BERLIN – In a scene from his video installation “The Wanderer”, the artist Choy Ka Fai, who has traveled thousands of kilometers to a spiritual gathering near the city of Ulan-Ude in Siberia, kneels at the feet of a shaman, his head bowed, eyes closed. A shaman’s assistant introduces Choy.
“He’s from Singapore,” says the assistant. “He is a supernatural dance researcher.”
Choy, who lives and works in Berlin, took on this title when developing “CosmicWander: Expedition”, an ambitious, immersive exhibition that arose from his research on shamanic dance practices across Asia. Presented for the first time by the Singapore Art Museum, where it opened in January, the exhibition can be seen until August 22 as part of the annual Tanz im August festival at the KINDL Center for Contemporary Art in Berlin.
In the center of a large gallery that is shown on six screens, “The Wanderer” circles a vibrating platform with a pink carpet on which the audience sits. Its five chapters correspond to the five countries Choy visited over 18 months: Taiwan, Vietnam, Russia (Siberia), Singapore and Indonesia.
The 42-minute work begins with a 3D game prototype inspired by his time in Taiwan – where he took part in a nine-day pilgrimage for the Taoist sea goddess Mazu – and then switches to documenting ghost channeling rituals, with the text providing some insight into their complex story. In addition to other video and costume pieces, the exhibition contains interviews with religious practitioners from “The Wanderer” on topics such as the origins of some shamans and their daily work. (One is a cook, another is a tour guide.)
Trained as a video artist and with a Masters in Design Interaction from the Royal College of Art in London, Choy, 42, often explores the relationships between technology and the body. His works, which can have a satirical edge, have been published by Sadler’s Wells in London, ImPulsTanz in Vienna and earlier editions of Tanz im August. This year he is part of a stripped-down version of the Berlin festival, which offers a mix of indoor, outdoor, live and online events: an effort to remain flexible for live performances in a precarious time.
“This hybrid was very important to us,” says Andrea Niederbuchner, curator and producer of Tanz im August. “We really wanted to do something that we don’t have to cancel.” If everything goes according to plan, Choy’s “Postcolonial Spirits”, a stage work that deals with the Indonesian trance dance form dolalak, will be premiered on Thursday at HAU Hebbel am Ufer.
“CosmicWander” is not the first project that Choy is leading through Asia; for “SoftMachine” (2015) he interviewed more than 80 independent dance artists in five Asian countries. In our most recent interview, he spoke frankly about his position both as an insider – “an Asian who is going to Asia,” he said – and as an outsider who is sometimes viewed with skepticism. A work that he presented at the Taipei Arts Festival last year under the umbrella of “CosmicWander” drew the accusation of cultural appropriation.
“That is the eternal anthropological question,” says Tang Fu Kuen, the artistic director of the Taipei Festival, who also comes from Singapore and works with Choy as a dramaturge. “How can an outsider enter a foreign culture and see it with new eyes, different perspectives?”
“He’s not exploitative as people think,” added Tang. “They think, ‘Ah, he just walks around, enters different countries and takes himself away from the culture.’” But from Tang’s perspective, Choy’s work is more about honoring and learning from those he meets. “It is always attuned to its own understanding while being respectful and loyal to the voices he encounters.”
Before the opening of “CosmicWander” at KINDL, Choy took a break from installing the show to talk about his path as an artist and where his wanderings have led him. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.
What was the first thing that moved you to dance and work with your body?
I studied video at the art school and later did theater performances, working a lot with dancers and musicians. I’ve drawn more and more to dancing because I always find a problem with language. It’s ironic though because there has been a lot of talk in the last 10 years of my dance work.
But it really started when I went to London in 2010 to study design. I left my comfort zone and everyone I worked with. Back then I was playing with muscle sensors and only had myself, my laptop, and a few sensors. I became like a DIY scientist in the bedroom electrocuting me and trying to stimulate muscle movement.
You describe yourself as an artist in exile. Why did you leave Singapore?
I was exhausted from the infrastructure there. In order to meet certain funding requirements, I had to produce and produce. There was no time to think. I went to have more headroom.
Her work “SoftMachine” focused on independent dance artists in Asia. What led you to shamanic dances from there?
It started with a piece called Dance Clinic in 2017. I was working in West Papua [on the island of New Guinea] with a folk dancer trained in contemporary dance. I was playing with this brain wave sensor and had the question of what happens to the brain wave when you go into a trance, when the body becomes possessed or when it enters a heightened state of consciousness.
I started to wonder if I am putting this motion capture sensor on top of a shaman and the god is coming into the body while he is performing this dance ritual – if I record this digitally, does that mean I am recording the dance of God? This was basically the opening line of my suggestion for “CosmicWander”: What would happen if I could digitize this immaterial divine presence? It expanded from there.
One of the rituals you attended for “CosmicWander” took place in Singapore. Did you learn something new about your own country?
In Singapore I saw this mixture of Chinese and Indian shamanism, Taoist and Hindu. The nuances are so interesting. You can actually put this Indian flower garland on top of a Chinese god. When I saw this I thought, why are artists in Singapore so afraid to express themselves? These shamans freely express whatever is possible.
I came up with the theory that religious practitioners in Singapore are more liberated than artists. Because artists worry about censorship or self-censorship. The arts in Singapore are heavily subsidized by the state; Many artists survive with government funding.
Do you think they are afraid to criticize –
They fear that if they take a wrong step, they will lose their funding. But nobody knows where the line is. There are cases when the government or [arts] Council believes your art is having a negative impact on the people of Singapore, they will stop your tax dollars.
Are you a religious person yourself?
I am Christian. I believe in Jesus. But I stopped going to church. That’s a different story.
Somewhat more personal: Before I went for a walk with the sea goddess [in Taiwan], I was in a bad mental state.
What happened?
It was the low point of my private life. I had just broken up with my partner. We were together for almost four years. That moment didn’t make me believe in all of the things that I used to believe in.
I’ve already researched them all [for “CosmicWander”]. Then this happened and I wasn’t sure if I should continue to be an artist. Then I thought, “I got the funding, so I’ll go and go with God.” That’s why I picked myself up. And the experience was quite transformative, mentally and physically.
Has “CosmicWander” restored your belief in being an artist?
It restored my belief that there are many wonderful things in life that I have yet to experience. I think that’s an easy way of putting it.
