Re-enactments, Theatre, and Cantonese Opera — with Ming Wong

09/09/2025 49 min
Re-enactments, Theatre, and Cantonese Opera — with Ming Wong

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Episode Synopsis

On this episode of Below the Radar B-Sides, our host Am Johal is joined by Ming Wong, Singapore-born and Berlin-based contemporary artist. Together, they chat about Ming’s artistic practice, his research into Cantonese Opera cinema, approach to pedagogy, and the advantages of being at the fringe looking in.

You can see Ming’s installation “Vast Oceans, Endless Skies / 海闊天空” in the Chinese Canadian Museum’s exhibition Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000, on until May 31, 2026.

Resources:
Ming Wong: https://www.mingwong.org/
Chinese Canadian Museum exhibition: Dream Factory: Cantopop Mandopop 1980s-2000: https://www.chinesecanadianmuseum.ca/exhibitions/dream-factory-cantopop-mandopop-1980s-2000
Ming Wong: 2023 SFU Fall Audain Visual Artist in Residence artist talk: https://www.sfu.ca/sca/projects---activities/audain-visual-artist-in-residence/ming-wong.html


Bio:
Ming Wong (b. 1971, Singapore) currently lives and works in Berlin. His interdisciplinary practice incorporating performance, video and installation unravels ideas of ‘authenticity’ and the ‘other’ with reference to the act of human performativity. In recent years, he has had strong theatrical interests in the intersection of sci-fi and traditional Chinese culture, particularly Cantonese opera. Wong uses this speculative association to tackle issues such as Chinese modernity, the role of popular culture in building national identities. His works often assemble languages and personalities to create their own “World Cinema”.

Cite this episode:
Chicago Style

Johal, Am.. “Re-enactments, Theatre, and Cantonese Opera — with Ming Wong.” Below the Radar, SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement. Podcast audio, August 12, 2025. https://www.sfu.ca/vancity-office-community-engagement/below-the-radar-podcast/episodes/btr-bsides-ming-wong.html.