This speech is to address the issue of intermedial performativity through some examples from contemporary performance arts. As a neologism, “intermedial performativity” will be approached from the perspective of theoretical entanglements of intermediality intersected by performativity. The following questions are to be discussed: What happens to the agents that interact with each other in the process of intermedial production? What performative effects does the mixing or interactions of different media bring about to the agents involved? How does the intermedial mingling serve the purpose of cultural and social intervention? One of the case studies will focus on the blending of Chinese calligraphy and Kun opera in an avantgarde Kun opera production Cang-Beng (Hiding-Flee) in 2006. The other will deal with the various adaptations of Italian opera Turandot in different innovative forms in China since 1998, including opera at the original site, music concerts and local Chinese operas, which have not just been staged in China and in many different parts of the world, including in Europe. While the former analyzes the issues of subjectivity and contemporariness in relation to intermedial performativity, the latter interrogates the ambiguities of Chineseness in the global context.

Traditional Chinese opera has been revitalized in recent years, frequently breaking out with spectacular performances and showing strong artistic prowess. New Dragon Gate Inn, an immersive Yue Opera, performed by Xiao baihua Yue Opera troupe and premiered in Hangzhou, China in March, 2023 has been such a hit that it has drawn thousands of fans, including the young audience, from all over China flocking to Hangzhou to watch the show. As the live performance in the theater is only accessible to a limited number of audience and there is a much greater demand for the show, a documentary film of the performance was made and released in August 2024. Why is this show so appealing? As a matter of fact, this opera is adapted from the classic martial arts film of the same title released in 1992 which is a remake of the earlier classic martial arts film Dragon Gate Inn directed released in 1967. The storylines of the three works are seem quite simiple and conventional, revolving around the theme of conflict between the good and evil, which is placed in the context of Confucian morality and social hierarchical structure of the imperial China. Though each of the three works achives great success in its unique way： 1967 film features realism, 1992 remake features romanticism while 2023 Yue Opera features aethetcism, there is constant interaction between film and theater to be explored in my presentation.

This article critiques Contemporary Legend Theatre’s (CLT) recent adaptation of Willim Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, and focuses on how its pursuit of contemporary resonance through multimedia and Western operatic elements risks overshadowing the core aesthetics of jingju (Peking opera). While CLT, under Wu Hsing-kuo, has long sought to modernize jingju by engaging with Western theatre and current themes, Julius Caesar becomes “lost in projection”—both literally and metaphorically. The production, which explores timeless themes of democracy, dictatorship, war, and peace in the post-pandemic world, relies heavily on digital projections and real-time video, which overshadows the performative richness of jingju’s symbolic gestures, musicality, and ritualistic elements. This overemphasis on spectacle dilutes the cultural specificity and liveness that define jingju and caused it to fade into the background of a media-driven performance. Drawing on concepts from intermediality and performance theory, the article critiques this imbalance and calls for a rebalancing of modernization efforts—one that preserves jingju’s unique traditions while still engaging with contemporary contexts. In seeking to make jingju relevant for modern audiences, CLT may risk losing the very essence of the art form it aims to rejuvenate.

As a young artist who has grown up in the 21st century, Li Shun employs "light and shadow" as the medium for his artistic creation. In the three sections of his art exhibition titled "Capturing Light and Shadow", he has accomplished the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese literati art through intermedia means by utilizing video, paintings, calligraphy works, and urban landmarks. From the perspective of Lars Elleström's theory of media modalities, Li Shun's exhibition is intricately connected across four aspects: material, sensorial, spatiotemporal, and semiotic modalities, forming a media mixture of "light and shadow" art within the intermedia field. Li Shun's intermedia reinterpretation of traditional Chinese literati art inspires young artists not only to modernize traditional art in terms of form and content but also to recognize that art is a metaphysical spirit rather than a physical skill. Intermedia art creation is in the ascendant, and the mission of young artists to "fight for art" continues.