Zhong Kui × Shakespeare × Opera: Cultural Allegories

Zhong Kui × Shakespeare × Opera: Cultural Allegories stages a dialogue that transcends both geography and time. By fusing the Chinese guardian deity Zhong Kui with the dramatic weight of Shakespearean tragedy and the theatrical symbolism of Western opera, the series constructs an allegorical landscape of cultural convergence. The images are not mere representations but collages of meaning: masks, stages, and figures dissolve into symbols that address humanity’s shared anxieties of fate, morality, and survival. Photography here becomes a “cultural theatre,” crystallizing the tension between civilizations. The stern presence of Zhong Kui, the inevitability of Shakespeare’s tragic vision, and the dramatic chiaroscuro of opera intertwine to form a visual language of cross-cultural surrealism. These works resist classification as either purely Eastern or Western; instead, they dwell in the liminal space where traditions confront and echo each other. In this ambiguity lies their power: they invite the viewer to question whether cultures ultimately converge into a universal myth, or whether meaning arises precisely from their differences and conflicts. By re-staging archetypes across civilizations, the series transforms photography into a philosophical allegory—an invitation not only to aesthetic contemplation but also to cultural reflection.