A small Pekingese dog was taken from China at the end of the Second Opium War by British troops, brought to England, and gifted to Queen Victoria. This dog was renamed Looty, after the activity of “looting,” in reference to how the dog was found during the looting of the Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) outside of Beijing. Looty lived for twelve years at the British royal palaces and died in 1872. It is not known where she was buried.

Looty Goes to Heaven is a looping animation made with my collaborator Amy Ching-Yan Lam as part of her project of the same title. Lam's project takes the form of an animation, a speculative fiction, and a poppy meadow. The looping animation shows Looty in a state of eternal rest on screens in Digbeth, Victoria Square and EastSide Projects in Birmingham, UK.

Read more about Looty Goes to Heaven.

My cover illustration for the speculative fiction.