‘Isolation’ connotes loneliness. Though such notion has become our worst nightmare after two years of pandemic life, we dream of island, the isolated mass from the city by water, as paradise. Aldous Huxley, author of the renowned dystopian novel Brave New World, also penned Island during the end of his life, and presented a utopia, based on the isolated nature of the island. However, urban development is challenging the isolatedness of islands as reclamation and infrastructure building are closing the distances between islands and the city. Perhaps the Cantonese term for ‘isolation’, which also means ‘right nextdoor’, is telling the fate of these islands in our hometown. What if islands are no longer islanded? And, how well do we really know these islands that are supposedly very close by?
Curated by Chloe Chow, this exhibition features lens-based works of four Hong Kong artists, explores island’s isolatedness and its tension. Simon Wan’s and Chan Long Hei’s obscure yet tangible overlapping images present the physical and psychological states of isolation; prompting the audience to rethink their transient encounters with islands. Meanwhile, Lo Yin Shan’s and Wong Wei-Him’s documentary images bridged the gaps of landscapes and island sightings, fostering links between places and lives. In collaboration with ‘hkhiker’, this exhibition will also present their collection of publications centering on animals and plants in Hong Kong, allowing us to comprehend ‘island’ from non-human-oriented perspectives.
While the exhibition focuses on the geographical features of islands, the programmes curated by Leung Po Shan examine the living experiences and local knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach. Having lived on Lamma Island for 20 years, Leung curated the screenings, workshops and fieldwork events from an islander perspective, offering participants a different vantage point to look at Hong Kong.
These images, writings and programmes piece together islands’ dualities of isolation and connection, scatteredness and cohesion, and vulnerability and resilience, and suggest a reflection on the many possibilities of living.
For the curatorial statement, please visit https://wma.hk/en/article/curatorial-statement-islanded/
Details:
> Date: 5.8 – 16.10.2022
> Time: 12pm – 7pm (Tue to Sun)
> Place: WMA Space, 8/F, Chun Wo Commercial Centre, Wing So Street, Central
> Registration: https://bit.ly/3BnauTu
Artists Bio:
Wong Wei-him (b.1975, Vancouver)
Graduated from the school of Architecture from McGill University with a Bachelor degree in Science in 1999 and the University of Hong Kong with a Master degree in Architecture in 2001, Wong is trained as an architect and established In-between Architects, a design studio based in Hong Kong in 2010. His photography practice draws inspiration from space, architecture and also daily life on the street. Wong has participated in group exhibitions including “Fake” at CTypeMag (Thailand, 2022) and “Portal” at Inter-Island Festival (Hong Kong, 2021); shortlisted in the Italian Street Photo Festival 2020, WMA Masters Award 2019 and Asia Society Hong Kong’s FotoFête (2016), and got his works published on international photo magazines.
Lo Yin Shan (b. 1969, Hong Kong)
Lo has been a journalist, editor, and also an artist since graduating from the Swire School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic with a Certificate of Diploma. She had also been a teleporter based in Beijing from 2008 to 2017. Her video and photography works focus on the transitions and impacts of modern society and environment changes. She has also been a dedicated researcher on Hong Kong’s contemporary art development, and has written books including Ten Notes on Northern Drifting (2013) and Driving Lantau: a whisper of an island (2011, co-authored with Anthony McHugh). Lo resided on the Lantau Island between 1990 to 2004, and has captured the stories and lives of islanders, both local and migrants, through photographs, videos and also text.
Chan Long Hei (b. 1994, Hong Kong)
Chan graduated from university with a degree in Social Policy, and has worked as a photojournalist with various local and international media outlets. Since 2017, he has started creating his own work, exploring his connection with nature and his surroundings, in addition to documenting social phenomena. He has participated in various group exhibitions and won several local and international photography awards, including the Pictures of the Year Asia Award (2021), Taiwan Excellent Journalism Award (2020) and Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (2017-2021). He has also published several photobooks, including After Island (2021) The Unspeakable (2020), etc.
Simon Wan (b.1975, Hong Kong)
Simon Wan Chi-Chung graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in Documentary Photography in 2000 and an MFA in photography from the Ulster University of Belfast in 2018. He had been teaching at various institutions and also founded the art space The Photocrafters, dedicated to promoting local photography education. Inspired by nature, his practice combines photography with artistic acts to address the relationship between human and nature and explores the meaning of human existence. Wong’s works have been featured internationally and acquired by many local and international private collectors and institutes.
Exhibition Curator:
Chloe Chow (b.1987, Hong Kong)
Chow is a Hong Kong-based curator and is now Project Manager at WMA. Prior to joining WMA she was Associate Curator for Hong Kong Visual Culture at M+. Recent curatorial projects included spinelessly planting (Contemporary by Angela Li, 2022) and Hong Kong: Here and Beyond (M+, 2011). She is also the assistant editor of Hong Kong Visual Culture: The M+ Guide (2022). Chow received her Bachelor degree in Arts from the University of Hong Kong and a Master degree in Visual Arts (Art Administration) from the Hong Kong Baptist University.
Programme Curator:
Anthony Leung Po Shan (b. Hong Kong)
An art critic, Leung received her doctoral degree in Cultural Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Having lived in Lamma Island for 20 years, she has developed an interest in island studies in recent years, she has written several books including Living in Peace/amid Social Changes (2012) and Mo Tat Then and Now, historical and social research of Mo Tat Wan, Lamma Island (2021), etc., and co-curated the “Lamma Mia” Public Art Project (2021-2022).
