Here and There: Re-imagining Hong Kong Landscapes
Here and There: Re-imagining Hong Kong Landscapes
Curator: Dr. Ting Wing Yan, Vivian
Participating Artists: Ho Yuen Leung, Koon Wai Bong, Lam Tung Pang, Leung Ka Yin Joey, Wong Chun Hei Stephen, and Wong Lai Ching Fiona
Co-Presented by: Jumu Tang and Hong Kong Arts Centre
Supported by: Academy of Visual Arts & Knowledge Transfer Office, Hong Kong Baptist University・Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Sponsors:
Love On Time Charity
Asia Art Center
Grotto Fine Art
sensory ZERO
Val Chow
Mike S K Lui
Nancy Maria Chang
Maggie Fung
Anthony Choy
Elaine Kwok
Arthur De Villepin
Exhibition Introduction
Here and There: Re-imagining Hong Kong Landscapes explores the accumulated meanings and values attached to Hong Kong landscapes and the intimate relationships and emotive bonds between people, landscapes, artistic geographical imagination, and sense of place. This place-based exhibition invited Ho Yuen Leung, Koon Wai Bong, Lam Tung Pang, Leung Ka Yin Joey, Wong Chun Hei Stephen, and Wong Lai Ching Fiona, to explore six sites, namely, Victoria Peak, Pok Fu Lam, Kowloon Mountain Ranges, Yuen Long, the peripheral islands, and the Hong Kong Island cityscape, that have long been ascribed historical and cultural value and have dominated the travel discourse of Hong Kong since the nineteenth century. To extend the spatial and temporal dimensions of the artists’ landscape imagination, the curator, Dr. Ting Wing Yan, Vivian built an archive on Hong Kong landscapes and provided the artists with archival research support. Through various mediums and art forms, including ceramic, installation, mixed media, moving image, painting, and sculpture, the artists transformed their landscape perceptions and imaginations into six newly commissioned artworks, which not only reveal the artists’ personal landscape experiences and encounters but also express various relations between the artists and Hong Kong landscapes. The exhibition offers multiple readings of the six sites through different creative approaches adopted by the artists, examining the inextricable bonds between people and place. The artists reinterpret cultural connotations of the landscapes and their significance in our times, inviting audiences to reflect on emotions, memories, and imaginations embodied by the places.
Exhibition Activities:
Artist Talk: On Landscape, Place, and Memories
Date: 8 October (Saturday)
Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Venue: 4/F, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speakers: Koon Wai Bong, Leung Ka Yin, Joey, and Wong Lai Ching
Moderator: Ting Wing Yan Vivian
Language: Cantonese
Capacity: 30 people (onsite) / unlimited (online)
Registration﹕https://forms.gle/zKMke1dNQqGEYkDC9
"Hong Kong is stunningly beautiful!" Viewing the landscape is not only a way of looking, but helps us unpack how we interact with the environment, act in it, and interpret our experience of living with the place. This session invites three participating artists to explore the histories and imaginations of different scenic spots through their creative works and share with audiences how a place triggers our emotions and memories.
Artist Talk: On Landscape, Bodily Perceptions, and Sense of Place
Date: 9 October (Sunday)
Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Venue: 4/F, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speakers: Ho Yuen Leung, Lam Tung Pang, and Wong Chun Hei, Stephen
Moderator: Prof. Chan Pui Pedith
Language: Cantonese
Capacity: 30 people (onsite) / unlimited (online)
Registration﹕https://forms.gle/UpkcFjKLAjHM4gZr7
From quarantine hotels to Tuen Mun, from the city centre to the Kowloon mountains, artists often transform the unremarkable landscape into creative ideas, sharing their reflections on what happened in the city. This session invites 3 participating artists to discuss their imaginations of the local landscape and examine how they expand the perception of eyes, ears, mouth and nose to interpret their sense of place.
Public seminar: Revisiting the early Hong Kong Travel Activities from Travel Guidebooks
Date: 22 October (Saturday)
Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Venue: 4/F, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Speaker: Dr Yuen Chi
Language: Cantonese
Capacity: 30 people (onsite) / unlimited (online)
Registration﹕https://forms.gle/BZhgbe3hNmfXADFs7
Introduction:
As early as the end of the 19th century, when steamships and trains became more common means of transportation, travelling to the Far East became more and more popular, and the number of Western travelers interested in British-ruled Hong Kong also increased. Travel guidebooks published from then onwards such as Hong Kong Guide (1893), Picturesque Hong Kong (1925), etc. provided very practical travel information to meet the needs of travelers.
Hong Kong-themed travel books are not only valuable records of Western travelers about Hong Kong, but also allow us to understand how Hong Kong has become one of the major travel destinations in the Far East. With the illustration of selected travel guidebooks, the speaker attempts to introduce the early travel activities in Hong Kong and the social outlook they reflected in the pre-war period.
