Isaac Chong Wai brings Leslie Cheung and Chinese opera home to Hong Kong

Hong Kong-raised artist Isaac Chong Wai went home with a performance about love, gender and grief.

His first solo live art exhibition in Hong Kong, An Intimate Surrender, closed on 9 August at Tai Kwun Contemporary in Hong Kong. Chong Wai, who has lived in Berlin for over a decade, built the show around Cantopop star and actor Leslie Cheung and the world of Chinese opera, The Art Newspaper reported on 28 September 2026.

It was a homecoming with weight. Chong Wai works across performance, sculpture, installation and video. He has shown widely in recent years, with major presentations at the 2024 Venice Biennale in Venice and the 2025 Taipei Biennial in Taipei.

Tai Kwun gave him a live art commission for the Hong Kong show. That means new work made to be performed live in the galleries, rather than shipped in as objects. The exhibition was organised by Louiza Ho, associate curator of Tai Kwun Contemporary, and included performances and durational interventions — pieces that unfold over hours, with performers present in the space.

Two performers, Chan Wai Lok and Cheung Wai Yin, took part in the live works, according to Tai Kwun.

The heart of the performance was Cheung. The singer and actor, who died in 2003 by suicide, was among the first major Chinese-language celebrities to speak openly about his sexuality. Chong Wai named him as the primary inspiration for the Tai Kwun piece, which explores Asian masculinity and queer identity — how men are expected to act, and what happens when they do not.

The route into that story was film. Chong Wai drew on Farewell My Concubine, the 1993 film directed by Chen Kaige. The film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Hong Kong author Lilian Lee, also known as Lee Pik-Wah.

In it, Cheung plays Cheng Dieyi, a Peking opera artist famed for playing the Dan role. Peking opera is a form of Chinese opera, combining singing, speech and movement. The Dan is the female role, long performed by male actors.

One gesture became central. The “Orchid Hand”, a hand shape held by the Dan performer to mimic orchid petals, runs through Chong Wai’s choreography. It is small and precise. It carries a lot.

What makes this stand out is the mix of references. A Berlin-based practice. A Hong Kong stage. A 1990s film classic. A traditional opera code. For fans, this means Cheung is not name-checked. He is worked through the body.