If Narratives Become the Great Flood is a work by artist LIU Yu, commissioned in 2020 by the Hong Foundation’s the Question project. In 2025, with continued support from the Hong Foundation, the work was exhibited at the Yebisu International Festival for Art & Alternative Visions 2025 at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum.

The 2025 edition of the festival was themed Docs: Images and Records, exploring the fundamental role of images in documenting reality. The exhibition critically examined the ways in which technological advancements have increasingly blurred the boundaries between the real and the virtual, leading to a state of ambiguity.

If Narratives Become the Great Flood was a key work in the basement-level thematic exhibition Images, Words, Mythologies. Tokyo Photographic Art Museum curator CHIU Yu-Hsuan remarked, “This marks the first presentation of the work in Japan, drawing significant attention from local audiences and curators alike. While referencing the universally shared flood myth, LIU Yu integrates elements unique to Taiwan. The similarity between certain Japanese kanji and traditional Chinese characters also allows Japanese viewers to resonate with the work more easily.”