Petty Person Beating (打小人)
Performance
2017

Often seen under the concrete overpasses of Hong Kong, old women are paid to curse one’s enemies or negative spirits with shoes or slippers. Through an adapted version of the folk sorcery known as ‘Villain Hitting’ or ‘Petty Person Beating’, the artist indicates the need to reconnect with untold stories and marginalised voices from cultural folk rituals with the explicit purpose of renegotiating agency in the formulation of a new cultural identity.

The performance embodies the essence of dualities related to the artist’s mixed-race heritage as well as Hong Kong’s fractured post-colonial ties with the UK, Mainland China, and the international sphere of corporate patriarchy. The ‘villains’ targeted were President Xi Jinping, Donald Trump, and Theresa May.

Curse requests were also taken from viewers who wish to:
"PUNISH THOSE WHO HAVE HARMED YOU. TO PREVENT FUTURE HARM. TO CALM AND COMFORT YOU."

The ritual includes writing down the villain’s details on paper alongside their photograph, beating the paper with a stiletto whilst chanting curses, and then burning the paper pulp. The participants were also welcome to talk through how they have been harmed by the named ‘villain’ as part of their healing process before the cathartic 'hitting'.

The performance is accompanied by a video work documenting the artist learning from her mother teaching the curse chant, who in turn was taught by her older sister; further bringing to light the gendered familial nature of ritual pedagogies.

Performance documentation courtesy Arts Feminism Queer. Photos by Thomas Hensher, 2017