It has been a strange and difficult year, and at times we feel disheartened. How could we make the strangeness, hardship and sorrow worthwhile?  How should we learn, re-imagine and campaign for a better tomorrow? 

‘Can’t touch this!’ is now extended to May 23. Facilitated by visual artist Angela Su. It was conceived as an extension to ‘Faces under Masks’, a book project initiated by journalist-turned urbanist Chloe Lai.  Three visual artists, Siu Wai Hang, Yim Sui Fong and Kenji Wong Wai Kin were invited to create visual responses to the exhibition.

How will art continue to record, examine, and resolve the accumulation of scars in this city, and manifest our trauma?

【Question to the artist – tell us about your recent “big wok” (messed-up) moment?】

As Siu Wai Hang offers a critique on ‘surveillance’ in his work ‘Hot Shots’, he actually captures a part of others by using the thermometer to take their photos. How does he justify that?

Following the success of our Visual Storytelling Workshop last November, instructor Kevin WY Lee, founder of Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA) is returning to facilitate another online series this March.

The four-weekend workshop is tailored for those who use images as part of awareness raising, educational, and fundraising campaigns. The instructor will guide the participants to use the source from open archives to develop their own photo story. Robert Godden, founder of Rights Exposure will also guest speak at one session to discuss the concept of “Informed Consent”.

This artist talk invites Professor Pang Laikwan and 7 artists from ‘Irregular Plurals’ to engage in a conversation. The works from these artists collectively showcase the plurality of species, the diverse perspectives on observing the city, and the multi-layered nature of communication. How do these intersected connections inspire us to learn the lesson of cohabitation?

The final opus of the ‘Irregular Plural’ series bears the title ‘Commune’. WMA has commissioned artists Yim Sui Fong and Lo Wan Ki to create multimedia installations The Third Person and Internal Sonata to the artists’ interpretation of communal dwelling. In a community characterised by diverse values and rhythms, how might we pursue and foster a site of cohabitation, with equity and autonomy?

Spotlighting design thinking, materiality, printing and reading experiences, ‘Book Lab’ intends to stretch established sequencing-driven models for generating books, to the process of conceptualisation and format design. In a series of seminars and book making workshops, local and international designers, publishers, and book makers will demonstrate how books transform from paper that carries knowledge to a collection of artists’ thoughts and actions. It could be a contemporary creative medium for looking at, touching, and even experiencing. Stay tuned!

The ‘Irregular Plurals’ exhibition series progresses from ‘Habitat’ to ‘Dwelling’, as we shift our focus from the residing creatures, to the spaces they call home. Through various modes of perception and exploring the intricacies of everyday life, we delve deep into the details and stories that bind humanity to their places of residence.

To expand upon the narrative of ‘cohabitation’ coined by Hannah Arendt, we must first contemplate: who exactly are we referring to as a ‘collective’? The inaugural exhibition of the ‘Irregular Plurals’ series, ‘Habitat’, seeks to emancipate viewers from the conventional anthropocentric perspective by Lo Lai Lai Natalie and Yuen Nga Chi’s work. It invites them to explore the subjectivity not only of humans but also of the cohabiting animals, plants, microorganisms, and even the inherent essence of sunlight and air. 

Taking place between August and December, Irregular Plurals is the first exhibition series under the WMA biennial theme “Home”. We invite three pairs of image-makers to bring forth their works and art practices for dialogues surrounding the nature, cityscapes and communities in Hong Kong, seeking the various possibilities for connection and cohabitation. 

Documenting Islands

The virtual exhibition is now available!
Take a virtual tour for an immersive online experience and with more information on the artworks of the 6 artists.

WMA is pleased to launch our commission grant artist Lo Lai Lai Natalie’s project The Days Before The Silent Spring, 15th December 2020, at WMA Space. 

‘Once I Wake Up, My Body is Old’, a solo exhibition by Lee Kai Chung, is the finale of the project The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament, which Lee conceived around the concept of ‘Transition’ for the WMA Commission grant (2018). It is preceded by ‘I Could Not Recall How I Got Here’ shown at WMA Space in 2019. The latest exhibition will be on view at WMA Space from November 12th to December 6th.

A highlight of the exhibition is the launch of I Could Not Recall How I Got Here, a work that encapsulates the blurring of geographical, temporal and individual boundaries in the artist’s project. Six narrators will read, in different languages, from the scripts of the six characters in the book—a young Japanese wife who visits her husband in Hong Kong, a Chinese grave keeper, a British intelligence officer, and the three characters who appear in the 30-minute video. 