Speaker’s biography:
Yuen Chi, Ph.D. in History from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has conducted in-depth research on the history, cultural heritage and popular culture of Hong Kong for many years. His major publications in recent years include From Barren Rock to Pearl of the Orient: A Cultural History of Hong Kong Tourism, Closed Area : Sha Tau Kok in the Gap, Entry Prohibition: The History of Hong Kong's Frontier Closed Areas, etc.. He recently focuses on the travel accounts of missionaries visiting Hong Kong to study tourism which is a disappearing part of Hong Kong's history.
Re-imagining Hong Kong: Sketching Tour (I): The Peak and Pok Fu Lam
Date: 15 October (Saturday)
Time: 10:30am -1:00pm
Meeting point: Main entrance, Hong Kong Arts Centre (2, Harbour Road, Wan Chai)
Dismissal point: Sun Wah Teahouse, Pok Fu Lam Village
Capacity: 15 people
Fee: HK$100
Registration﹕https://forms.gle/cPU3PVxWuzpvnoJZ8
In the 19th century, local travellers' guidebooks recommended the Peak and Pokfulam as must-go scenic spots, showing picturesque Hong Kong. Enjoying the local landscapes, artists have also integrated their travel experiences into creative works, igniting our imagination of the place. In this tour, artist Wong Chin Hei will lead participants to do sketching on Lugard Road. Curator Vivian Ting and a local tour guide will share the Peak and Pok Fu Lam stories and show different artistic interpretations of these scenic sites.
Itinerary:
- Taking the tourist bus from the Art Center to the Peak
- Doing sketch along Lugard Road
- Walking from the Peak to Pok Fu Lam Village (about half an hour)
- Exploring native plants with a tree doctor
- Tasting dim sum at Sun Wah Teahouse
This tour is organised by the licensed travel agent Ho Ho Go Experience (Travel Agents License: 353964)
Re-imagining Hong Kong: Sketching Tour (II): Wan Chai and the Peak
Date: 29 October (Saturday)
Time: 10:30am -1:00pm
Meeting point: Entrance, Woo Cheong Pawn Shop (62 Johnston Road, Wan Chai)
Dismissal point: Peak Galleria
Capacity: 15 people
Fee: HK$100
Registration﹕https://forms.gle/cPU3PVxWuzpvnoJZ8
Strolling from Wan Chai to the Peak, the journey shows how modern facilities have transformed the natural environment in the past 100 years. By reflecting on the fast-paced development, artists integrate local memories into their creative works and inspire new imaginations about the city. In this sketching tour, artist Wong Chin Hei will lead participants to draw on Lugard Road. Curator Vivian Ting and a local tour guide will share the stories of Wan Chai and the Peak and show different artistic interpretations of these sites.
Itinerary:
- Visiting Woo Cheong Pawn Shop
- Enjoying delicious snacks and urban sketching
- Taking the tourist bus from Woo Cheong to the Peak
- Doing sketches on Lugard Road
- Exploring stories of the Peak
This tour is operated by the licensed travel agent Ho Ho Go Experience (Travel Agents License: 353964)
Instagram: hereandthere.hk
Facebook: hereandthere.hk
About Hong Kong Arts Centre
Since 1977, Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) has been a platform for nurturing and supporting artists, and infusing art into everyday life. Its unique arts and educational programmes aim to make the arts accessible for all. The HKAC believes in the transformational power of art for people from all walks of life. Established over four decades ago, HKAC endeavours to bring arts to the people of Hong Kong – by presenting programmes for visual arts, performing arts, moving images and media arts, comics and animation. Other areas cover arts education, conferences, festivals, public art and community projects, all with the vision and mission of engaging and inspiring creativity in the Hong Kong community.
In 2000, HKAC founded its education arm, Hong Kong Art School (HKAS). HKAS provides award-bearing programmes to nurture artists and art practitioners, as well as short enrichment courses for the general public.
HKAC aspires to engage everyone in the community to become an active participant in the arts - as an enthusiast, an artist or a patron.
HKAC will continue its 45th anniversary celebrations into 2023. Let’s continue to embrace ‘Arts for Passion, Arts for Life, Arts for All’, and share the inspiration.
Official website: hkac.org.hk | Facebook: Hong Kong Arts Centre | Instagram: @hongkongartscentre
To reduce the risk of the spread of COVID-19, the presenters have implemented the following precautionary measures:-
- Visitors are required to measure body temperature before admission. Visitors with normal body temperature below 37.5 degrees Celsius (as indicated by the temperature detector used by presenters) would be allowed access;
- Visitors are required to clean their hands with hand sanitiser before admission;
- Visitors are required to wear their own mask inside the venue.
The presenters will review the situation and adjust the measures if necessary. We appreciate your understanding.
The presenters reserve the rights of final decision on the arrangement.
