Plum Rain Murmurs

"Beneath this umbrella’s glow, the rain falls like blossoms, the blossoms flicker like stars—this is the beginning of a wondrous dream."–Lillian Lee, Green Snake, 1986.

The Southernland* is always shrouded in the breath of rain. Moist air, winding alleyways, and hidden forests whisper their stories. This is a place where boundaries blur—time drifts with the rain, history and reality intertwine, myth and memory overlap. Women, wanderers, restless spirits, and otherworldly beings traverse the mist, seeking belonging while being continually reshaped.

This land carries both desire and taboo, pulling identities between flux and fixation. Green Snake explores passion and liberation between mortals and spirits through a haze of dreamlike colors, while The Bold, the Corrupt, and the Beautiful unravels a power game where matriarchy and corruption entwine behind opulent facades. Gone with the Boat traces fragile ties to home and family amid the ripples of farewell, while Kaili Blues drifts between dreams and reality, poetically deconstructing time and memory.

As the plum rain gently falls, the murmurs of The Southernland emerge. (WK)

*The Southernland here refers to regions that experience the plum rain season from June to July each year, including the Yangtze-Huai River basin in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea.

A program by CiLENS, curated byWai KUNG, Curatorial assistance: LIU Jianing,
XU Kexin