For Leung Chi Wo, to make sense of the present is to rediscover the past. Born in Hong Kong in 1968, a turning point during the city’s colonial period, after large-scale riots broke out the year before, the artist has always been fascinated by the development of its sociopolitical framework. He has spent more than two decades, both individually and with long-term collaborator Sara Wong, exploring the complex relationship between then and now, uncovering hidden narratives from the past and recontextualising them with alternative understandings of subjectivity. Also central to Leung’s practice are notions of time and perception, navigated through the power of photography and deconstruction of memories. Exhibited extensively across the world, Leung’s work ranges from photography and video to text, performance and site-specific installation.
From September to December, Wong and Leung are undertaking a residency with the Delfina Foundation in London to continue developing their ongoing project Museum of the Lost. A collection of images from newspapers, magazines, brochures and other publications dating from the 1930s onwards, the project foregrounds anonymous people who were photographed in the background and are unrecognisable or unidentifiable. As part of his independent research, Leung will also be studying the declassified Future of Hong Kong documents at the UK’s government’s National Archives.
Tiffany Leung: Can you tell us how the residency with Delfina Foundation came about? What is the starting point for your research? Leung Chi Wo: I had been teaching at the City University of Hong Kong for several years and wanted to take a sabbatical for some reflection. So I actually planned the trip to London more than a year and a half ago. I was interested in spending some time at The National Archives to read once top secret documents on the future of Hong Kong, which I find inspiring for my contemplation of the place and exploration of its history-making-in-progress. Later on, Sara Wong and I were nominated for a residency at the Delfina Foundation for our collaborative project Museum of the Lost as part of their scheme Collecting as Practice, so both my individual and collaborative projects are evolving in parallel.
TL: Is this project a continuation of your ongoing exploration of Hong Kong’s sociopolitical history and the relationship between then and now? LCW: Yes: my interest lies in how the British were thinking about the future of Hong Kong in the past. It undeniably reflects my contemplation of what is happening in Hong Kong now. There was an interesting quote from Margaret Thatcher; she said that the problem was not what would happen in 1997, but what people believed in 1982 would happen to the future administration of Hong Kong.
TL: Can you explain how this connects with your understanding of Hong Kong’s identity now?LCW: I guess identity is represented in our way of living and cultural practices. Hong Kong has developed over distinctive periods with various historical events which affected our lives on different levels. Reading these old documents does not change my observation of Hong Kong’s identity but makes me think about the shift in context in my understanding of certain events.
TL: Tell me more about your experience at The National Archive: how does it feel to flip through and handle the original documents? LCW: It’s an amazing institution that allows researchers to handle documents from several hundred years ago up till more recent ones. Besides having the opportunity to easily access declassified information, I particularly treasure being able to connect with materials from the past. Imagine this: you’re flipping through the same pages that have been worked on by someone during significant historical moments. Actually, I am particularly interested in the emotional aspects of these documents, including repeated handwritten notes and all kinds of corrections made directly on the drafts. If their handwriting was shaky, it may also suggest that the person writing was contemplating at the moment.
TL: Has anything stood out for you so far? LCW: Something that stood out was the word “excellent” by Margaret Thatcher, marked on a report that described a lunch or dinner meeting between two diplomats and the Chinese ambassador at the time, who firmly delivered the message “China for sure will take back Hong Kong by 1997”. I find the meaning of “excellent” to be so obscure and open-ended here.
TL: Are you planning to develop new work based on the research? LCW: I haven’t come up with any concrete idea to turn these findings into an artwork yet. It could be a video or photographic work. Anyway, I am really interested in the physical materials and the time in which these handwritten notes were made.
TL: Besides spending time at the archive, what else have you been doing? LCW: Visiting parks with great lawns everywhere. I guess that’s something we don’t have in such quantity and scale in Hong Kong.
TL: Any favourite London galleries or museums? LCW: It goes without saying that London has so much to offer when it comes to art. Personally I find the Wellcome Collection and Museum of the Home to be really interesting for blending art with other ideas in their specialised disciplines.
