Spring Workshop, Hong Kong

04/09/2018

If you missed the inaugural show at Tai Kwun - "Dismantling the Scaffold" curated by Christina Li and presented by Spring - or live too far to visit, here's a great RTHK clip to bring you up to speed. Hats off to Christina Li and Wing Po So.

Shared with Dropbox

28/08/2018

Public programs held at Tai Kwun during the exhibition Dismantling the Scaffold included:
Leung Chi Wo and Sara Wong: The Spectacle of Space Consumption 2008, thirty choreographed performances (every Fri 7pm; Sat/Sun 3pm);
Tiffany Chung: two-part program History and the Way Forward
Part 1) Art in Times of Crisis panel (June 15, 7-8:30pm)
Part 2) Refugee Experience and Asylum Policy – The Way Forward panel (June 17, 10am-12pm);
Pak Sheung Chuen and LH02: eleven workshops inspired by their collective artwork Killing 3000;
Bing Lee: Tuesday Lunch Club and iconographic narrative workshops for secondary students and teachers

28/08/2018

Current is an expressive arts experiential journey initiated by artists and expressive arts therapy trainees AMA and Jessica Kong. Together with percussionist Heidi Law, the journey uses shamanic drumming to steer each participant into a zone of creative imagination. The pulse of the drum guides us to a deeper release of conscious control, dissolving mental blockages and resistance. Using different artistic media, participants create freely as they immerse themselves in a journey of expression and connection.

28/08/2018

Curator Christina Li writes: The inaugural exhibition Dismantling the Scaffold, presented by Spring Workshop at Tai Kwun Contemporary from June 9 to August 19, 2018, brings together works from local and international artists and collectives, a constellation of artworks which engage with the social and civil structures we collectively inhabit.

The artistic positions in the exhibition aim to open up insights as well as questions that reimagine and examine the established conventions and norms conditioning how we navigate and give shape to our everyday lives. The two major keystones in the exhibition concept are the site’s history and collaboration: the unique background of the site of the former Central Police Station compound—as a police station, magistracy, and prison in the past—as well as the collaboration of two contemporary art organizations at a convergence in their timelines—the beginning of Tai Kwun Contemporary and the planned hibernation of Spring Workshop after its 5-year operation.

The “scaffold”—the main motif for the exhibition—is commonly understood as a temporary support structure deployed while a building is being constructed or repaired. In its lesser-known usage, a scaffold can also refer to a construction used in the past to stage public ex*****ons and punishments. The title Dismantling the Scaffold thus brings together these two definitions in order to draw attention to the site’s previous historical function before its current transformation, all the while looking forward to its new role as a permanent cultural institution and heritage site in Hong Kong.

Organised under this central metaphor of the scaffold, artworks in the exhibition explore art’s potential to illuminate and unpack our relationship with society at large. They offer poignant reflections of the invisible and visible structures that constitute and organise our daily existence among our surroundings. Working across fictional and historical narratives, these artistic manifestations originate from daily encounters with the inner logic around built infrastructure, institutions of administration and order, and related issues around collaboration, historical amnesia, identity politics, and individual autonomy. As a whole, Dismantling the Scaffold proffers multiple interpretations to aspects of everyday structures that underpin our reality as human beings in contemporary civil society.

28/08/2018

On December 10, 2017, we held Spring’s final evening of celebration amidst our last on-site exhibition A Collective Present. Samson Young presented Muted Situation #2: Muted Lion Dance. We debuted Spring’s last publication Industrial Forest created by ESKYIU and a wrap-up film Spring Fever: Six Years in Twelve Minutes. Claire Hsu, Christina Li, Alexandra Seno, Cosmin Costinas, William Lane, Marisa Yiu and Mimi Brown spoke. Tote bags were distributed, cocktails like Spring Break and the Last Straw were sipped, and guests were invited to share parting thoughts on cards in the twilight.

