Be the Crossroads

25 Jul-30 Jul 2025

PV 25 Jul 2025, 6-9pm

Overview

67 York Street Gallery presents "Be the Crossroads," a profound exploration of diasporic identity by Singaporean artist Lu Lei. Born in China, raised in Singapore, and now based in London, Lu has never truly arrived anywhere—a state of perpetual in-between that becomes the heart of her artistic practice.

"There are times when leaving feels like survival, and other times when returning does." In this second solo exhibition, Lu offers a quiet reckoning with the contradictions of home for those who exist in liminal spaces. Through performance and installation, she unpacks the looping narratives of diasporic identity, touching on the ache of translation, the absurdity of national belonging, and the soft violence of assimilation.

Every piece in this exhibition exists as a threshold—neither inside nor outside, but suspended mid-crossing. A suitcase half-unpacked, a language half-remembered, a meal that tastes almost right. Lu's body becomes both medium and message as she explores what it means to belong when your roots have grown in foreign soil.

Central to the exhibition is her ongoing series "This is Illegal in Singapore (Diam Leh!)" (2023-), which presents recipes as essays translated into food, highlighting how meals communicate complex cultural narratives and personal histories.

Drawing inspiration from the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish, whose words resonate with the fragile beauty and political weight of displacement, Lu channels the spirit of crossing paths and uncharted journeys. As Darwish writes: "Be the crossroads and not the road."

The exhibition's title serves as both command and confession, recognising that for some, home is always a question, and the most honest place to be might simply be between. In a world defined by movement, migration, and memory, Lu Lei's work meditates on the threshold of belonging—where departure meets return, where the ache of exile and the yearning for home coexist.

Exhibition Dates: 25 - 30 July 2025
Opening Hours: Daily, 12pm - 6pm
Opening Reception: Friday, 25 July, 6pm - 9pm

Location: 67 York Street Gallery
67A York Street, London W1H 1QB

"Some of us return home like strangers, some of us keep leaving, hoping the distance will make us whole."

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