P005 → commissioned work | Butterfly Island
Music work, commissioned by artist ErGao
Hong Kong, 2023
"Each butterfly, in its former life, harbored the spectral essence of a flower, revisiting itself in search of recollections."
Nestled between an unreconciled past and an indeterminate future, Butterfly Island extends an unconditional sanctuary to strangers, wanderers, and those who stand as outsiders. On the shoreline, mermaids chant remixes of childhood melodies, their teardrops concealing tales of poignant migration. Rituals unfurl at precise intervals, where islanders engage in ancient, sensuous dances. Drift bottles, carrying narratives of strangers, traverse Butterfly Island daily, on the cusp of unfolding yet another tale.
He Qiwo (ErGao), an artist perhaps embodying the most peculiar spirit of contemporary dance in China mainland. Accumulating a trove of visual material linked to mobility and migration, assembling a cohort of dancers spanning the 80s, 90s, and 00s, He Qiwo employs the mode of 'site-synthetic' to intrude upon and traverse the diverse spaces in Hong Kong. Much like butterflies, individuals who have flourished and migrated across different regions and epochs fleetingly converge, entwine, and bid adieu on this fantastical island.