As ancient as human civilisation itself, the power of myth is embedded within our cultural DNA. Passed down through millennia in traditions and tales, myths have inspired artists, writers, and thinkers from all walks of life. Yet in today’s technology-driven age of uncertainty, what role can myth still play? Drawing from the viral Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong (2024)—a contemporary retelling of the classic novel Journey to the West—the exhibition Black Myth explores the dark side of myth in our modern world.

Widely regarded as a masterpiece of Chinese literature, Journey to the West is an epic fantasy teeming with spirits, demons, ghosts, mythical beasts, gods, and immortals. It follows the monk Tang Sanzang and his three unlikely disciples—the mischievous Monkey King Sun Wukong, the pig-faced glutton Zhu Bajie, and the loyal river ogre Sha Wujing—on a perilous pilgrimage from China to India in search of sacred Buddhist scriptures.

Echoing this spiritual quest, Black Myth explores the concept of the journey in all its forms—from physical travel to time travel, from internal odysseys to cosmic voyages. Each layer of the exhibition delves deeper into distinctly Chinese visions of transformation and transcendence.

Artists such as Sun Xun conjure entire worlds through finely detailed woodcuts and ink painting; Zong Ning reimagines ancient legends using contemporary photography and everyday materials; while Hou Chun-Ming infuses Daoist myth and philosophy into crude, playful, and provocative characters.