Commission

Lee Kai Chung ‘I Could Not Recall How I Got Here’ book launch

The WMA is pleased to present ‘Once I Wake Up, My Body is Old’, a solo exhibition by Lee Kai Chung, from 12 November to 6 December.

 

The exhibition revisits the seizure of 11 bronze statues by the Imperial Japanese Army from the Statue Square in Central during the WWII and their subsequent return to Hong Kong.

 

The main exhibit of the showcase, The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament, is a 30-minute-long interweaving of wartime and personal narratives. It depicts the fates of the entrapped: a stonemason of the Imperial Japanese army, a Feng Shui ritual object in the granite base of the lion statue, and a soldier of The Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers). While the constant shifting of sites and memories embodies a deep sense of displacement, it also confronts the viewer with one question: If we don’t seize the opportunity to reconstruct our own historical narratives, how would we see through the historical narratives constructed by others?

 

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.

 

There will be a discussion between Lee Kai Chung, Vennes Cheng and Vivian Ting on ‘Transition from Artistic Research to Artwork, Publication and Exhibition Making’. The discussion will be conducted in Cantonese.

 

The new book is also on display in the exhibition. Space is limited, to reserve your spot: https://bit.ly/2JYV6Ef

 

‘Once I Wake Up, My Body is Old’ is the finale of the project The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament, which the artist conceived around the concept of ‘Transition’ for the WMA Commission grant (2018). It is preceded by ‘I Could Not Recall How I Got Here’ (WMA Space, 2019).

 

[embed]https://youtu.be/l6PFQrDhbSU[/embed]

 

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Details of the Event:

Date: 21.11.2020

Time: 3 – 5pm (Sat)

Place: WMA Space, 8/F Chun Wo Commercial Centre, 23-29 Wing Wo Street, Central

 

About the artist

LEE Kai-chung performs artistic research on historical events, political systems, and ideology. Through research, social participation and engagement, Lee considers the individual gesture as a form of political and artistic transgression that resonates with existing narratives of history. LEE was awarded his Master of Fine Arts from the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong in 2014 and received The Award for Young Artist (Visual Arts) from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2018. Recent exhibitions and projects include “Internationale Kurzfilmtage Winterthur” (2020, Winterthur, Switzerland), “Predicament” (2020, Beijing, China) and the 12th Shanghai Biennale, “Proregress” (2018, Shanghai, China). Lee’s work is collected by M+ Museum.