Post-Human Narratives—In the Name of Scientific Witchery

Para Site is proud to present a unique off-site exhibition Post-Human Narratives—In the Name of Scientific Witchery at the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences featuring all-new commissions by Betty Apple, Ho Sin Tung, Mayumi Hosokura, Hui Serene Sze Lok, Florence Lam, Liv Tsim, Hou Lam Tsui, Ice Wong Kei Suet, and Bobby Yu Shuk Pui, curated by Kobe Ko.

The exhibition features nine women artists from Hong Kong, Japan, and Taiwan, whose all-new commissions engage with practices in the medical and scientific establishments throughout history that are often considered controversial or unorthodox—from genetic engineering to xenotransplantation, dream analysis, sound healing, and ritualistic performance. Taking place outside of Para Site’s space, Post-Human Narratives—In the Name of Scientific Witchery unfolds in the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, in Sheung Wan, a unique and historically charged setting where the exhibition seeks to reconfigure new speculative narratives around science, magic, and “witchcraft.”

Part of an ongoing project titled Post-Human Narratives, the exhibition marks the third iteration of a collective series of onsite and online initiatives using posthumanist thinking as a departure point. Focusing on the porous boundary between dichotomies such as nature versus human, human versus machine, and the empirical world versus the supernatural, the exhibition aims at centring peripheral histories of the mythical and magical as a way to challenge prevailing narratives centred on scientific rationality.

The exhibition title “Scientific Witchery” comes from the lyrics of a fantasy anime track, a reference that implies an ambivalent relationship among science, magic, and witchcraft—prior to the advent and spread of Western medicine, “witch doctors” or shamans in various cultures often perform the role of healer. The participating artists are invited to respond to the fluidity and contradictions evoked by these connections through video, performance, sound, objects, and photography. Displayed in conversation with the historical exhibits in the museum, the audience is invited to contemplate what constitutes canonical “scientific” knowledge in a posthuman world.