Cultprint is proud to present The City of Willows, a playable art installation developed by Chong Yan Chuah and Simon Soon, with curatorial direction by Wei Ming. Inspired by the imagined and spiritual histories of 19th-century Chinese secret societies—known as the Triads—these groups once operated across port cities such as Penang and Singapore, supporting Chinese migrants through ritual, protection, and coded brotherhood. The game reimagines Triad initiation rites as a symbolic journey towards the mythical “City of Willows”: a dreamlike sanctuary envisioned as a spiritual refuge. Players take on the role of an unnamed initiate, crossing ritual portals and exploring Southeast Asian landscapes including durian stalls, temple courtyards, dense rainforests, and a striking seven-storey pagoda modelled on Penang’s Kek Lok Si Temple. The pagoda’s blend of Southeast Asian architectural styles reflects the multicultural spirit of The City of Willows, shaped by the rich histories of migrants who built communities across the Malay Archipelago.
About the Artists
Chong Yan Chuah (he/him) is a Sino-Malaysian artist, architect and designer whose work bridges digital imagery, game art, and installation, between simulated space, fictive narratives and imagined bodies, redefining boundaries between physical environments and constructed worlds. Trained in architecture, Chuah has been commissioned and exhibited at institutions such as the Royal Academy of Arts, Haus der Kulturen der Welt Berlin, ArtScience Museum Singapore and the National Museum of Singapore.
Simon Soon (dia/he/him) is a lecturer in the Art History and Curatorship Program at the University of Melbourne. His research focuses on 19th and 20th century Southeast Asia, with a collaborative practice that reuses historical images to explore myth-making and storytelling. Soon’s works have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Busan, Warsaw, and Sydney. He is the co-founder of Southeast of Now: Directions in Contemporary and Modern Art in Asia, a peer-reviewed journal published by NUS Press.
About the Cultprint
Cultprint is a print studio and gallery space in George Town, Penang, founded in 2020 by artists Ernest Zacharevic and Sheena Liam (Times New Romance). Originally founded as a fine-art printing house, it has grown into a hub for artistic collaboration and experimentation. In 2024, Cultprint expanded into a gallery and residency program, offering artists room to push boundaries and rethink medium and form. Through curated exhibitions and limited-edition prints, Cultprint connects artists and collectors while bringing contemporary art to a wider audience.