對梁志和而言，理解當下即意味著重探過去。他生於1968年的香港，當時正是大規模騷亂爆發的一年後，這座城市處於殖民階段的轉捩點。社會政治體系的演變一直深深吸引這位藝術家。他花了20多年時間，獨自或與長期拍檔黃志恒一同探索過去與現在之間的複雜關係。挖掘隱藏在過去的故事，再以對主體的不同理解賦予其新的語境。除此之外，時間和知覺的概念也是梁氏藝術實踐的中心，其通過攝影和解構記憶來探索和展現這些主題。梁氏在全球多地均舉辦過展覽，作品類型涵蓋攝影、錄像到文本、表演和特定場域裝置。
從9月到12月，黃志恒與梁志和二人駐場倫敦的Delfina Foundation（戴芬娜基金會），繼續創作他們的持續專案《遺失博物館》。他們收集了1930年代起的舊報紙、雜誌、宣傳冊和其他發行物圖像，挑出當中一些身份不明的人物相片。同時，梁氏也將在英國政府的國家檔案館研究《香港前途研究計畫》揭秘文檔，作為其獨立研究的一部分。
Tiffany Leung: 可否談談你是如何加入戴芬娜基金會的駐場計畫的？研究專案的出發點是什麼？
梁志和：當時我已經在香港城市大學教了幾年書，想休息一段時間，靜下心來思考。實際上我在一年半前已經計畫去倫敦旅行。我很想花點時間在國家檔案館讀一讀當年有關《香港前途研究計畫》的最高機密文件。這激發我想去好好凝視香港這個地方，探究其正在書寫的歷史。之後，黃志恒和我憑我們的合作專案《遺失博物館》獲提名參與戴芬娜基金會的駐場計畫，作為當地Collecting as Practice計畫的一部分。所以我的個人計劃和合作專案得以平衡發展。
TL: 這個項目是否延續了你對香港社會政治歷史的持續探索以及過去和當下關係的探究？
梁: 是的。我的興趣點在於：當時英國是如何考慮香港的未來？無可否認，這也反映了我如何看待當下香港所發生的一切。戴卓爾夫人曾說過一句非常有意思的話，她說問題不在於1997年會發生什麼，而在於在1982年的人相信什麼事會發生在香港未來的執政班子身上。
TL: 這與你對目前香港身份的理解有何關連？
梁: 我想身份是通過我們的生活方式和文化實踐來表現的。香港在特定時期中發展起來，期間伴隨各種歷史性事件，這不同程度的影響了我們的生活。閱讀了這些舊檔案後並沒有改變我對香港身份的觀察，卻引發我去思考自己在理解某些事件時如何轉變背景。
TL: 談談你在英國國家檔案館的經歷，在翻閱這些原始文檔時有何感受？
梁: 那是個了不起的地方，容許研究者查閱幾百年前至今的文檔。除了能接觸到這些解密文檔，我尤其珍惜能與過往素材連接的機會。想像一下：你正在翻閱的是那些處於重要歷史時刻的人們所書寫的頁面。實際上，我對這些文檔所流露出的情感尤為感興趣，比如重複的手寫便條，又如草稿上的各種修正內容。若筆記歪歪扭扭，可能說明當時下筆之人正在思考、猶豫。
TL: 有什麼特別讓你印象深刻的？
梁：最突出的是，戴卓爾夫人在一份報告上面，寫上一個詞：「好極」（excellent），該報告記錄當年兩名外交官和中國大使一次午宴或晚宴，當中中方堅定表達「中國必將在1997年收回香港」。我覺得這個詞用得非常模棱兩可，令人費解。
TL: 你是否有計劃基於這個研究進行新的創作？
梁：目前我還沒有具體的想法怎樣將這些研究發展成藝術作品。可能是錄像作品或是攝影作品。不過，我對這些材料以及這些手寫筆記發生的年代是真的感興趣。
TL: 除了在檔案館翻閱檔，還有什麼其他活動嗎？
梁：我去了好些公園，那裡到處都是大草坪。我想我們在香港沒有這麼多這麼大規模的公園。
TL: 倫敦有你特別喜歡的畫廊或博物館嗎？
梁：大家都知道，倫敦的藝術氣氛很濃厚。我個人覺得Wellcome Collection（惠康收藏）和Museum of the Home（故居博物館）這兩家機構將藝術與其獨特的領域相融和的做法非常有意思。