The Steam Junk Treaties (left) & Dowagers Overture (right)
2022
Howie Tsui & Shary Boyle
Ink, paint pigment and gouache on paper
76cm x 94cm
越界/粵界 (transgression/cantosphere)
2015
exhibition documentation
Centre A, Vancouver
In 越界/粵界(transgression/cantosphere), interdisciplinary art company Hong Kong Exile (Natalie Tin Yin Gan, Milton Lim, Remy Siu), in collaboration with linguist Zoe Lam and artist Howie Tsui, grapple with local and international pressures on their mother culture. The exhibit strikes back with a potent celebratory engagement with Cantonese language coupled with a reflection on the relationship between urban planning and the multiculturalisation of “Historic Chinatown.” A hopeful assertion of the value of diversity, 越界/粵界(transgression/cantosphere) challenges forces of homogenization and invites the public to consider what actions and invocations are called for in the quest for diverse cultural vitality in Vancouver’s urban core and around the world.
13 Orphans (2013) is a quick and dirty film collab with Zachary Rothman as part of Cineworks’ Intersections program.
Created by Howie Tsui and Zachary Rothman
Art Direction and Production Design: Howie Tsui
Camera, Direction, Edit: Zachary Rothman
With Michelle Fu, Amy Fung, Madalina Carlea & Howie Tsui
Crew: Ryan DeLaRonde, Bernardo Rodriguez, Leah Stipic, Lydia Fu, Ana Carrizales, Melanie Kuxdorf
Music "Vome Kaba" by Jonuzi Me Shoket
Special Thanks: Naim Sutherland, Jesse Scott, Jon Ornoy, Rafael Tsushida, Debra Zhou & Sun Yat Sen Gardens, Brian McBay & 221A
The Unfortunates of D'Arcy Island (2013)
paint pigment on mulberry paper mounted on wood
36" x 96"
The Unfortunates of D'Arcy Island (Performance) 2013
Howie Tsui - project lead and direction, illustrations & imagery, guitar, sampler
Sammy Chien - image programming and sound
Andrew Lee - sampler, audio programming, midi
An interdisciplinary performance featuring live projection and sound re-animating a story of exile and isolation centered around a 19th century leper colony off the coast of Vancouver Island. The project melds Chien’s expertise in video media with Tsui’s stylized illustrations, and is accompanied by an improvised audio composition performed by Tsui, Chien and special guest Andrew Lee.
Celestials of Saltwater City (2011) is a magic lantern performance in the tradition of utsushi-e (Japanese phantasmagoria) – an eerie storytelling form that combines live narration and music with illustrated projections. Through interviews conducted with elders of Vancouver’s Chinatown, tales of survival and hardship are re-interpreted and transformed into otherworldly divinity tales. This approach destabilizes prevailing historical portrayals of this community as nondescript, victimized and hapless labourers, elevating them into mythic beings sourced from Chinese bestiaries. This collective narrative reanimates forgotten histories while alleviating the repressed pain haunting the psyches of the participants.
Presented at Centre A, Vancouver (2011)
Live music performed by Alex Zhang Hungtai
Projectionists: Stacey Ho, Jacquelyn Ross, Yi Xin Tong, Daina Warren and Janice Wu.