28/08/2018

A Collective Present | Tiffany Chung and Koki Tanaka | Curated by Christina Li | November 4 – December 10, 2017 | Our final exhibition assembles the ongoing research of Tiffany Chung and Koki Tanaka, enabled by their residencies at Spring in the past year. The pair of works unpack recent events from the ‘60s to the present in order to reveal histories of forgotten/marginalized events and of disregarded communities in Hong Kong. As an extension of her ongoing research for the Hong Kong chapter of The Vietnam Exodus Project, Chung will exhibit archival materials and notes from her academic research and ethnographic fieldwork that excavate personal/collective histories and remap the now-erased spatial/historical narratives of the local Vietnamese refugee community in Hong Kong. As part of the presentation, Chung hosts a discussion between human rights lawyers and former Vietnamese refugees on Hong Kong’s asylum policies and the impact these continuously-shifting policies had upon their lives, in order to make visible the obliterated history and troubled domestic relationship with the displaced Vietnamese population from 1975 until now. Continuing his research on the potential of temporary communities that arise in times of adversity, Koki Tanaka’s new work Precarious Tasks #9: 24hrs Gathering (Timeline) began with an invitation to eight participants in August to a 24-hour session at Spring when they jointly composed a possible timeline of Hong Kong’s social movements since the ‘60s. The resulting text piece interweaves their personal stories with a timeline of significant events in Hong Kong history. On show are threads extracted by Tanaka from the session, which re-imagine a collective memory and narrative of this city that finds itself in a constant state of socio-political discord. As a moment of reflection before Spring’s planned respite begins in January at the end of its five-year life cycle, A Collective Present brings to the fore interrelated temporalities that give an account of Hong Kong’s recent past, often dismissed in the city’s perpetual quest for progress. By briefly dislocating us from the here and now, Chung and Tanaka’s manifestations offer poignant insights on how we might be able to act with collective awareness as humans in this tumultuous present. / 《共存》 Tiffany Chung及田中功起 我們最後一個展覽《共存》集結了藝術家Tiffany Chung及田中功起過去一年在Spring駐留時的創作成果，展示兩人各自研究項目的進程。兩組作品分別考掘香港自上世紀六十年代至今的近代歷史大事，包括一些已被遺忘或邊緣化的事件 ，以及當中被忽略的社群。Tiffany Chung延伸自她持續進行的研究項目《The Vietnam Exodus Project》之香港部分，當中包含了她對本地越南難民群落進行實地考察及學術研究時所作的筆記，以及一系列本地及國際機構的文獻資料，以遠近兼備的角度發掘出難民的個人及集體歷史，並重組香港越南難民被抹除的群落空間敘述。此外，藝術家亦會主持一場討論，與幾位人權律師及前越南難民對談，探討香港當時的庇護政策，以及相關措施的反覆無常對他們人生的影響。藉此揭示由1975年至今，流離失所的越南人口與香港困窘的關係，及其散佚的歷史。 田中功起的新作《Precarious Tasks #9: 24hrs Gathering (Timeline)》延續他的研究主題：萌生自困境的臨時社群所蘊藏的潛能。藝術家在2017年8月時邀請了8位本地參與者聚首Spring工作室，在24小時裡共同生活，並合力構思及 編撰出一條橫跨上世紀六十年代至今的香港社會運動時間軸。時間軸上的文字交織著參與者的個人故事，以及香港歷史的重要事件。經藝術家整理完這多層的共同時間軸後，將會展出其中的章節，重新想像一個在持續社會分歧中成長的城市，會擁有怎樣的集體回憶和論述。Spring即將如期於明年一月稍息 ，完滿結束五年的計劃。此前，《共存》正好作為一個反思的時刻，展覽重現過去兩段互有交疊的時間，撿拾這個只看眼前 路的城市遺落身後的記憶。兩位藝術家將我們暫時帶離此時此地，在探尋往事的過程中展露真知洞見，讓我們明白自己在這個動蕩的時代裡，作為人類，如何共同生存。

28/08/2018

A part of An exposition, not an exhibition, Hong Kong Solos is an artwork by Ari Benjamin Meyers that takes place at six non-profit art organizations—Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong Arts Centre, M+, Para Site, soundpocket and Things that can happen. Meyers invited six local Hong Kong composers to create new works for staff members at these organizations across the city. In order to experience these intimate pieces devised for 1 performer and 1-4 audience members, potential listeners are invited to book visits to these institutions. The work centers around bringing together usually disparate parties: a composer and an art professional, a performer and a visitor, and the members of the art and music worlds of Hong Kong.

