This is Hong Kong: video art exhibition highlights differences between Hong Kong and the mainland

HONG KONG VIDEO ART MOVING IMAGE

Hong Kong’s identity revealed through moving image

Hong Kong: a Chinese city, a territory, a post-colonial state. Since China regained sovereignty of the area from Britain in 1997, Hong Kong has been struggling to define its identity. In the internationally touring video programme, This is Hong Kong, participating artists have used moving image to provide a visual portrait of today’s political, social and architectural Hong Kong.

Kingsley Ng, Record Light, 2008

Hong Kong’s recent history has been very different to that of mainland China; from the mid-1800s to 1997 it was under British rule. Now returned to Chinese control, the territory is struggling with issues of identity common to many postcolonial states. It is in a unique position, as China has continued to allow the “special administrative region” cultural and economic freedoms that are not available on the mainland.

Chilai Howard Cheng, Doors, 2008

This is Hong Kong aims to show just how different the area is from the mainland and sees moving image as the medium with which to do it. It showcases 16 video works by 15 contemporary Hong Kong artists; these renowned artists are Chow Chun Fai, S.T. Choi Sai Ho, Silas Fong, Ip Yuk-Yiu, Linda Lai, Leung Mee Ping, MAP Office, Adrian Wong, Kacey Wong, Woo Ling ling, Ban Zhang, Kingsley Ng, Hung Keung, Leung Chi Wo and Chilai Howard Cheng. The four sections of the exhibition, (Transitional) Architecture, Diaries, Fictions and Tactile Positions, each deal with a different side of the city, and represent the different strategies developed by the artists.

Images of traditional neighbourhoods, unique architecture, underground communities, postcolonial identity and “life in the big city” all combine in videos with strong, compelling soundtracks. This is Hong Kong helps the viewer to build an overall picture of what it’s like to live in one of the most important economic and cultural metropolises in the world.

Silas Fong, When The Door Opens, 2008

This is Hong Kong is supported by Hong Kong-based Para/Site Art Space, a non-profit art organization headed by Executive Director and Curator, Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya. Fominaya is also the curator of the exhibition and believes it “is a great opportunity to show at an international level the vibrant art scene of Hong Kong”.

After being successfully shown at LOOP Festival in Barcelona, Spain, the programme made its way to LOOP Alternative Space in Seoul, Korea, Hamburg’s Subvision Festival, EastSide Projects, Birmingham, and IFA Gallery, Berlin.

This is Hong Kong is currently showing at the Kuandu Museum of Fine Arts in Taipei, Taiwan, and will conclude at Kunsthalle Wien, Austria, in March this year.

Visit the exhibition page on the Para/Site Art Space website for more details on individual videos. Curator Alvaro Rodriguez Fominaya can be contacted directly through this site. Fominaya also writes his own informative blog – visit it here.

KN/KCE

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{Inter}Viewing Possession with Leung Chi Wo, Hong Kong artist at Asia Art Archive – interview

HONG KONG ARTIST INTERVIEW

A viewing station of Leung Chi Wo's video work exhibition at the Asia Art Archive, entitled {Inter}Viewing Possession

The remarkable Hong Kong artist Leung Chi Wo explores the idea of possession and value in his fascinating installation exhibiton entitled {Inter}Viewing Possession, curated by Carl Cheng Chi-Ming and Livia Garcia.

Leung Chi Wo is a highly active artist in the Hong Kong community,  a co-founder of the internationally significant Para-Site Art Space, who graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with an MFA in 1997.

He represented Hong Kong in the Venice Biennale in 2001, and has worked in the arts abroad in both New York and Italy.

Despite this, he says, “When I was young I never thought about becoming an artist, and even after studying art, I didn’t think I would become one.” He describes his art as a “contradiction of ideas,” and that he “likes to explore things that are not meant to be.”

Watch a video interview of Leung Chi Wo here on ChoochooTV Media Entertainment, which posts arts related video programs on [art]attack, Hong Kong web television.

His installation exhibit at the Asia Art Archive is comprised of 8 viewing stations, each similar in outward appearance to a telescope.

Regarding his process and intentions for {Inter}Viewing Possession, he says:

I want to express the idea of viewing, and possession is an association to the location we are at. We are situated on Possession Street, and close to here is Possession Point where the first Colonials arrived. Possession is also something we can all associate with. We interviewed people around this area regarding their possessions, objects that they treasure. During the interview, you are actually exercising your thinking about what you learn from the interview. I transcribed the interviews into a monologue. Then I interviewed the interviewers about their point of view when conducting the interviews, turning it into the second set of monologues, and combined it into the audio for this set of works. During the process, I want to explore what ‘value’ is and how to describe it. In my artwork, I want to put more thought into the context, when the artwork is exhibited, it should be very closely related to the environment. I hope the presentation of the installation can work with the situation it is in. The environment should also involve the audience, what you are showing the audience. What I meant by the environment doesn’t necessarily mean physical space, we must also consider the historical or cultural space and also the habitation of the people in that area.

The video works from this exhibition are also available for viewing on Youtube, and can be accessed through the links below.

{Inter}Viewing Possession- Video Channel 1 (Cantonese)

{Inter}Viewing Possession- Video Channel 2 (English)

{Inter}Viewing Possession- Video Channel 3 (English)

{Inter}Viewing Possession- Video Channel 4 (Cantonese)

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