Ming Wong's National Gallery Film Reimagines Saint Sebastian Through Queer and Cross-Cultural Lens

Singaporean artist Ming Wong, based in Berlin, premiered his film 'Dance of the Sun on the Water | Saltatio Solis in Aqua' at the National Gallery in London in 2026. The work emerged from a residency where Wong gained special access to the museum's collection, focusing on its 14 depictions of Saint Sebastian, the third-century martyr. In the 23-minute film, Asian performers of various genders speak Latin and enact stylized martyrdom scenes within the gallery's marble halls, referencing Derek Jarman's 1976 film 'Sebastiane' and Renaissance and Baroque artworks. Wong describes Saint Sebastian as a 'time and space traveler' whose gender and age appear fluid, suggesting the figure represents universal experiences of destruction and sacrifice. Born in 1971, Wong studied traditional Chinese arts at Singapore's Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts before pursuing an MFA at UCL's Slade School of Fine Art in London. His practice involves inserting himself into canonical Western films, playing all roles despite no formal acting training. Notable works include 'Life of Imitation' (2009), which reworked Douglas Sirk's melodrama and earned a Special Mention at the Venice Biennale, and 'Angst Essen / Eat Fear' (2008), based on a Rainer Werner Fassbinder film. Wong's method involves studying, copying, and reinterpreting cinematic works, using miscasting to challenge fixed identities. He views his role as questioning ways of looking and creating 'variable collage of media' that is unstable and shifting. The artist sees Singapore's position as a cultural crossroads as influential, providing an outsider perspective that informs his exploration of spaces between China and America, including current research on Cantonese opera's trans-Pacific migrations. Wong believes artists are needed to provoke reflection and explore communication beyond words.