Hong Kong science fiction writers and artists paint dystopian future in new book

Compilation Dark Fluid, a collaboration with art gallery Things That Can Happen, conjures some terrifying prospects for Hongkongers, but it’s also a manual for social change infused with a fearless imagination

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Sham Shui Po is the scene of a mysterious downpour in the short story Epidemic Investigation, which is included in the science fiction book Dark Fluid. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 5:37pm, 7 Sep 2017Updated: 5:37pm, 7 Sep 2017

Writing science fiction requires a subversive spirit and a curiosity about how humans would fare under new social systems, physical and biological laws, and concepts of morality.

The genre’s qualities therefore make it a suitable outlet for Hong Kong’s frustrated social movements in the wake of the anticlimactic “umbrella movement” and the city’s lack of progress in addressing a range of issues.

This is what inspired Hong Kong artist Angela Su to compile Dark Fluid, a science fiction book that brings together short stories, transcripts of discussions and artworks by local contributors involved in grass roots community projects promoting alternative visions for the city.

The book “sets out to explore the possibility of using science fiction as a method for social critique, as a tool of empowerment, a survival kit for a dystopian future, a manual for organising different alternative community models,” Su writes in the foreword.

The cover of the science fiction book Dark Fluid. Photo: Enid Tsui

The short story “Epidemic Investigation” is an example of how the book merges familiar, contemporary references with a futuristic, dystopian setting. It was written by Tse Pak-chai, a photographer, local historian and social activist who has fought for the rights of poor communities forced to make way for urban redevelopment since the 1990s.