WMA is honoured to have experts from leading law firm Mayer Brown to give a webinar about Intellectual Property Rights on November 11th, 2020. Please click here for more details and reserve your spot.

Inspired by the ‘Hong Kong Historical Photos from the Frank Fischbeck Collection‘ exhibition at the Main Library of the University of Hong Kong, we will organise two visual tours in collaboration with Walk in Hong Kong this November. Referencing historical images of lives in Sheung Wan in the 19th century from the Collection, our facilitators will tell stories about the sites seen in the images and invite participants to share their own stories and memories about the place. 

WMA is delighted to facilitate a round of online portfolio review with two international photography experts this June. These sessions will be particularly helpful for photographers looking to edit or further develop a body of work of a consistent theme.

Due to the uncertainties of the travel situation triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the WMA Student programme will be postponed till further announcement. Stay tuned to our social media channels for the latest updates!

Photographers Billy H.C. Kwok and Lee Wing Ki will join Taiwan-based image scholar Kuo Li-Hsin to discuss in this talk. Using Kwok’s Magnum Foundation supported project Last Letters, a photographic investigation of Taiwan white terror and Lee’s works Tsang’s Odyssey and Faded as departure points, the talk will explore mutual influences between Hong Kong and Taiwan in terms of archive images, historical memory and identity politics. 

WMA Student (WYNG Philomathia Student Essay Contest) is announcing the winners of the 2019/20 ‘Light’ cycle. The winning students will be invited to join the online supervision sessions hosted by the Cambridge University scholars during summer 2020. 

WMA is pleased to announce the five finalists for its 2019/20 Masters award on ‘Light’. Finalists’ photographic works responding to the theme, ‘Light’, in the context of Hong Kong, will be exhibited in Spring 2021. The winner of the WMA Masters will be announced during the exhibition. 

WYNG Philomthia Student Essay Contest, also known as WMA Student, is now calling for submissions until 10 Feb 2020. All fourth and fifth formers from local secondary schools are invited to write an essay in no more than 1,000 English words on the theme, ‘Light’.

‘After Opportunity’ is an exhibition on paper designed to respond to ‘Opportunity’, the theme of WMA 2018/19. Using the ‘meta publishing’ format, it puts on show the work of seven artists in sync with the current situation in Hong Kong.

WMA is pleased to announce the recipient of the WMA x FORMAT Fellowship. The recipient, Caleb Fung, will be visiting FORMAT Festival at Derby in Fall 2020, for participating in a series of facilitated learning and development opportunities.

WMA Commission recipient, Lee Kai-chung put together the exhibition, ‘I could not recall how I got here’ under the WMA 2017/18 theme of ‘Transition’.  Through studying historical records and objects of Hong Kong during the last years of the WWII in this commission project The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament, Lee investigates the transition of meanings of a ‘memorial bronze statue’ brought about by the passing of time.  The interim showcase is presenting  a form of Hong Kong’s ‘transition’ with sculptures, photography, videos and installations.

WMA is delighted to announce an artist residency opportunity in collaboration with the FORMAT Festival. The residency, to take place partly in Derby during the next FORMAT Festival and partly in London, will be held from April 23-29, 2020. Artists who participate in the Light cycle of WMA Masters are eligible to apply by 31 October 2019 (23:59, HKT). 

Is Artificial Intelligence a threat or opportunity for our society? How will AI affect the way we make decisions, carry out our daily tasks and interact with each other? This exhibition showcases the impressive innovativeness, curiosity and ability of self-learning of these students, who have demonstrated how AI technology can be integrated into everyday life to improve the quality of our lives and make us more productive. 

Opportunity brings forth hope. Under the theme ‘Opportunity’, the ten award winners and finalists, including Melanie Catamin, Cheung Hoi Chung, Fong Hin Nam, Leung Kin Keung, Lo Yan Chi, Jerry Ng Sek Hin, Rex Wong Chak Hon, Wong Ka Wing, Kenji Wong Wai Kin and Yiu Tung Wing, share their thoughts and feelings about opportunities in Hong Kong by means of photography.

TRES, the grant recipient for the WMA Commission 2015 upon the theme of “Waste”, will present a pop-up exhibition titled ‘Here, There and Everywhere’ at the WMA Space from 25- 30 June 2019.

