Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk

Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk features the work of award-winning animation director and visual artist Kong Khong-chang, known as Kongkee. Part comic book, part motion picture, part meditation on history, the exhibition is presented through dazzling animated vignettes projected across walls and on screens. Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk traces the story of legendary Chinese poet Qu Yuan as his soul journeys from the ancient Chu Kingdom to an imagined 21st century Asia of cyborgs, electric rock, and romantic reunions. Ancient Chinese bronzes from the Warring States Period (c. 481-221 BCE) accompany Kongkee’s graphic artworks, referencing a time when China emerged from myth into history with the founding of the Qin dynasty, the first of Imperial China. Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk intertwines legend with an allegorical future where immortal life can be attained through technology.  Born in Malaysia in 1977 and raised in Hong Kong, Kongkee lives and works in London.  Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk is organized by the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, where it debuted in November 2022, and curated by its head of contemporary art, Abby Chen.