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The "Sparkle! Let's Art" exhibition opened today (July 24) at Oi! and will run until October 18, allowing visitors to appreciate scenes from the community and gain extra sensitivity to what is happening around them.
Guest curator Vivian Ting invited eight local artists to participate in the exhibition, namely Amy Chan, Brandon Chan, Priscila Chu, Fung Hing-keung, Kwong Man-chun, Maggie Lin, Wong Wing-fung and Rachel Yan. The artists went into the North Point community and connected with different groups including residents, students, domestic helpers and bookshop customers to explore how art is related to everyday life.
In the exhibition the artists present their community exploration using a variety of media. Collecting stories from North Point residents as well as myths, old newspaper clippings and movie plots, Amy Chan and Wong Wing-fung have created "Legacy of Seven Sisters". Weaving romance, sports development, memories of natural disasters, the beauty of women and anecdotes of movie shooting, a multi-layered narrative of North Point is presented in the form of a sound tour, images and installation.
In "Castle of the North Kingdom", Brandon Chan has transformed items of daily life such as cushions, furniture, paper boxes and plastic bottles into toys that suggest imaginations of the cityscape. The artwork encourages adults and children to see the city from different angles that may be playful, tactile and multi-layered in reflecting on what our city means to us.
Priscila Chu and Kwong Man-chun collected life stories from domestic helpers who work and hang out in North Point. The collaborative work "Thinking of You", which comprise visual elements and musical composition, seeks to pay tribute to the domestic workers and highlight their passion, hope, and humanity.
Fung Hing-keung captured the footprints of cats in North Point on video, allowing visitors to explore the city from the perspective of cats through his work "Serious Cats and Their Approaches to Memory Reproduction".
The name "Hong Kong", which means "Fragrant Harbour", comes from its history as an incense producer and exporter. Maggie Lin and Rachel Yan present "Nose HK", inviting visitors to go on a sensory walk in different places in North Point such as a hotel, a garden, a household, a noodle restaurant and a pier to gain a deeper understanding of the city.
"Sparkle! Let's Art! is the sixth exhibition in the "Sparkle!" exhibition series organised by Oi! of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. The series comprises seven exhibitions, all conceived by seven young and outstanding local curators. Collaborating with design partner, Karr Yip, the guest curators have drawn up plans for exhibitions that look into the possible merging of art and daily life and its promotion. The exhibitions encourage creativity while making available an open and experimental art creation platform at Oi! for local art practitioners.
Oi! is located at 12 Oil Street, North Point, Hong Kong. For details, please visit Oi!'s website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/APO/en_US/web/apo/oyip_sparkle_lets_art.html, or call 2512 3000.
Ends/Friday, July 24, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:38
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