The WMA Open was created to serve as a public platform for discussion and a springboard for social transformation. The WMA Open Photo Contest 2019, themed “Opportunity”, received 232 entries for this cycle. A panel of judges selected ten finalists and also three winners out of ten finalists.

In 2017, WMA launched a crowd-sourced documentary film project, ‘1 July 2017—A Day in Transition’, from which more than 200 videos were gathered from the public. Through juxtaposing these videos, the current exhibition aims to present the dialogues and discussions that have been going on as WMA sets up the WMA video archive. When facilitating accessibility to the video archive, we are inviting more vocabularies and references regarding the categorisation and understanding of the videos in this archive: What are the narrative powers of these precious videos submitted by the public, other than being mere ‘footage’ of documentary? What is the urgency of recording the moment with moving image? These are, perhaps, the first two of some fundamental questions for our contemplation in the crowd-sourcing and video-archiving process.

WMA invites photographers and artists worldwide to respond to the theme – LIGHT.

The call for submissions of WMA Masters and WMA Commission of the Light cycle will begin on 1 June 2019. All entries must relate to the theme and context of Hong Kong.

The exhibition “Opportunity! WMA Annual Exhibition” will showcase photographic works of WMA Masters’ finalists, including, Pierfrancesco CELADA, CHEUNG Nga Ling, Jolans FUNG, Sharon LEE, Saskia WESSELING, Beatrice WONG and YIP Kin Bon, as well as the literary works of WMA Students’ finalists.   The venue will also feature moving and still images of LO Lai Lai Natalie, recipient of WMA Commission, as a prelude to her project The Days Before Silent Spring.  

Starting in Spring 2019, WMA will present a series of workshops to discuss intellectual property issues relevant to the development, sharing, and co-creation of visual art works, and the use of archival materials.

The WMA Open 2019 calls for submission of images from every member of the public according to the theme “Opportunity”. From 22 February to 29 April 2019, images submitted to the WMA Open photo contest will have the chance to win prizes, including cash and professional development opportunities.

The WMA Commission, invites entries for proposals from artists and photographers from both Hong Kong and the international community to create new research-based photography work in Hong Kong, focusing on the annual theme each year. This year the theme of the proposals had to contextually related to “Opportunity”. The panel selected Lo Lai Lai Natalie as this year’s WMA Commission recipient. Her project “The Days Before Silent Spring” explores opportunities in Hong Kong by looking at alternative lifestyles and sustainable development after the “Anti-XRL movement and protect Choi Yuen Village” movement.

The WMA Open Photo Contest Exhibition will be extended until 31 March 2019. The exhibition, curated by Hilda Chan and Iven Cheung, will showcase photographic works of the 3 winners for the annual theme “Transition” including Caleb FUNG, Suet-sum LAI, and SHEK Chun Yin and 7 finalists including CHEUNG Siu Hoi, KOU Choi Sin, LO Yuen Ching, SIU Wai Hang, Mono TUNG Chiu On, Beatrice WONG and WONG Sanders. 

Co-organised by WE Press, the publisher of Xyza Cruz Bacani’s We Are Like Air, the exhibition of the same title is now showcasing at The eslite spectrum Tsim Sha Tsui Store, Hong Kong from 3 January to 17 February 2019 after its debut at the Hong Kong Arts Centre at the end of 2018.

Exhibition | 3/1（Thu）- 17/2（Thu）｜Tsim Sha Tsui Store 3/F Art Book Section

Book Sharing | 13/1（Sun）15:00-16:00｜Tsim Sha Tsui Store 3/F MINI FORUM

For more details, please visit https://meet.eslite.com/hk/tc/artshow/201812230001

The WMA Masters is pleased to announce the seven finalists for its 2018/19 award on Opportunity. Finalists’ photographic works, responding to the theme in the context of Hong Kong, will be exhibited at the Hong Kong City Hall mid-April 2019. The winner of the WMA Masters will be announced at the opening of the exhibition.

Titled “Photo Storytelling Workshop: Photography as Dialogue”, the upcoming workshop that spans three weekends invites participants to engage in a dialogue with oneself and other participants through images from the WMA Open archive. The workshop will discuss social, cultural, political and economic issues underpinning archived images, and investigate alternative social imaginations via new associations of their selected images.

Filipina documentary photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani, recipient of the “Mobility” cycle of WMA Commission, will launch her solo exhibition We Are Like Air at the Hong Kong Arts Centre from 1- 20 December 2018, during which her first photo book of the same title will also be launched.

