Geopoetics regarding a waterless sea
Text by Chen Si’an
Design by Li Zhengke
Images by Nabuqi, Kiang Malingue
Commissioned by Nabuqi and Kiang Malingue

The novel “Geopoetics regarding a waterless sea” by author Chen Si’an, which was commissioned for Nabuqi’s solo exhibition “Geopoetics regarding a waterless sea”. The titular story, in eleven chapters, chronicles the quest for a narrative key, transforming the geological history of Hong Kong into a cycle of allegories and metaphors. In Chen’s story, an omnipresent heroine traverses all directions and examines the body of the last boat-dwelling Tanka people; witnesses the struggle and hubris of a fish who yearns for a businessman’s life ashore; takes care of an indestructible rock who has lost its friend to time, before evoking the memory of a geologist, who sets out to catalogue all land forms by brutally flaying the landscapes. As an immortal observer, she is attentive to changes without being able to fully understand them, identifying lands, seas, mountains and rivers in and with characters, movements, words and stories. The novel has been published by Kiang Malingue and is available at the exhibition. The full text will be available on Kiang Malingue’s website and WeChat account on the 19th of September, 2024.

(About the exhibition)
(Read the full text)