During the opening, visitors sat on the air-mattresses in the main room and watched the main COSplayers video projected against one wall, or else a supplementary video that was shot at an actual Cosplay convention in Japan, admired the mannequins, and listened to some hip-hop, both recorded and live. A group of MC’s from Yuen Long (a rural area of Hong Kong’s New Territories) who were Cao Fei’s friends did about one-and-a-half sets of their hyper-fast Cantonese freestyle and beats… the second performance was done in the doorway, as the opening’s crowd had spilled out into Po Yan Street, but of course a prim-looking police woman came quickly to break it up (she did allow them to play one more song, very considerate for a police officer!).

Cao Fei looked amused at it all, as she hung out with friends on the mattresses or out on the pavement, her LED-lit belt buckle scrolling “Cosplayers” all the while. After a few hours, the main crowd dispersed and about 10 of those remaining trekked to a local Chiu Chow restaurant for steamed fish and delicious maple-leaf chicken. As we sat around the large table, everyone tried to put together their special Cao Fei Cosplayers dolls that had been sold at the opening (tiny plastic anime figurines sealed in white-and-neon plastic drinks pouches). Cao Fei could be seen attempting to help those seated next to her, like Valerie Portefaix of Map Office, to fit the plastic pieces of their small warriors and princesses together, and I couldn’t help but think that Chinese contemporary art was lucky to have such an interesting and complex “star” as Cao Fei in 2006.

Cao Fei “COSplayers”
Date: February 25th – April 7th, 2006
Place: Para/Site Gallery
Address: 4 Po Yan Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
http://www.para-site.org.hk