(River) Yuhao Cao

"River is My Hometown" is an elegy, an elegy for River. 

My current practice “River is My Hometown” is driven by a strong sense of loss. When I face the loss of my hometown following the disaster of the 1998 Yangtze River flood and the question of my identity, I try to build my own language space to re-translate my subjective emotions. The traditional mourning ceremony of my hometown “plead for water" becomes a key clue — an entrance into the self-language space. It substantiates my sad thoughts, and returns me as a revenant to a hometown that transcends the geographic concept.

"Plead for water" is a special local funeral ceremony from my hometown - Nanxian, a small town by the river in the south of China.

Family members and friends will hold a ceremony at the riverside where the deceased used to live, collecting river water to wipe the body, in order to comfort the soul of the dead and hope they can be reborn soon.

My practice will be carried out through re-arranged a live ritual performance "Plead for Water", combined with moving image and poetry writing. 

The Performance will be different from the traditional forms of mourning or pure behavioural performance. Its form refers to the origin of the folk practice "plead for water" in Nanxian, and focuses on mourning. The process of completing the arrangement of the performance includes the setting of the scenes, and the design of the costumes collaborations with Hao Tan.

I invited my friends to held "Plead for Water", this is not the transformation between life to death, this is a shift of my identity. When the work of mourning is finished, the desire, and the sorrow get released, the concept of mourning became more meaningful.

The performance and "River is My Hometown" will be physically presented at Cromwell Place on 21st July.

More information stay tuned with IG@riverrcao