Many readers have asked whether all the artists and exhibitions that appear in the main storyline are fictional and do not imply any real existence of exhibitions or artists. Just like King's Cross Station in Harry Potter, the space and place are real, but the plot developments are fictional. This is hereby stated.
Reiterating once more, all the awards participated in are fictional and set in an alternate reality, and themes and content, including curators, even judging processes, have certain variations from real biennales.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms is three parts fictional and seven parts real.
This book is roughly the reverse of that.
For instance, I deliberately altered the years.
In my memory, the Singapore Biennale seems to be held in even years, but I've purposely changed it to odd years, and it differs from many traditional biennales by generally not setting gold, silver, and bronze awards; it should be something akin to an audience choice award or media voting award.
I said on purpose.
Due to issues with the curators, the exhibition plan has been changed, and this edition also established a special gold award, partly to slightly increase the competitiveness in this fictional exhibition.
On the other hand, this distinction from reality also signifies that it is a completely fictional, nonexistent exhibition.
Including the Elena family.
Elina looks like a female name.
Could it be that Miss Anna's father or grandfather is also named "Elina"? Wouldn't that be strange?
Yes, and no.
In the plot design, it's a middle name passed down from generation to generation in the family, akin to names that include "something de something" or "something von something." Or the full name of Chandler from Friends, "Chandler Miao Li Bing" with "Miao Li."
I specifically hid any real surnames, using the family's middle name to represent the name, which indicates that it is "purely fictional."