[post_type] => event
)
‘Island(ed)’
‘Isolation’ connotes loneliness. Though such notion has become our worst nightmare after two years of pandemic life, we dream of island, the isolated mass from the city by water, as paradise. Aldous Huxley, author of the renowned dystopian novel Brave New World, also penned Island during the end of his life, and presented a utopia, based on the isolated nature of the island. However, urban development is challenging the isolatedness of islands as reclamation and infrastructure building are closing the distances between islands and the city. Perhaps the Cantonese term for ‘isolation’, which also means ‘right nextdoor’, is telling the fate of these islands in our hometown. What if islands are no longer islanded? And, how well do we really know these islands that are supposedly very close by?
Curated by Chloe Chow, this exhibition features lens-based works of four Hong Kong artists, explores island’s isolatedness and its tension. Simon Wan’s and Chan Long Hei’s obscure yet tangible overlapping images present the physical and psychological states of isolation; prompting the audience to rethink their transient encounters with islands. Meanwhile, Lo Yin Shan’s and Wong Wei-Him’s documentary images bridged the gaps of landscapes and island sightings, fostering links between places and lives. In collaboration with ‘hkhiker’, this exhibition will also present their collection of publications centering on animals and plants in Hong Kong, allowing us to comprehend ‘island’ from non-human-oriented perspectives.
While the exhibition focuses on the geographical features of islands, the programmes curated by Leung Po Shan examine the living experiences and local knowledge through an interdisciplinary approach. Having lived on Lamma Island for 20 years, Leung curated the screenings, workshops and fieldwork events from an islander perspective, offering participants a different vantage point to look at Hong Kong.
These images, writings and programmes piece together islands’ dualities of isolation and connection, scatteredness and cohesion, and vulnerability and resilience, and suggest a reflection on the many possibilities of living.
For the curatorial statement, please visit https://wma.hk/en/article/curatorial-statement-islanded/
Details:
> Date: 5.8 – 16.10.2022
> Time: 12pm – 7pm (Tue to Sun)
> Place: WMA Space, 8/F, Chun Wo Commercial Centre, Wing So Street, Central
> Registration: https://bit.ly/3BnauTu
Artists Bio:
Wong Wei-him (b.1975, Vancouver)
Graduated from the school of Architecture from McGill University with a Bachelor degree in Science in 1999 and the University of Hong Kong with a Master degree in Architecture in 2001, Wong is trained as an architect and established In-between Architects, a design studio based in Hong Kong in 2010. His photography practice draws inspiration from space, architecture and also daily life on the street. Wong has participated in group exhibitions including “Fake” at CTypeMag (Thailand, 2022) and “Portal” at Inter-Island Festival (Hong Kong, 2021); shortlisted in the Italian Street Photo Festival 2020, WMA Masters Award 2019 and Asia Society Hong Kong’s FotoFête (2016), and got his works published on international photo magazines.
Lo Yin Shan (b. 1969, Hong Kong)
Lo has been a journalist, editor, and also an artist since graduating from the Swire School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic with a Certificate of Diploma. She had also been a teleporter based in Beijing from 2008 to 2017. Her video and photography works focus on the transitions and impacts of modern society and environment changes. She has also been a dedicated researcher on Hong Kong’s contemporary art development, and has written books including Ten Notes on Northern Drifting (2013) and Driving Lantau: a whisper of an island (2011, co-authored with Anthony McHugh). Lo resided on the Lantau Island between 1990 to 2004, and has captured the stories and lives of islanders, both local and migrants, through photographs, videos and also text.
Chan Long Hei (b. 1994, Hong Kong)
Chan graduated from university with a degree in Social Policy, and has worked as a photojournalist with various local and international media outlets. Since 2017, he has started creating his own work, exploring his connection with nature and his surroundings, in addition to documenting social phenomena. He has participated in various group exhibitions and won several local and international photography awards, including the Pictures of the Year Asia Award (2021), Taiwan Excellent Journalism Award (2020) and Hong Kong Press Photographers Association (2017-2021). He has also published several photobooks, including After Island (2021) The Unspeakable (2020), etc.
Simon Wan (b.1975, Hong Kong)
Simon Wan Chi-Chung graduated from the University of Wales with a degree in Documentary Photography in 2000 and an MFA in photography from the Ulster University of Belfast in 2018. He had been teaching at various institutions and also founded the art space The Photocrafters, dedicated to promoting local photography education. Inspired by nature, his practice combines photography with artistic acts to address the relationship between human and nature and explores the meaning of human existence. Wong’s works have been featured internationally and acquired by many local and international private collectors and institutes.
Exhibition Curator:
Chloe Chow (b.1987, Hong Kong)
Chow is a Hong Kong-based curator and is now Project Manager at WMA. Prior to joining WMA she was Associate Curator for Hong Kong Visual Culture at M+. Recent curatorial projects included spinelessly planting (Contemporary by Angela Li, 2022) and Hong Kong: Here and Beyond (M+, 2011). She is also the assistant editor of Hong Kong Visual Culture: The M+ Guide (2022). Chow received her Bachelor degree in Arts from the University of Hong Kong and a Master degree in Visual Arts (Art Administration) from the Hong Kong Baptist University.
Programme Curator:
Anthony Leung Po Shan (b. Hong Kong)
An art critic, Leung received her doctoral degree in Cultural Studies from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Having lived in Lamma Island for 20 years, she has developed an interest in island studies in recent years, she has written several books including Living in Peace/amid Social Changes (2012) and Mo Tat Then and Now, historical and social research of Mo Tat Wan, Lamma Island (2021), etc., and co-curated the “Lamma Mia” Public Art Project (2021-2022).