Biography

Choy Ka Fai is a Berlin-based Singaporean artist. His multidisciplinary art practice situates itself at the intersection of dance, media art and performance. Through research expeditions, pseudo-scientific experiments and documentary performances, Ka Fai appropriates technologies and narratives to imagine new futures of the human body.

In 2019, Ka Fai started working on the CosmicWander series exploring shamanic dance culture in Asia. CosmicWander produced a collection of performances, exhibitions and VR works. It premiered in 2021 with a solo exhibition at the Singapore Art Museum, followed by a VR experience “Blue Sky Academy” at Tanzhas nrw dussendolf. In Berlin, the performances of “Postcolonial Spirits” premiered at Tanz Im August Festival in 2021 and “Yishun Is Burning” was presented at Tanzplattform Deutschland in 2022.

Ka Fai’s projects have been presented in major institutions worldwide, including Sadler’s Wells (London), ImPulsTanz Festival (Vienna) and Kyoto Experiment (Japan). He was the resident artist at tanzhaus nrw in Düsseldorf (2017–2019) and Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin (2014-15). Ka Fai graduated with a M.A. in Design Interaction from the Royal College of Art, London, United Kingdom.

Curriculum Vitae

Education

2009–2011

Master of Art in Design Interactions, Royal College of Art, United Kingdom

2002–2004

Diploma in Multimedia Art, Lasalle College of the Arts, Singapore

Selected Solo Exhibitions and Performances

2023

Unbearable Darkness, Romaeuropa Festival, Roma, Italy

Yishun Is Burning, Queer East Festival, The Place, London, UK

Yishun Is Burning, TanzImBern, Dampfzentrale, Bern, Switzerland

Yishun Is Burning, Sommerblut Kultur Festival, Cologne, Germany

Yishun Is Burning, Trafo Art Center, Budapest, Hungary

Yishun Is Burning, Sidestep Festival, Zodiak, Helsinski, Finland

2022

Yishun Is Burning, Tanzplatform Deutschland, HAU , Berlin, Germany

Yishun Is Burning, Julidans Festival, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Blue Sky Academy, International Tanzamesse nrw, Dussendolf, Germany

Tragic Spirits, Hybrid Biennale Hellerau, Dresden, Germany

PostColonial Spirits, Indonesia Bertutur Festival, Borobudur, Indonesia

PostColonial Spirits, Spring Utrecht Festival, Utrecht, The Netherlands

PostColonial Spirits, Tanzhaus Nrw, Dussendolf, Germany

2021

PostColonial Spirits, TanzImAugust/ HAU, Berlin, Germany

Yishun Is Burning, Tanzhaus Nrw, Dussendolf, Germany

CosmicWander, Solo Exhibition, TanzImAugust, Berlin, Germany

CosmicWander, Solo Exhibtion, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2020

Constellation of the Flesh, STARTS Residency Showcase, Paris, France

CosmicWander Doublebill, Taipei Arts Festival, Taiwan

2019

UnBearable Darkness, Taipei Arts Festival, Taiwan

UnBearable Darkness, Liveworks Festival, Sydney, Austrialia

UnBearable Darkness, Kyoto Experiment Festival, Kyoto, Japan

SoftMachine, Solo Exhibition, McaM Museum, Shanghai, China

SoftMachine, Theatre Del Canal, Madrid, Spain

2018

SoftMachine, Grec Festival, Barcelona, Spain

SoftMachine, Santiago A Mill Festival, Santiago, Chile

UnBearable Darkness, Tanzhaus nrw, Dussendolf Germany

UnBearable Darkness, ImPulstanz Festival, Vienna, Austria

Dance Clinic, ImPulstanz Festival, Vienna, Austria

2017

Dance Clinic, Tanzhaus nrw, Dusseldorf, Germany

The Wind That Cuts The Body, Solo Exhibition, CCA Singapore

SoftMachine, Explore Festival -7 City Tour, The Netherlands

The Wind That Cuts The Body, Solo Exhibition, CCA Singapore

2016

SoftMachine, Out Of Asia 2, Sadler's Wells, London, UK

SoftMachine, Belgrade International Theatre Festival, Serbia

SoftMachine, Oz Asia Festival, Adelaide, Austrialia

SoftMachine, Kyoto Experiment Spring Edition, Kyoto, Japan

The Choreography of Things, TanzHaus nrw, Dusseldolf, Germany

2015

The Choreography of Things, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

SoftMachine, Tanz Im August Festival, Berlin, Germany

SoftMachine, ImPulsTanz Festival, Vienna, Austria

SoftMachine, Esplanade Dans Festival, Singapore

SoftMachine, Ignite Dance Festival, New Delhi, India

2014

SoftMachine, In-Out Dance Festival, Bolo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso

LanFang Chronicles III, Art Stage, Singapore

Notion:Dance Fiction, Barent Danse Festival, HammerFest, Norway

Notion:Dance Fiction, Plaform Media Festival, Moscow, Russia

2013

Notion:Dance Fiction, Esplanade Dans Festival, Singapore

Notion:Dance Fiction, Tanz Im August Festival, Berlin, Germany

Selected Group Exhibitions

2023

Fabricated Realities, Art SG Film, Art Science Museum, Singapore

2022

Can Everybody See My Screen, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2021

Digital Corporeality, Contemporary Culture Lab(C-Lab), Taipei, Taiwan

2020

Escape Routes, Bangkok Arts Biennale, Bangkok, Thailand

2015

24 Frame Per Second, CarriageWorks, Sydney, Austrialia

2014

Design & Violence, Musuem of Modern Art, New York, USA

Selected Lectures

2023

Telepresence In the age of the Extreme Self, Tanz:Digital, Berlin, Germany

2022

Telepresence In the age of the Extreme Self, Tanzkongress, Mainz, Germany

2021

CosmicWander Destination, Singapore Arts Museum, Singapore

2020

Wandering with a Ghost, National Gallery, Singapore

2019

How Does a Ghost Choreograph, Critcial Path, Syndey, Austrialia

2018

Body Explorer, Choreographic Coding Lab, Bratislava, Slovakia

2017

Body Explorer, Insitute of Contemporary Art (ICA), London, UK

Residency

2022

Transcultural Academy, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden, Germany

2019

STARTS (Science,Tech + Art) Residency Program, Euopean Union

2017

NTU CCA-Center for Contemporary Art, Singapore

Saison Foundation, Artist Residency Program, Tokyo, Japan

2016

Japan Foundation, Asia Center Fellowship Program,Tokyo, Japan

Affiliations

2021

Cooperation Partner, Pina Bausch Fellowship, Wuppertal, Germany

2017–2019

Factory(Resident) Artist, Tanzhaus nrw, Dusseldolf, Germany

2014–2015

Resident Artist, Kunstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, Germany

2007–2009

TheatreWorks Singapore, Associate Artistic Director

Permanent Collection

2022

Singapore Art Museum, Singapore

2015

Public Art Project, Land Transport Authority, Singapore