"Demolition Sites" in Ma Wan -040209

According to Wu Hung, "ruins break the logic of historical continuity, as time simply vanishes in these black holes. The past of these sites has been dstroyed and no-one knows their future; they are simply identified as 'demolition sites'."

When I visited the Ma Wan Old Village, this was exactly what I felt. Most dwellings were deserted. Signs stating "Government Land" were posted outside some 3-storey shophouses which were still in good shape; other wooden lodges by the sea were simply left vacant, leaving only some accessories, such as rusty window frames and worn spirit tablets behind in their original places.

This was of course not a wartime ruin, but again I guess a sacrifice of modern estate development. The land was fully evicted by the government by 2005 for developing the Ma Wan Park Phase II along with Park Island by SHK Properties Ltd., but it is still left untouched for all these years. The place is now "belonging to everyone and to no-one". The public can still go there by new means of transport (ferry and bus instead of kaito in the past). Few local people still go back there daily for their dried seafood business, but the community has completely been torn apart. The ruins are not well preserved, some public areas, like the pagodas, are sealed off with wire gauze, some buildings are no longer recognisable. The ruin itself has its own value and beauty, it has some kind of magic that attracts people to walk in and explore its past, but we are now not welcome nor allowed to do so.

Rapid and unthoughtful city development is found throughout Asia, no wonder ruins and demolition are also major sources of contemporaneity.

Art Specialist Course Graduation Exhibition -- 230109

I would not have learnt that there was an Art Specialist Course if I had not been working near the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre.

This is already the seventh run of the Art Specialist Course which is specially designed for art lovers who are eager for seeking specialized training and development in art. It covers a wide range of art forms, including Painting, Printmaking, and Sculpture. But I wonder how many people really have heard of this.

Some people say that Hong Kong is a cultural desert, most people here lack the ability and patience to appreciate art and culture. One of the major reasons for that is the insufficiency of art promotion and education. Thus, instead of investing so much on developing a brand new art and cultural district, I think the government should gather all the existing resources and reinforce the network among individual artists and art organisations.

To be honest, the concept of some exhibits are not quite well developed, materiality is considered but not fully utilised to form an impressive work. If more space is available and the scale of some works is enlarged, I think the overall impact will be greater. For example, the last two pictures which shows some digital clouds, if there are more clouds occupying an entire room and the printed pictures are magnified to form some kind of wallpaper, then the sense of virtual reality will be stronger.

Fotanian: Fotan Artists Open Studio -110109

I had visited the Fotan studios several times but this year was the first time I came with my students. Frankly speaking, I didn't find much surprise, some works I think were not even comparable to those exhibited in graduation shows of various art schools; but my students, who were mostly newly exposed to Fotan and authentic artists' studios, found it quite eye-opening.


Firstly, industrial buildings were complete strangers to them, most of them hadn't ever taken that kind of elevators or walked on those metal corrugated flooring before. The stuffy smell, the dark creepy stairs, the half-domestic-and-half-working area were all new adventures to the students. Secondly, that was their first encounter with so many professional artists, such as Man Fung-yi and Danny Lee. Listening to their own introduction of their work and their art-making process greatly enhances students' interest and appreciation ability.

Other than art promotion and education to the public, what I noticed was that name card exchanging was taking a more important role in the whole open studios programme. This was no doubt a good way for arts enthusiasts to build up a stronger network, but on the other hand, I should say that some particular artists or studio managers were there just to entertain potential buyers. You can tell the obvious difference when the artists greeted a potential buyer and when he met just the public.

Anyway, let's not forget that most studios are accessible to the public all year round, as long as we make advanced appointment with the studio, we are usually welcome to pay it a visit, not to mention that some studios actually organise solo or collective exhibitions regularly. The annual open studios programme is just the most significant event which unites almost all artists in that community for a big show. We should always make good use of these well-established public resources and treasure and support our local art development.