Isaac Chong Wai: 'An Intimate Surrender' Comes to Tai Kwun

Some exhibitions ask you to look. This one asks you to feel watched. Isaac Chong Wai, the Berlin- and Hong Kong-based artist fresh from the 60th Venice Biennale, brings a new solo commission — "An Intimate Surrender" — to Tai Kwun Contemporary (大館當代美術館) in Central this summer, and it turns a museum gallery into a stage for the quiet power struggles that shape how we love, remember and let go.

Who is Isaac Chong Wai?

Isaac Chong Wai (莊偉) is one of the most quietly ambitious artists Hong Kong has produced in the past decade. He splits his life between Berlin and Hong Kong, and works across performance, glass, photography, video and drawing — a restless range for a single practice.

His art keeps circling the same difficult territory: the emotional aftermath of large public events, from anti-Asian violence to queer precarity and the long ache of diaspora. In 2024 he was among the artists at the 60th Venice Biennale, the art world's biggest stage, which makes this hometown showing something of a homecoming. If you have been following the city's contemporary scene through shows like Lee Bul's survey at M+, Chong Wai's name belongs in the same conversation.

What is 'An Intimate Surrender' about?

At its heart is a phrase the show keeps returning to: "tender violence." That is the small, often invisible power play folded into intimacy — the way care and control can wear the same face. Chong Wai stages it not as a lecture but as a body in motion.

The choreography borrows from an unlikely pair of sources: Peking opera and Chen Kaige's 1993 film Farewell My Concubine (霸王別姬), a story soaked in performance, desire and betrayal. From these, the work draws out questions about the fluid nature of gender, the body and memory — and about the power dynamics that quietly steer our collective psyche. The exhibition is curated by Louiza Ho.

What you'll see in the gallery

Expect a room that behaves like a film set with its skin peeled back. The commission unfolds across the third-floor gallery, where dancers move through an immersive installation built from metal frameworks, etched glass, mirrored panels and textiles. Those materials deliberately echo the physical infrastructure of theatre and cinema — the scaffolding, screens and mirrors that make a scene possible but usually stay hidden.

Because live performance is woven into the work, no two visits look quite the same. Dancers activate the space at scheduled times through the run, so the installation shifts between a still, sculptural state and a charged, moving one. It is a smart companion to the city's other summer highlights — see our round-up of the best art exhibitions in Hong Kong this summer to build a full day of it.

The setting matters too. Tai Kwun is a revitalised former police station and prison compound, and its layered history of confinement and surveillance gives a show about "tender violence" an extra charge. For more free art within walking distance, pair it with Jeremy's Bathhouse at Oi! or a wander through Hong Kong's best art galleries.

How do you visit Tai Kwun Contemporary?

Tai Kwun sits at 10 Hollywood Road, right above the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator. The contemporary galleries are open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 7pm, and closed on Mondays. General entry is free, which makes this one of the best-value cultural outings in the city — no ticket, just turn up.

Give yourself time to linger — the compound's heritage cells, courtyards and cafés reward an unhurried afternoon. And if you are mapping out the season, our guide to the International Arts Carnival rounds up more of what's on for families and culture-lovers alike.

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