Wai Ting Loretta Lau was born in British Hong Kong. She worked as a visual arts teacher for 7 years, witnessing big changes since Hong Kong handover to China from the UK colonization. In 2018, she established herself in Prague as a political performance artist. Her relocating made her join one of the most recent waves of diaspora of the post-80’s generation.

Her first performance on 4th June 2019 entitled “Letter to my people” in DOX – Centre For Contemporary Art, which pays tribute to Liu Xiao- bo, the only Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winner, and to the deceased students who sacrificed their lives for the brighter future of humanity. The executor shaved her hair as a symbol of impending prison sentence. On 10th October 2019, she presented a public art performance – ‘Memory Eraser’ in the National Theater in Prague.

Recently, her projects comment with distinctive meditative-poetical methods on politically sensitive topics, spanning from the coronavirus crisis, through actual Hong Kong protests to the role of women in contemporary society. Her works are searching the boundaries between political and personal identities, which are now exhibiting throughout Europe and being collected by auction house Fabiani Arte in Italy.

DROWN, 2020

Video: Jakub Zajicek
Photo: Zara Wildmoons
Audio mixing: Barry Wan
 
NOT SUSPICIOUS, poem, 2019
– Yi Wei
 
On September 22, a fifteen-year-old girl is found naked and dead in the sea off Tseung Kwan O,
Hong Kong. There are signs of rape and strangulation on her body when she is finally pulled out
three days later. The people suspect the Hong Kong police force killed you. The Chinese
government conducts an investigation and reports that it is not suspicious.
On September 22, a girl is lying
in a bed of seaweed. I mourn you Ophelia.
The government thought you were young enough
to dissolve. Here you are. Solid
in the crime of your humanity.
Preserved in salt. We remember.
On October 17, your mother tells students to stop protesting.
Stop bothering me. “I want to clarify this,
she took her own life instead of being killed.
“I want to clarify this
instead of being killed.
Stop dying for my daughter. “Her look
was rather unusual. She told me that a man’s
voice was instructing her to do things
causing her to be unable to sleep.
“Her look
was her. She told me that a man
was doing things.
sing her to sleep.”
Stop questioning. “I dare not go out.
Please leave our family alone.
“I dare not.
Please our family .”
On September 19, a girl is surrounded by joy.
She takes dances screams shouts jives twirls sings questions
all on the big blue backdrop of the sky. Painting
the sky with questions. Palms open for answers.
Her bigness is overwhelming: even now.
They cannot take that away from you.
Privacy Settings
We use cookies to enhance your experience while using our website. If you are using our Services via a browser you can restrict, block or remove cookies through your web browser settings. We also use content and scripts from third parties that may use tracking technologies. You can selectively provide your consent below to allow such third party embeds. For complete information about the cookies we use, data we collect and how we process them, please check our Privacy Policy
Youtube
Consent to display content from Youtube
Vimeo
Consent to display content from Vimeo
Google Maps
Consent to display content from Google