Northlandia in the Making: A Solo Exhibition by Michelle Fung

Exhibitions

Northlandia in the Making: A Solo Exhibition by Michelle Fung

Northlandia in the Making presents Northlandia, a fictional country developed by Michelle Fung as part of her long-term project 2084, which she began in 2014. Conceived as an exploration of possible futures, the project imagines five fictional countries (G5)—Contradictoria, Northlandia, Dreamland, the Aristocratic Union, and the Republic of Strata. Following the development of Contradictoria, Fung began developing Northlandia as the project’s second fictional nation. Drawing on her experiences during Arctic residencies in 2022 and 2026, Fung translates observations of landscape, light, climate and time into an imagined world with its own geography, forms of life and social structures.

The title in the Making describes Northlandia as a fictional world still taking shape through the artist’s practice. The works move between observation and invention, between the Arctic as a lived environment and Northlandia as an imagined place. Experimental paintings of Arctic sky and landscape photographs register changing light and color; the newly envisioned map of 2084, presented from Northlandia’s perspective, establishes its geography and impending crisis; characters and stories suggest its histories and relationships; while the original animation woodblocks and theme song, presented here for the first time, give visual and auditory form to the narrative, frame by frame.

The exhibition is organized around four interconnected modes of practice—Observing, Imagining, Making and Continuing—which describe different aspects of the artist’s working process rather than successive stages. Together, they reveal a fictional world that remains open to revision as Fung continues to develop it.
What can a country that does not exist allow us to see about the world we inhabit? At a time when climate, environment and human life are undergoing constant change, can fiction offer another way of understanding reality? Northlandia remains in the making, and this exhibition invites visitors to look from this fictional country back toward the world we inhabit—and to reconsider how we see it.

Arctic Sky Paintings

Acrylic on birchwood
20 x 50 cm
2026

Developed from the artist's observations of changing light and color during her Arctic residencies, Arctic Sky Paintings reflect her memories and impressions of Arctic colors. Rather than documenting specific landscapes, the paintings trace her powerful bodily experience of the Arctic environment. These studies form a visual foundation from which the world of Northlandia continues to develop.

Original Animation Woodblocks

Acrylic, acrylic markers, colored pencils and carving on wood
Dimensions variable (9 x 16 cm, 10 x 15 cm, 9 x 20 cm, 9 x 30 cm, 9 x 90 cm)
2026

Approximately 200 original animation woodblocks created for the Northlandia animation are presented together as art documentation of its making. Each piece functions both as an individual image and as a frame within the moving sequence. Seen collectively, they reveal animation as a process of physical labor, accumulation and transformation, allowing visitors to encounter the material and spatial dimensions of the fictional world.

The Map of 2084 (Northlandia)

Acrylic, acrylic markers, colored pencils and carving on wood
45 x 60 cm
2026

The newly developed map continues the artist’s development map of 2084, first conceived in 2018. Presented from Northlandia’s perspective, the map draws on the tradition of Hua Yi Tu (華夷圖, Map of China and the Barbarians) to reimagine the world from the viewpoint of a fictional nation.

Mother Spirit, Northlandia’s first queen, embodies the country itself, sheltering it beneath her wings. Scientific research stations operated by the other four fictional countries press in from the corners, while their soldiers lurk beneath the magical clouds on which the queen rides. The characters and details correspond to those developed for the animation.

The Myth of Northlandia

Hand-painted and hand-carved animation

Lyricist, Artist and Director: Michelle Fung
Director of Music: Lauryn Vania Kurniawan
Director of Animation: Isaac Shek

3:13
2026

The Myth of Northlandia tells the story of the birth of Mother Spirit, Northlandia's first queen, and the origin of the Family Jewel, the reproductive mechanism of the royal ursine family.

Inspired by the vast and otherworldly Arctic landscape, the piece creates the distinctive soundscape of the Ice Queen and Northlandia, serving as the central sonic identity of the animation and evoking its sense of mystery, wonder and myth.

This excerpt serves as the central theme song of the double-channel Northlandia animation, which is scheduled for completion at the end of 2026 and will be screened during the final two weeks of the exhibition. The full animation follows the royal ursine sisters’ dual perspectives as they navigate questions of choice, family and the precarious Arctic geopolitics.

Collected in Svalbard
Made in Hong Kong

Glacier ice, disposable plastic cup, and antique display stand
Dimensions variable
2026

This ready-made installation brings together glacier ice collected during the artist’s 2026 Arctic residency, a disposable cup from a takeaway drink associated with her masterclass in Beijing in spring 2026, and an antique display stand from Mo Lo Street in Hong Kong.

The work brings together objects and materials from three different places, connecting the Arctic to the everyday geographies of the artist’s life and work. It reflects on the tension between environmental consciousness, and the pleasure and comfort of everyday life, as well as the increasingly globalization of the artist’s practice.