Hong Kong for the first time will join the 64 other countries and regions to showcase their contemporary artists at the prestigious Venice Biennale this year. Curator for the Hong Kong Pavilion Johnson Chang (
Chang said Hong Kong has recently felt it has fallen behind in the international contemporary art scene, as Taiwan joined the Biennale in 1995, Japan and Korea have long participated in the show and the city's arch rival Singapore announced last year that it would also participate.
PHOTO COURTESY OF HANART GALLERY
Under the auspices of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Chang will bring his show to Venice registered as China, Hong Kong. Chang said, however, that Hong Kong's participation in the show is independent from China, which will not participate in this year's Biennale. The three artists -- Ho Siu-kee (何兆基), Ellen Pau (鮑藹倫) and Leung Chi-wo (梁志和) -- selected to head to Venice were all born and raised in Hong Kong.
Chang said the works, to be presented under the theme Magic at Street Level, will present the cold, impersonal city life typical of Hong Kong, and the anxiety generated by the lack of space in the city.
Hong Kong has never been viewed as fertile territory for contemporary art. However, the Hong Kong Arts Development Council has recently shifted its previous focus on performing arts toward contemporary visual art and a recently opened art museum in Hong Kong features some contemporary works and will soon begin acquiring its own collection. Chang said there are about 30 prominent contemporary artists in Hong Kong, though traditional ink painting remains the most common medium for local artists.
"The Venice Biennale will definitely help promote contemporary art in Hong Kong."
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