadow puppets were crafted from cereal and snack boxes, forming props that connected everyday objects to memory and narrative. Every element from stage, set, props, and installation was curated to reflect the migration and transformation of home, inviting audiences to engage with its fragility, continuity, and resonance.
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Client:
Art Development Council (ADC), Passover Dance
Typology:
Scenography, Curation, Exhibition
Status:
Completion
Location:
Tsuen Wan City Hall, Hong Kong
Duration:
2025
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Curators:
Anthony Ko, Beng Kian Saw
Scenography:
Anthony Ko (Gabbie Chan, Ho Ming Yan)
Beng Kian Saw (Elaine Kowk, Gigi Yang)
Artistic Director:
Pewan Chow
Choreographers:
Gabbie Chan, Elaine Kwok, Ho Ming Yan, Gigi Yang
Lighting Designer:
Denzel Yung
Sound Designer:
Man Kai Hei
Performer:
Cally Yip
Production Manager:
Candace Tse
Assistant Stage Manager:
Cola Li
Producer:
Anthea Chan
Publicity Designer:
Stitch Wong
Photo Courtesy:
Worldwide Dancer Project
Videography:
9production
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