【Hong Kong Arts Centre】
Another Round: Re-Imagining COVID-19

Six Local Artists to Explore Hong Kong’s Post-COVID ‘New Normal’

Through Different Perspectives

Since the discovery of the virus at the end of 2019, the name COVID-19 has become a part of our lives. The Delta variant and the latest Omicron virus mutation have caused much distress and our way of life has been rewritten forever with no one unscathed. Unstable conditions, however, are often what most easily inspire the sensitive minds of artists. The six participating artists of the present exhibition, including Cheung Chi Wai, Maria Cheung, Almond Chu, Eric Hu, Ringo Tang, and Vincent Yu, alongside curator Edwin K. Lai, have all used the camera as a tool to respond to the challenging new normal under the volatile pandemic. Their records of the city through different perspectives explore the hopes and possibilities in a post-pandemic Hong Kong. (Please download curator’s bio and artists’ bios HERE.)

#Rapid Change Under the Pandemic—Collective Experiences of Hong Kong People

From the initial panic and anxiety to the current calm and collected pragmatism, the people of Hong Kong have learnt to coexist with the tumultuous pandemic. The ‘new daily’ and ‘new normal’ brought by the pandemic has also become Hong Kong’s new mainstream. Confronting diverse changes and instability, the artists of the present exhibition have chosen to record daily transformations with creative works that narrate their sights and thoughts in the past three years.

In the series Invasion, the artist Vincent Yu documents the changes of Hong Kong under the pandemic using extra wide lens in sweeping monochrome panoramas. The images both capture reality and reflect poetic expressionism.

Since the start of the pandemic, the idea of ‘rapid change’ in life may remind us of Kafka’s novella Metamorphosis, wherein the male protagonist finds himself transformed from the family’s financial support into a gigantic insect in fear of losing employment after waking up from his sleep. Inspired by Metamorphosis, the artist Cheung Chi Wai interviewed different families and recorded their feelings about the pandemic in text, and also invited them to don custom insect costumes to create his photographic work Metamorphosis.

Masks have unquestionably become a daily necessity in people’s lives. The work Whose Eye’s are These? by the artist Ringo Tang focus on capturing masked faces as the public image of the times. Can the audience feel empathize with their emotions through their gaze? Can we resonate with others beneath our masks through listening to the feelings of others?  

Normal Temperature by Eric Hu presents an inherently different strategy: using an all-round immersive sensorial experience, the artist shares his personal feelings of living under the pandemic since the beginning of last year with the audience in a dark enclosed space.   

#Imagining Life after Crisis—Post-Pandemic Possibilities

As the pandemic slows down, we inevitably begin to imagine: when will the pandemic finally end? What kind of impact will it have on human civilization? How should we prepare for the future after the pandemic?

The artist Almond Chu choose to respond to these questions and imagine the future through the work IN THE FUTURE. The pandemic has brought an unprecedented impact on human civilization, and Chu’s new work imagines scenes of post-disaster regeneration amidst ruined wilderness and the creation of new human civilization.

#Overcoming Adversity—Artist’s Wish and Hope

After experience the pandemic in the past three years, ‘good health and spirit’ has become humanity’s collective wish. Despite trials and tribulations, the people of Hong Kong still care for each other and collectively wish for good health and the passing of the pandemic.

The artist Maria Cheung collected different styles of masks from various people to weave three kinds of folk blessing items—patchwork quilt, ping on bun, and paper crane—and displays them using photographs in the work Bless this Place to bring blessings, warmth, and good health for the audience.

As the exhibition subtitle ‘Re-Imagining COVID-19’, the six participating artists of this exhibition use different strategies and perspectives to respond to Hong Kong under the pandemic and narrate unique stories through their individual aesthetics.

Exhibition Information
Date: 2022.01.19 - 2022.02.06
**Exhibition will be closed on 2022.02.01–03 for New Year Holiday
Time: 10 AM – 8 PM
Venue: 5/F, Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Free Admission
Opening：2022.01.19 (6 PM – 8 PM)

Organiser: Hong Kong Arts Centre
Sponsor: Emma Liu Hu

About Hong Kong Arts Centre
Hong Kong Arts Centre - Art for Passion, Art for Life, Art for All

Since 1977, the 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 for more than four decades, the 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. Our other areas also 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). The HKAS provides award-bearing programmes to nurture artists and art practitioners, as well as short enrichment courses for the general public. The HKAC aspires to engage everyone in the community to become an active participant in the arts - as an enthusiast, an artist or a patron.

In 2022, the HKAC will celebrate its 45th anniversary. Let’s continue to embrace ‘Art for Passion, Art for Life, Art for All’, and share the inspiration.