Transition ‧ Commission

WMA Commission – TRANSITION – LEE Kai Chung Solo Exhibition ‘I could not recall how I got here’

Exhibition Period
Sep 27 - Oct 29, 2019
Exhibition date and time
Fri to Tue, 12 noon - 7 pm
Exhibition Place
WMA Space, 8/F, Chun Wo Commercial Centre, 23-29 Wing Wo Street, Central, Hong Kong

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.

By reshaping objects that carry history, the artist invites us to re-examine their historical environment and understand the possibility of constructing historical narratives on their own.  The exhibition will be held at the WMA Space from 27 September to 29 October. Public engagement activities include a City tour that rediscover historical site and an Archive exploration workshop in Hong Kong Public Record Office. 

 

 


6/10 (Sun)
3 pm - 5 pm City tour – the vanished histories  

 (This event is organised by Hide and Seek)

 

We usually associate monument or material histories as things that is visible.  Their existence is assumed to confront with time and stay intact in the historical duration. However, paradoxically, material histories can be demolished by time and histories.  Sometimes, we do not realise their once-existence yet they haunted in the histories of the city.  

Starts from Statue Square and ends at the exhibition in WMA space, the tour aims to manifest a journey with both visible and invisible material histories in Central and Sheung Wan districts. 

Venue: Central and Sheung Wan (Meeting point will be announced later) 

Capacity: 20

Eventbrite registration link:shorturl.at/fquxN

12/10 (Sat)
10:30 am - 12:30 pm Archive exploration in Hong Kong Public Record Office led by the artist  

 

Archival research is the canon of Lee Kai Chung’s artistic manoeuvre.   Through research and artistic practice, Lee investigates the degree of public accessibility of archive, and how historical narrative is decided and orchestrated by the archival institutions and authorities.  In the tour, artist will explore the archive of Public Record Office with participants, it aims at enlightening the awareness on the peculiar tensions between archive, histories, authorities, and public of the participants. 

Venue: Hong Kong Public Record Office, Kwun Tung  (Meeting point will be announced later) 

Capacity: 10

Eventbrite registration link:shorturl.at/opuyN

26/10 (Sat)
4 pm - 6 pm Closing Talk: The dialectical tension between history and art  

Both history and art are structured with mnemonic complexion. History is the chronological records of the bygone socio-political events; and through object, be it artwork or concept, art reenacts memory. In the contemporary world, the spatial-temporal structure has been accelerating by technology; the acceleration alters relation between objects and history. Events are forgotten before they become memories. Against this background, how art – with its mnemonic structure – reenacts history?

Speakers: Lee Kai Chung (Artist) and Lai, Chiu Han Linda (Associate Professor, School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong)

Moderator: Cheng, Sau Wai Vennes (Curator)

Eventbrite registration link:http://tiny.cc/3hwsdz