Chivalry rules

For the Edinburgh Place exhibition, multimedia artist Victor Wong took a leaf out of the novel The Eagle Shooting Heroes to create a 360-degree immersive experience inside a space designed in the shape of a Mongolian yurt. Jin Yong’s calligraphy is brought to life at the multimedia show, which also uses motion capture technology to replicate martial arts movements. Artificial intelligence has been harnessed to depict seasonal changes in a digital installation depicting the Peach Blossom Island described in Jin Yong’s novels.

Wong’s digital installation also depicts the heroic battles between the five martial arts masters in Jin Yong’s books. “Since I was a child, I wanted to reimagine the enchanting martial arts world envisioned by Jin Yong,” says the artist. “Now I can do that by employing the power of computer-generated graphics and AI.”

The exhibition features 10 sculptures by Ren. Among these, the one of Xuzhu, the kindhearted Shaolin monk from the novel The Demi-Gods and the Semi-Devils, seems to be a favorite with the audience.

The bulk of Ren’s Jin Yong-inspired sculptures, however, are on show at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The figures of Guo Jing and Yang Guo, the heroic protagonists of The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Return of the Condor Heroes, are easy to spot. Hong Qigong, who cut off the forefinger of his right hand out of remorse for failing to save a man’s life, figures as well.

“It took four years of work,” says the sculptor. “A whole year was spent just reading Jin Yong’s works, collecting information and writing character biographies.”

While the clothing, weapons and general look of each sculpture was decided on the basis of extensive research, Ren says he also drew inspiration from the screen and television adaptations of Jin Yong’s stories.