Architecture meets movement at coming performances at Hong Kong Freespace Dance festival
No Time To Die: An Inert Liquid Assembly is a series of dance performances and an exhibition in Hong Kong debuting on November 20
Visual artist Nadim Abbas and Chan Wai-lok, a choreographer and dancer, are keeping their cards close to their chests about their coming performance.
“We don’t want to spoil too much ahead of the show,” said Abbas when the Post visited them after a rehearsal. They did allow a glimpse of the intriguing set: part domestic interior, part logistics warehouse.
Their cross-disciplinary collaboration is called “No Time To Die: An Inert Liquid Assembly”, and it comprises an exhibition and a series of performances which premiere on November 20 and are part of this year’s Freespace Dance festival in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District.
The title is derived from Cantonese slang used by overworked employees: “I have time to die but no time to get sick,” they say, fearing the wrath of their bosses.
This play on local humour poses the question: how does economic disillusionment and techno-exhaustion affect our ability to navigate, let alone control, our existence when everything is liquid and fast-changing?
Abbas has filled the rehearsal space in Hong Kong’s Xiqu Centre with what looks like cardboard architectural models with claw grabbers and bubble wrap resting on them.