Retainers of Anarchy is a solo exhibition featuring new work from Howie Tsui that considers wuxia as a narrative tool for dissidence and resistance. Wuxia, a traditional form of martial arts literature that expanded into 20th century popular film and television, was created out of narratives and characters often from lower social classes that uphold chivalric ideals against oppressive forces during unstable times. The title work, Retainers of Anarchy, is a 25-metre scroll-like video installation that references life during the song dynasty (960–1279 CE), but undermines its idealized portraiture of social cohesion by setting the narrative in Kowloon’s notorious walled city—an ungoverned tenement of disenfranchised refugees in Hong Kong which was demolished in 1994.

Installation view of “Howie Tsui: Retainers of Anarchy”

exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery, March 4 to May 28, 2017.

Image courtesy Vancouver Art Gallery.

Photo: Rachel Topham, Vancouver Art Gallery.

Viewing the installation video of “Retainers of Anarchy”: https://vimeo.com/206364681

Howie Tsui, ‘Retainers of Anarchy’, 2017, key frame drawing for algorithmic animation sequence. Image courtesy the artist.