21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Index

Exhibition
Event
Collection
Learning
Art Communication
Visitor Information
About
Membership (JP)

Kongkee: Electronic Heart Beat

International Symposium “Asian Futurism”

2025.10.18(Sat.)

Back

Information

Period:

2025.10.18(Sat.)
14:00-16:00 (doors open at 13:30)

Venue:

Theater 21/ 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Admission:

Free

Capacity：

100 participants

Language:
Japanese / English
*To receive the interpreter's audio and real-time text transcripts via the dedicated website, please be sure to bring your own smartphone/tablet and earphones.

About

While modern futurism, traditionally centered on Western colonialism, scientific and technological development, and globalization, has historically dominated the global discourse, literary and visual expressions of the future rooted in the historical, cultural, and intellectual contexts of non-Western regions, such as Asia, have often remained marginalized. The objective of this symposium is to serve as a critical intervention in relation to the asymmetry between the West and Asia, as well as the homogenization of literature and visual expression, exploring the possibilities of an alternative futurism rooted in Asian history and culture. The symposium will feature presentation by the keynote speaker, followed by a discussion involving all participants.

Speakers:
Kongkee (exhibiting artist)
Abby Chen (Head of Contemporary Art and Curator at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco)
kazuki takakura (artist)
Law Man Lok (artist, writer, co-founder of Penguin Lab)

Moderator: Hang Yishu (Curator of this exhibition)

Speakers

  • Kongkee

    Graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2000 and completed a Master's degree in Creative Media at Hong Kong City University in 2005. In 2015, he released the comic “Travel to Hong Kong with Blur” in collaboration with the British rock band Blur. Since 2013, he has been serializing the comic series “Mi Luo Virtual,” which was later adapted into the animated series “Dragon’s Delusion.” In 2022, his solo exhibition “Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk” was held at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and subsequently toured to the Wrightwood 659 in Chicago and Tai Kwun in Hong Kong.In 2024, Kongkee was awarded as the honoree of the Asia Game Changer West Award by Asia Society, US. In 2025, he was invited to exhibit at the 18th Istanbul Biennial, Turkey.

  • Abby Chen

    Abby Chen is Head of Contemporary Art and Curator at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco. Since joining in 2019, she has led the museum’s groundbreaking Transformation project, commissioning large-scale public works by Asian American women artists and acquiring major collections, including the largest holding of Bernice Bing. In 2023, she curated Kongkee: Warring States Cyberpunk, a landmark exhibition on Asian futurism. Appointed curator of Taiwan at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 with Yuan Goang-Ming: Everyday War, Chen also co-curated the American Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale. She received the 2024 National Art Education Association Distinguished Art Educator Award. Her experimental curatorial approach—spanning exhibitions, programs, and publications—explores intersections of race, gender, sexuality, migration, and technology, advancing new narratives of contemporary Asian art across global contexts.

  • Law Man Lok (Lawman)

    MFA, Goldsmiths College, University of London (2007). Co-founder of Penguin Lab (2008), together with Kongkee. Co-founding members of Wooferten (H.K.) (2009). Asia Cultural Council Awardee (H.K. 2012). RTHK TV cultural program anchor (2009-2019). Project Manager of Kongkee’s animation series, “Dragon’s Delusion.” Panel speaker at the Gray Area Festival (San Francisco) 2023. His article on art could be found in cultural media, including “Art and the Symbols of Exception,” which is published in Creative Space—Art and Spatial Resistance in Asia (ed. Dr. Yuk HUI and DOXA, 2012).

  • Kazuki Takakura

    Artist. Born in 1987. Completed a Master’s degree at Tokyo Zokei University. Using digital media such as video games, pixel art, VR, NFT, and AI, he creates works that explore themes including rewriting the rules of contemporary art through Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism, pursuing new values for digital data, and the aesthetics of character variation. Major exhibitions include Hyperman Ban Go-Oh (2025), an entrance installation at GINZA SIX; Character Matrix (2024), a project/exhibition at BUG; and the solo exhibition MechaReal (2023) at Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art. Other presentations include exhibitions at Ashikaga Museum of Art, SusHi Tech Square, the NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC], a solo show in Taipei, as well as exhibitions in New York and Mexico.

Related Links

Credit

Organized by：

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa (Kanazawa Art Promotion and Development Foundation)

Grants from：

the Toshiaki Ogasawara Memorial Foundation