【Hong Kong Arts Centre】 PLAY! Hong Kong Comix Touring Exhibition The FIRST Hong Kong Comix History Exhibition in Tokyo, Japan!
Programme Period: 8th – 16th November 2017
The Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and Comix Home Base (CHB) will presentPLAY! Hong Kong Comix Touring Exhibition at the 3331 Arts Chiyoda, which is renovated from the Rensei High School, in Tokyo, Japan, from 8th to 16th November 2017. The exhibition will showcase a variegated collection of Hong Kong comics – old classics, newfound favourites and other excellent works – published in the past 60 years. A fun playground with lots to explore, this exhibition promises to engage with readers, comics artists and practitioners from Japan, allowing them to gain insights into Hong Kong comics and to meet visiting comics artists and publishers from Hong Kong.
The exhibition is sponsored by Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Tokyo. It is an accredited event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR.
Through its various and diversified exhibits,PLAY! Hong Kong Comix Touring Exhibitionconnects Hong Kong comics to overseas audiences, thus embodying the aim of the Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and Comix Home Base (CHB) in bringing local comics to the world. The exhibition went to Brussels and Helsinki in last September with great acclaim, and now comes to Japan, a country of comics. With an in depth analysis of the development of Hong Kong comics, the exhibition will showcase comics as a popular art form, its relationship with pop culture and social issues, as well as its characteristics during different period of time.
The past 60 years witnessed the flourishing of Hong Kong comics, with each decade having its own distinctive “playful” titles. In the 1960s, there were Old Master Q, 13 Dots and others; kungfu comics such as Little Rogueswere born in the 1970s. While this kungfu trend continued into the 1980s and 1990s, subject matters became increasingly diversified, and one often saw intertextual linkages between comics, films and other mass media. Upon the turn of the century, independent comics abounded as comics artists has been seeking new paths beyond the mainstream market. The HKAC branched out into comics in the 1980s, and in recent years, it has organised a lot of longer-term local and overseas projects that helped gather comics practitioners with a view to fostering their exchange and collaboration with their counterparts abroad.
Examples include Comix Home Base, an exhibition project that ran from 2006 to 2007 in Hong Kong, Kaleidoscope – History of Hong Kong Comics Exhibition, a travelling exhibition presented in Shanghai, Angouleme, Taipei and Hong Kong between 2009 and 2013, as well as the participation in Angouleme International Comics Festival under the sponsorship of CreateHK in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, etc. Furthermore, in 2013, the HKAC established Comix Home Base (CHB) in Wan Chai by transforming a cluster of historic buildings to provide a physical space for exhibition of comics works.
The PLAY! Hong Kong Comix Touring Exhibition organised by HKAC this year presents not only exhibition, but also invites different comics artists and practitioners from Hong Kong to join in each stop by hosting workshops, live drawing demonstrations and autograph sessions. Their active participation encourages direct dialogues with local audiences, who in turn could have a better understanding of the artists’ creative background and style. The artists joining the Japan tour are Ah To, Lai Tat Tai Wing and Andy Seto.
Being an illustrator, comics artist and graphic designer, Ah To has passion for the local culture. His works express deep concerns about local issues. Over his forty years of comics writing, Lai Tat Tai Wing never ceases to experiment on various comics styles. His comics works have been widely distributed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Latvia and France. Experienced comics artist and professional Andy Seto has been working in the Hong Kong comics industry for over twenty years. The characters designed by him are known for their aesthetics, and his work City of Darkness has won him the Bronze Award of the 7th International Manga Award (Japan) in 2013. Coming from different backgrounds, the three artists can definitely present Hong Kong’s multi-faceted comics scene to the audiences in Japan through their participation in talk, live drawing demonstrations and autograph sessions.
Presenter: Hong Kong Arts Centre, Comix Home Base Sponsor: Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Supporters: Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Tokyo, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in London, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Brussels In Association with: Hong Kong Comics & Animation Federation, Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association, Brussels Comic Strip Festival, Helsinki Comics Festival, Belgium Hong Kong Society Special Thanks to: Dorsett Hospitality International, AGORA Hospitality Group
PLAY! Hong Kong Comics Touring Exhibition is an accredited event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Disclaimer: Create Hong Kong of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region provides funding support to the project only, and does not otherwise take part in the project. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials/events (or by members of the project team) are those of the project organizers only and do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Communications and Creative Industries Branch of the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau, Create Hong Kong, the CreateSmart Initiative Secretariat or the CreateSmart Initiative Vetting Committee.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ABOUT THE PRESENTER Hong Kong Arts Centre Established in 1977, Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) is a self-funding organisation whose mission is to promote contemporary arts and culture within Hong Kong and beyond. Home to artists' creative exploration, the HKAC features various art forms by showing local and overseas artworks through exhibitions, in addition to organising programmes ranging from performances, conferences, seminars, screenings, art festivals and public art projects, all through the year. Always keeping up with our efforts, the HKAC is committed to enhancing Hong Kong’s position as an artistically vibrant city and linking art to the community. www.hkac.org.hk
Comix Home Base Located between Mallory Street and Burrows Street in Wan Chai, Comix Home Base is a cluster of pre-war Grade 2 historic buildings refurbished by the Urban Renewal Authority, and operated by the Hong Kong Arts Centre for the five years following its opening in July 2013. Through exhibitions, master classes, seed programmes, provision of reading space, book release presentations and seminars, local and international comics are promoted to audience in Hong Kong and all over the world. CHB also encourages comics and animation creations through diverse aspects, including education, retail, research, documentation, etc. Revitalised from a historic architecture into the first art community featuring comics and animation in Hong Kong, CHB marks a milestone in the preservation of local history and promotion of comics and animation art culture. Not only will the CHB be a gathering point for comics and animation artists, it will also be an important platform for interaction and exchange between Hong Kong and overseas comics and animation art. www.comixhomebase.com.hk
ABOUT THE SPONSOR Create Hong Kong Create Hong Kong (CreateHK) is a dedicated office set up by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to spearhead the development of Hong Kong’s creative industries. Set up in June 2009, CreateHK co-ordinates the Government policy regarding creative industries, focuses Government’s resources catering for the promotion and speeding up of the development of creative industries in Hong Kong, and works closely with the trade to boost the development of creative industries. www.createhk.gov.hk
Hong Kong Arts Centre Annie Ho Marketing and Development Director Tel：2824 5306 / 9481 8706 Email：aho@hkac.org.hk
Fiona Lau Marketing & Development Officer Tel：2582 0215 Email：flau@hkac.org.hk
