All posts tagged: Tai Kwun Contemporary

Various artists

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Contagious Cities: Far Away Too Close / Tai Kwun Contemporary / Hong Kong / Jan 26 – Apr 21 / Diana d’Arenberg Parmanand / In 2003, the SARS outbreak led to a shutdown of Hong Kong. The virus infected 1,755 people in the city, killing 299. Fear of the epidemic led many, mainly expats, to flee. Those who didn’t leave avoided public spaces. A housing estate was put under quarantine, public transport and public areas were deserted, and schools were closed. At the height of the SARS crisis, iconic Hong Kong actor and singer Leslie Cheung jumped to his death from Central’s Mandarin Oriental hotel, adding to the trauma, gloom and anxiety that were already consuming the city. The crisis impacted Hong Kong physically, psychologically and economically, and like epidemics before, it shaped the city and its habits, policies and people. Contagious Cities: Faraway Too Close at Tai Kwun Contemporary, a group show with works by 10 local and international artists, attempts to explore the psychological and emotional dimensions of disease and contagion. Presented by the Wellcome Trust, a biomedical institution …

A hollow in a world too full—Cao Fei solo at Tai Kwun Contemporary

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Cao Fei 曹斐 A hollow in a world too full 在過滿的世界挖一個洞 Tai Kwun Contemporary 大館當代美術館 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong 香港中環荷李活道10號 8 Sep – 9 Dec 2018 Presented by UCCA尤倫斯當代藝術中心呈獻 Curated by: Philip Tinari in association with Xue Tan 策展人 : 田霏宇 (譚雪聯同籌劃) Cao Fei is among the most internationally renowned artists of her generation. Her first major solo exhibition in Hong Kong centres around the newly commissioned work Prison Architect. Comprised of a film, installations, and sculptures, the work subtly spreads throughout the three floors of Tai Kwun Contemporary’s exhibition spaces. Inspired by the sombre historical material of Victoria Prison and shot with downtown Central as backdrop, the new work conceives of a scenario where “an architect hesitantly accepts an invitation to design a prison”. In the film, the two protagonists each entertain imaginations and personal experiences of imprisonment in two parallel realities (one of the present day and the other of an ambiguous past). This cross-temporal-spatial dialogue reflects the artist’s contemplations on our relationship with the world. Apart from this ambitious film installation, the exhibition also showcases …

Tai Kwun

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By Elliat Albrecht Hong Kong has a soft spot for crime and police stories. Films about gangs, double agents and bloody conflicts have long been a mainstay of local cinema. There is an underlying psychological reason: a surge of public interest in the genre occurred in the 1980s, coinciding with the UK and China’s negotiations over the 1997 handover. Amid anxiety about the political future, the movies often depicted the goings-on of crime syndicates and their clashes with authority to explore themes of loyalty, heroism and chaos. This blue-coat fascination laid the foundation for some of the most significant pop culture of the 1980s – and continues to provide inspiration today, in the form of the city’s newest cultural institution. While Hong Kong awaits the opening of M+, its much-anticipated major museum of visual culture, the recently opened Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage & Arts is poised to tick the mid-size museum box. Built on a historical site, the 19th-century Central Police Station compound on Hollywood Road, Tai Kwun has an unusual cross-disciplinary remit. The …