The composer/performer/site combinations are:
1. GayBird Leung x Michelle Wong x Asia Art Archive (Sheung Wan)
2. Steve Hui x Samantha Kwok x Hong Kong Art Centre (Wan Chai)
3. Shane Aspegren x Tom Morgan x M+ (Cyberport)
4. Vanissa Law x Olivia Chow x Para Site (Quarry Bay)
5. Charles Kwong x Alice Wong x soundpocket (San Po Kong)
6. Lam Lai x Chantal Wong x Things that can happen (Sham Shui Po)

13/08/2018

To celebrate the closing weekend of "Dismantling the Scaffold", here's your chance to adopt an artwork from LH02's installation "Killing 3000" as your memento of the exhibition.

All you need to do is to send a private message to the work's dedicated page, 攞你命三千 with the following details:

1. The image of the work you wish to adopt

2. The reason why you would like to adopt it

Once you have received a confirmation, you will be able to come between 7-9pm this Friday (August 17) to pick up the work (with its corresponding QR code).

Please note, ONE adoption is allowed per person, so hurry up and don't miss the chance to adopt your favourite piece!

【攞你命3000領養計劃】

用一句說話，換走一件藝術品。

見大家對「攞你命3000」咁愛不釋手，團隊決定推出「領養計劃」，歡迎大家嚟將藝術品帶回家！

PM 我哋，提供以下嘅資料：

1) 你想「領養」嘅作品（相片）
2) 想「領養」佢嘅原因（文字）

收到我哋嘅確認通知之後，我哋會安排大家喺星期日展覽結束前，返嚟認領作品（物件連 QR code）。每人限領養一件。

25/07/2018

Open Call In-situ aims to support international emerging and mid-career artists and designers whose practice can benefit from spending time in Hong Kong. Applic

12/07/2018

PUBLIC PROGRAMS at Tai Kwun are on! Don't miss them:

LH02, the artist collective formed by Pak Sheung Chuen, Jaffe.T, Cathy Tsang, Grace Gut and Siumou Chow, is running a workshop series around their new artwork shown in the exhibition called Killing 3000. The artwork is named after the absurd “ultimate weapon” created in the spy movie spoof “From Beijing with Love” (1994) directed by Stephen Chow and Lee Lik-chi. Run by film critic Born Lo, the Killing 3000 Film Workshop (July 12 and 19) takes as its starting point this question: “How are we going to make films if so many topics out there are regarded as sensitive?” In conversation with participants, Lo will analyze and examine subtle references in Hong Kong films produced between 1989 and 1997. Also in the series is a Killing 3000 Confessional Rope Tying Reconciliation Workshop (July 13). Alluding to the ex*****on scene in Chow’s movie, this workshop invites pairs to perform bo***ge on each other in an exercise built around honest conversations of disclosure in vulnerable settings.

In addition, there will also be a sketching workshop (July 28) hosted by Jaffe T. and Chan Kung Chun, and a talk entitled “Collectively, so to speak” (July 20) which brings together Bing Lee, Teresa Kwong, Frog King, Samson Young and others on the subject of Asian artist collectives, moderated by Hera Chan. Bing Lee will also hold school workshops and a lunch club meeting as part of his engagement with our community.

Cookie-lovers can drool at commissioned performances of The Spectacle of Space Consumption, staged for the first time here in Hong Kong since its original presentation in 2008 in Sao Paulo. In collaboration with HKAPA dancers and choreographers, artist duo Leung Chi Wo + Sara Wong have re-created a new installation and performance on the second floor of JC Contemporary, where the dancers bake and serve actual cookies at specific times over the weekend (every Friday 7pm, Saturday/Sunday 3pm) .

Family Day at Tai Kwun Contemporary (August 5) will feature children’s workshops, family tours and extra performances of The Spectacle of Space Consumption at 2pm, 3pm, 4pm. A teaching guide for the exhibition is also available for educators. Finally, there are general guided tours of Dismantling the Scaffold on Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm (Cantonese)/4pm (English).​

Contact [email protected] for public program registration or questions.

03/07/2018

Read HK ARTION's highlights of "Dismantling the Scaffold", currently on view Tai Kwun Contemporary till August 15!