Civil Society and Art - Visual Art in Public Space

Civil society and art are often in a dynamic interrelationship: social themes that are perceived as relevant and meaningful find their expression in the arts. And art offers a medium for social debates. Hong Kong, with its vibrant cultural and creative scene and a very active civil society, is an impressive testimony to this.

The Goethe-Institut is opening a new series of discussion on the topic of civil society and art, in which various areas will be focused on in loose succession. The fourth discussion will focus on Visual Art in Public Space. Artists Wen Yau, Kacey Wong and Him Lo will share their thoughts on the topic in relation to the society that they live in. The discussion will be moderated by Vivienne Chow.

Invited by HALLE 14 - Zentrum für zeitgenössische Kunst, Leipzig, Germany and supported by Goethe-Institut Hongkong, Wen Yau participates in “The Ends of Freedom” exhibition which runs from 7 September to 7 December 2019. A live performance on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the fall of Berlin Wall will be conducted by Wen Yau at the exhibition venue.
 
Wen Yau

© Wen Yau As a cross-media artist, researcher, curator and writer, wen yau has been concentrating on performance/live art and social practices in the last few years.  Her works often grapple with cultural difference and intimacy in public space. Recent projects include Homage to All Peaceful Revolutionaries (cross-media, 2014-), Painting like an Artist (conceptual painting, 2010-), I am a Grade D Artist (mixed media, 2009-2013), Seeing is Existing (pinhole photographic series, 2008-), cop.ied (cross-media, 2008-), Civil Left/Right (video & performance, 2007-), i-(s)wear (one-to-one performance, 2007-), TengSeWong/Voice-Writer series (media & live art, 2005-), I pledge (not) guilty (live art, 2004-05), etc.  Her work has been shown in Hong Kong, Macau, Mainland China (Beijing, Chengdu, Xi’an & Guangzhou), Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Burma, USA, Sweden, Finland, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Slovakia, New Zealand, Bolivia, etc.  She is also actively engaged in various creative and arts educational projects and curated “Talkover/Handover 2.0” (2017), “See Through” (2009-2011), “Talkover/Handover” (Hong Kong, 2007), “i-D Generations – Living Art Expo” (Hong Kong, 2005), “LIVE+MAY” (Hong Kong, 2003), etc.  She is also actively engaged in various creative and arts educational projects and co-founded Woofer Ten, a community arts space in Hong Kong.

Kacey Wong

© Kacey Wong Dr. Kacey Wong (1970) was born in Hong Kong. He studied architecture in Cornell University and received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Chelsea School of Art and Design and Doctor of Fine Arts Degree from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. He is the founding member of Art Citizens, Street Design Union, Umbrella Movement Art Preservation, and former curator & member of Para/Site Art Space. Also a former Assistant Professor at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Design’s Environment and Interior Design Discipline. Currently he is an Examiner of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. His research investigate artist’s and designer’s role in social political causes.

Him Lo

© Him Lo Him Lo is a multidisciplinary artist based in HK. He graduated from Middlesex University(BA in Illustration) in 2004, Rmit University (BA in Fine Arts) in 2008 and Lingnan University (Master in Cultural Studies) in 2014. His work is mainly a quest of the form of existence in the city. He focuses in the relations between the ego and physical (digression/ construction/ destruction / reconstruction).

Lo creates mixed-media sculptures and installation art apart from painting. He is also a performance artist and presented in Hong Kong International Performance Art Festival 2014. For the last few years, he actively involved in community art and community empowerment. He has been the curator of the Hong Kong House of Stories from 2012 to 2016, which strives to arouse public concern on the regional and cultural conservation. To work with the public (or “kaifong”, the residents and people living in a specific community) develop more discussions on the issues of community and cultural conversation, the Hong Kong House of Stories carries out research and record on community histories and cultures. It also invites traditional craftsmen, organic farmers and housewives as workshop instructors to share the craft skills and culture of the community.
 
Vivienne Chow

© Vivienne Chow Vivienne Chow is an award-winning journalist and critic specialising in arts, culture and cultural politics. She currently works as an independent writer and contributes to many international media outlets including BBC, Variety, Quartz, Artsy, as well as the South China Morning Post. She is the recipient of the IJP Premium Fellowship Award 2018 by the Internationale Journalisten-Programme in Germany, the first Hong Kong-based journalist to receive the award. She returns to Berlin during the summer of 2018 to embark on a series of journalistic research projects revolving around the topic of art and cultural politics.