The Infinite Cycle exhibition is now extended to  November 18.

Presented by Chinese Culture Center and 41 ROSS, and in partnership with Bamboo Curtain Studio of Taiwan and WMA of Hong Kong, Infinite Cycle convenes diverse artistic voices to address how social-minded arts organizations — and artists as individuals situated within specific geological contexts — leverage civic awareness of environmental issues through art.

The WMA Commission & WMA Masters invite entries for proposals and image submissions and  from artists and photographers from both Hong Kong and the international community. Entries must relate to the theme, “Opportunity”, and be relevant to Hong Kong. 

The WMA Open was created to serve as a public platform for discussion and a springboard for social transformation. The WMA Open Photo Contest 2018, themed “Transition”, received close to 340 entries for this cycle. A panel of judges selected ten finalists and also three winners out of ten finalists.

The WMA Masters welcomes image submissions from across the globe. Entries must relate to the theme, “Opportunity”, and be relevant to Hong Kong. Finalists will be selected by an international panel of judges and their works will be exhibited in Hong Kong in Spring 2019. The winner of the WMA Masters will receive a cash prize of HK$250,000. Each finalist will receive HK$15,000. 

Submission Period  1/6 – 28/9/2018

The WMA Commission is now inviting artists and photographers from both Hong Kong and the international community, to create new research-based photography work in Hong Kong, focusing on the theme of “Opportunity”. Project proposals must contextually relate to both the theme and to Hong Kong. A five-member selection panel will choose the WMA Commission Recipient, who will be awarded a HK$250,000 grant. The grant will contribute towards the production of the successful proposal and a public event featuring the completed work, which will be given a place in the WMA Collection.

Submission Period  1/6 – 21/9/2018

The winner of this year’s WMA Masters and the recipient of the WMA Commission were announced on the 14 April, 2018 at the WMA opening ceremony. YIM Sui-fong’s The Unlocked Space won the the WMA Masters and received a cash prize of HK$250,000. LEE Kai-chung is the WMA Commission recipient. LEE will receive HK$250,000 grant that contribute towards the production of his proposal and a public event featuring the completed work, which will be given a place in the WMA Collection.

Lumenvisum and WMA joint to present this discussion session on the process of visual narration through magazines and photobooks.

Our coming WMA Open Talk, titled ‘The Power of Portrait/The Portrait of Power’, will invite five image makers to share with us the motives, selections and reflections in their processes of creation. We will also discuss issues related to body archive, including visibility and invisibility, immediacy and deference, individuality and collectivity. Through a dialogue moderated by Carol Chow, the talk seeks to explore how these individual portrait series may shed light on the underlying power relations that shape our society.

Our coming WMA Open Talk, titled ‘Family Albums: the Private Memories and Social History’ explores family albums, a kind of image archives that everybody would be familiar with. Family albums are personal memories filled with emotions. They are records of the daily lives of a family. However, they are also a reflection of a cultural identity and social history. Some may say that they are also a vehicle of the ideologies and power relations of different times.

The four-weekend workshop is facilitated by Kevin WY Lee, founder of Invisible Photographer Asia (IPA), and past juror of WMA Masters. He has designed the contents for those working across a spectrum of issues, including human rights, humanitarian, environmental and social ones. Robert Godden, founder of Rights Exposure will also speak at one session to discuss the concept of “Informed Consent”. 

Founder of The Salt Yard Photobook Store, Dustin Shum recommends ‘Fish Story’ by the leftist photography theorist and artist Allan Sekula. A deep dive spanning Marxism, globalisation, ecosystems, and our relationship with the ocean, it inspired Dustin to ponder on the Belt & Road initiative.

WMA Space will reopen on 12 April, and the exhibition WOMEN: From Her to Here will be extended to 31 May.

Sorry, this entry is only available in 中文.

How do you draw a simple island?

Performing Islands

How well do we really know these islands that are supposedly very close by?

As a sequel to the group exhibition ‘Island(ed)’ that explored the isolated nature of islands, the new solo exhibition by Wenda Yiu ‘The Call of a Fallen Leaf’ will further extend WMA’s exploration on the islands of Hong Kong. 

The upcoming 2-week pop-up photo display, is the result of an open call photo contest that we collaborated with Coastal Trail Challenge. We wish to go beyond the artistic perspectives by inviting the public to walk, to gaze and to document the Hong Kong Island with us.