When Cultprint in George Town, Penang, unveiled The City of Willows, the gallery transformed into more than just a space for art — it became an experience. Over 200 guests, including artists, curators, and art enthusiasts from Malaysia and abroad, were immersed in a surreal red chamber where history, technology, and imagination converged.
A Living Archive Of Culture
Inside the 1,500 sq ft heritage space, visitors were greeted by crimson carpets and soft light that seemed to pulse with mystery. At the heart of the exhibition stood a fully playable video game: a collaboration between Malaysian artist Chong Yan Chuah and scholar Simon Soon, curated by Deborah Lim.
Visit The City Of Willows
Commissioned by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, and first presented during George Town Festival 2025 at Ng Fook Thong Temple, The City of Willows continues to captivate visitors in Penang.
| Address | Cultprint, 35 Lebuh Melayu, 10300 George Town, Penang |
| Date | 11 October 2025 – 7 December 2025 |
| Day | Fridays – Sundays |
| Time | 12pm – 7pm |
Rooted in Soon’s research on 19th-century Chinese secret societies and Peranakan culture, the game reimagines the rituals of Triads that once flourished in the Malay Archipelago. Yet instead of retelling history, Chuah uses technology to reframe it. Chuah shared:
“I’m interested in how technology can reframe cultural memory. Penang feels like the perfect place to explore that — it’s both an archive and a portal.”
Journeying Through The City Of Willows
In The City of Willows (2025), players embark on a mythic journey through lush jungles, durian stalls, and the grandeur of Kek Lok Si Temple. Each scene a symbolic fragment of Southeast Asia. The game transforms the ancient Triad initiation ritual into a digital pilgrimage toward a sanctuary of belonging and brotherhood.
Here, the City of Willows represents more than a destination. It’s a question about what community means in an increasingly fragmented world. In Chuah and Soon’s imagined future, it becomes a post-apocalyptic refuge for connection and cultural survival.
Complementing the game is the Geneacosm Index (2023, 2025), a haunting archive of 113 AI-generated portraits that evoke the ghosts of Peranakan ancestry. Each image is a blend of memory and machine, evoking both nostalgia and unease.
Bridging Heritage And The Digital Frontier
Curator Deborah Lim describes The City of Willows as ‘a blending of worlds fueled by artistic imagination and grounded in Southeast Asian research’. By merging speculative futures with historical narratives, the exhibition invites audiences to dream through both memory and technology.
Fittingly, the venue, Cultprint, is itself a bridge between Penang’s living heritage and contemporary experimentation. Since opening in 2023, the artist-led space has become one of the island’s most dynamic creative hubs, known for championing digital art, residencies, and boundary-pushing programming.
An opening-day dialogue featuring Chuah, Soon, and Lim further explored how gaming, art, and ritual can intersect to activate community storytelling. This sparks conversations about how digital tools can nurture cultural continuity.
Follow @cultprint.co for more programmes, workshops, and upcoming events.
