18 Facts About Ming Wong

Ming Wong is a Singaporean contemporary artist who lives and works in Berlin, known for his re-interpretations of iconic films and performances from world cinema in his video installations, often featuring "miscastings" of himself in roles of varied identities.

In 2009, at the Singapore Pavilion of the 53rd Venice Biennale, Wong represented Singapore with the body of work, Life of Imitation, for which he was awarded the Special Mention during the Biennale's Opening Ceremony, the first time a Singaporean artist would receive an award at the Venice Biennale.

Ming Wong is currently a Professor in Performance in the Expanded Field at Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm.

Ming Wong remained in London after graduation, where he continued to produce video works.

In 2007, Ming Wong would move to Berlin for the one-year Kunstlerhaus Bethanien residency.

Ming Wong would continue to work and live there while exhibiting internationally in locations such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Australia, and at venues such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei, Taiwan, the NUS Museum, Singapore, or at events such as the Jakarta Biennale 2009.

At the Singapore Pavilion in Palazzo Michiel del Brusa, Cannaregio, curated by Tang Fu Kuen, Ming Wong exhibited the body of work, Life of Imitation, a reference to the Douglas Sirk film, Imitation of Life.

Ming Wong would be awarded the Special Mention during the Biennale's Opening Ceremony, the first time a Singaporean artist would receive an award at the Venice Biennale.

Ming Wong would continue exhibiting internationally following Life of Imitation at the Venice Biennale, showing at the Sydney Biennale and the Gwangju Biennale in 2010.

In 2012, Wong would participate in the Liverpool Biennial, UK, and the Toronto International Film Festival, Canada with his project Making Chinatown, which was first shown at his solo exhibition Ming Wong: Making Chinatown at the REDCAT in Los Angeles, USA the same year.

Ming Wong would hold a solo exhibition, Next Year, at the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing in 2015.

In 2016, Ming Wong would participate in the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art.

In 2019, the show travelled to Bangkok Art and Culture Centre, Thailand as Spectrosynthesis II, the largest show of LGBTQ art from Southeast Asia, and Ming Wong performed in drag for Land of a Thousand Rainbows, a performance commissioned for the exhibition's opening.

In 2019, Ming Wong would participate in the 2019 Asian Art Biennial, The Strangers from beyond the Mountain and the Sea, curated by Taiwanese artist Hsu Chia-wei and Singaporean artist Ho Tzu Nyen.

At the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009, Ming Wong was awarded the Special Mention, the first time Singapore received an award at the art biennale.

Later in 2012, Ming Wong would be conferred the Award of the Distinguished Alumni Medal from Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore, 2012, and in 2014, Ming Wong was awarded the Federal State of Berlin government grant for artists.

From 2003 to 2005, Ming Wong was conferred the Pearson Creative Research Fellowship at the British Library, UK.

Ming Wong was awarded the Fire Station Residency and Bursary by ACME Studios, UK in 2005, and he was artist-in-residence at Kunstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin, Germany from 2007 to 2008.