At first glance, the office desk could belong to any Chinese executive — an ashtray, mini-flags, a golden sculpture inscribed with the character for “integrity” and a picture of a local celebrity.
Instead, it is part of a defiant art show challenging Hong Kong’s stuffy power structures, held in an office tower at the heart of a finance district famous for its long hours and cut-throat competition.
The group exhibition — named “RE:Urgent” in mockery of corporate-speak — is meant to “subvert the office space that we are working in every day,” said curator Renee Lui, managing director of Young Soy Gallery.
Photo: AFP
The exhibition mirrors a workspace, with four artists given a standard office cubicle to present their work in, and one displaying in the boss’ office. “This is sort of a really rigid space that people (wouldn’t normally) see as being able to contain creative ideas,” Lui said.
The main office is occupied by artist Dominic Johnson-Hill, whose idiosyncratic desktop was inspired by his 28 years doing business in Beijing.
“I went to a lot of bosses’ offices,” he said. “I really wanted to sort of copy a lot of that paraphernalia.”
Photo: AFP
His displayed pieces include a surreal digital wall clock, which tells time in an eerie, robotic voice. Next to its numbers is a picture of people looking down at their phones whilst queuing to enter a coffin store.
Johnson-Hill came across such traditional shops in a Hong Kong neighborhood and was inspired to create the piece, which he said poked fun at aimless work culture.
“I thought how wonderful it would be to see people dressed in office attire queuing... [it is] a ridiculous idea that was quite playful,” he said.
Photo: AFP
In another cubicle, artist Riya Chandiramani sits role-playing as an “unpaid intern” who dreams of starting a feminist revolution. In a painting, she imagines herself as the Hindu goddess, Kali, forced into a treacherous game of snakes and ladders set in the workplace.
“The numbers also represent ages, and so there is also that aspect of women not being allowed to age,” Chandiramani said.
The show is taking place during Hong Kong’s “Art Month,” headlined by art fairs that draw wealthy buyers from around the world.
Photo: AFP
However, gallery co-founder Shivang Jhunjhnuwala said he decided to ditch the fairs after two years because of high exhibition costs and “a lack of confidence in the art market.”
The show is pushing against the mainstream in its thematic matter too. In one corner, almost unnoticed, is a palm-sized paper cutout of Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), trapped within multiple frames, by pseudonymous artist Louie Jaubere. “The people are not in control of what the state dictates,” the artist said, “but it is not targeted at China; it generally represents government or state control.”
Hong Kong’s freedom of expression and political rights have been whittled away since Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law in 2020 after large and sometimes violent protests the year before. At the show’s opening, retired architect Serena Chan said she appreciated the show’s sense of humor.
“The other rebels are all gone,” she said. “Rebels in art are probably still allowed, so let’s have more of that.”
The death of a former head of China’s one-child policy has been met not by tributes, but by castigation of the abandoned policy on social media this week. State media praised Peng Peiyun (彭珮雲), former head of China’s National Family Planning Commission from 1988 to 1998, as “an outstanding leader” in her work related to women and children. The reaction on Chinese social media to Peng’s death in Beijing on Sunday, just shy of her 96th birthday, was less positive. “Those children who were lost, naked, are waiting for you over there” in the afterlife, one person posted on China’s Sina Weibo platform. China’s
‘POLITICAL LOYALTY’: The move breaks with decades of precedent among US administrations, which have tended to leave career ambassadors in their posts US President Donald Trump’s administration has ordered dozens of US ambassadors to step down, people familiar with the matter said, a precedent-breaking recall that would leave embassies abroad without US Senate-confirmed leadership. The envoys, career diplomats who were almost all named to their jobs under former US president Joe Biden, were told over the phone in the past few days they needed to depart in the next few weeks, the people said. They would not be fired, but finding new roles would be a challenge given that many are far along in their careers and opportunities for senior diplomats can
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday announced plans for a national bravery award to recognize civilians and first responders who confronted “the worst of evil” during an anti-Semitic terror attack that left 15 dead and has cast a heavy shadow over the nation’s holiday season. Albanese said he plans to establish a special honors system for those who placed themselves in harm’s way to help during the attack on a beachside Hanukkah celebration, like Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Syrian-Australian Muslim who disarmed one of the assailants before being wounded himself. Sajid Akram, who was killed by police during the Dec. 14 attack, and
RUSHED: The US pushed for the October deal to be ready for a ceremony with Trump, but sometimes it takes time to create an agreement that can hold, a Thai official said Defense officials from Thailand and Cambodia are to meet tomorrow to discuss the possibility of resuming a ceasefire between the two countries, Thailand’s top diplomat said yesterday, as border fighting entered a third week. A ceasefire agreement in October was rushed to ensure it could be witnessed by US President Donald Trump and lacked sufficient details to ensure the deal to end the armed conflict would hold, Thai Minister of Foreign Affairs Sihasak Phuangketkeow said after an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Kuala Lumpur. The two countries agreed to hold talks using their General Border Committee, an established bilateral mechanism, with Thailand
RSS