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Hong Kong Participates in the 51st Venice Biennale
4/3/2005

The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) announced today that an exhibition by Hong Kong visual artists will be featured in the 51st Venice Biennale in the coming June. This is the third time for Hong Kong to introduce the work of its visual artists to the international art arena.

The theme of this year's exhibition is "investigation of a journey to the west by micro + polo". Curated by Ms Sabrina M Y Fung, the exhibition is a marvellous and imaginative investigation of travel west in the computer age by two local visual artists anothermountainman (micro) and Mr Chan Yuk-keung (polo).

The work of anothermountainman is a Hong Kong style teahouse made of red-white-blue plastic fabric. It is a statement on the importance of face-to-face communication in society, which is becoming a lost art in the micro-technological age. It also reflects the transitory and unsettled nature of Hong Kong. Re-establishing human contact over a cup of tea can help society resolve issues and regain its focus.

Contrary to the bright red-white-blue colour, the work of Chan Yuk-keung is the muted tones of natural wood and steel. His cityscape installation, in the shape of Venice, reveals his experiences as a traveller both metaphysically and psychologically. The cityscape is elevated and inverted to provide the viewer a thorough investigation into an imaginary, reinvented world.

The exhibition investigates and explores the blending and divergence of the societies through the microcosmic vision of artists. It reflects parallels and differences between Hong Kong and Venice. Both great cities are surrounded by water, but one lives on its history while the other is continually striding into the future.

The Venice Biennale, a world-renowned visual arts exhibition, was first held in 1895. The exhibition attracts participants from around 50 cities and countries. This year, the exhibition will be held from 12 June to 6 November in Venice.

A Selection Panel has been formed to select this year's curatorial proposal. Members of the Selection Panel include Prof Kao May-ching, Former Visiting Professor, Fine Arts Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong; Dr Hector Rodriguez, Associate Professor, School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong; Dr Eric Wear, Associate Professor, School of Design, Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Mr Benny Chia, Artistic Director, Fringe Club; Ms Tina Pang, Curator (Art), University Museum and Art Gallery, University of Hong Kong; Ms Yuko Hasegawa, Chief Curator, 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and Prof Chang Suk-won, Art Critic of Chonnam University and Artistic Director of Gwangju Biennale 2004.

Further details of the exhibition and opening ceremony will be announced at a later stage.