A Singaporean artist showcases the global village in Beijing

Ming Wong frequently centers around the issue of cultural identity in his works. The Singaporean artist, 44, spent years studying in London and currently lives and works in Berlin.

Wong bases his visual system on questioning the influence of globalization. "The more internationalized we become, the more difficult we feel it is when seeking uniqueness as an individual."

Wong's works shed light upon common phenomena of a global village: The cultural differences are fading away. People are confused by ethnic identity.

Wong's current solo exhibition at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, titled Next Year, shares his insights into these serious subjects, with only two works. The video Next Year/L'Annee Prochaine was filmed in Shanghai in May. When he attended the Shanghai Biennale last year, Wong was impressed by the city's unique architecture that integrate European and Chinese styles. "The buildings are accumulations of time and history. Meanwhile Shanghai is becoming the backdrop of many sci-fi movies."

Wong also found a cafe called Marienbad, named after the French New Wave film classic Last Year at Marienbad. That further inspired him to create a work that has something to do with France. Wong reinterpreted the 1961 film. He played in different scenes two characters of the film: a woman referred to as A and a man as X.

In the original film, X claims he and A met a year before while A denies they've ever met. Wong re-adapted the scenario to a sci-fi plot: The two characters time travel back to the year they met.

The work is in black and white and in French with Chinese and English subtitles. As it is with the original one, Wang narrated in a dreamlike structure, in which reality, memory and illusion are hard to distinguish.

Wong largely filmed at the Fuxing Park and Cite Bourgogne, both in the former French Concession. The park is designed in a French style combined with features of a Chinese garden.