Curatorial Statement 

In the book Global Hong Kong, scholar Cindy Wong and Gary McDonogh argue that “Hong Kong has been intrinsically “global” since it took shape. They believe Hong Kong was “at the edges of two world empires — China and Great Britain.” Hong Kong has since been a “laboratory for globalization in the last two centuries,” even before the term globalization became a buzzword. Indeed, Hong Kong was a unique city long before the advent of increased international investment and dynamicity fostered by cultural exchange in the 1990s. Back in the Qing Dynasty, Hong Kong served as Britain’s entrepôt for South China, intertwining with wider social and political forces between Hong Kong, China and Britain. As of today, the city has been re-imagined and undergone profound transformation, becoming the outpost of capitalism within China. The free flow of capital and adaptive economic model creates a unique kind of capitalism, underpinning today’s local and global affairs — politics entangled with the apparent contradictions reflecting Hong Kong’s local identity, China’s domestic politics, and the bilateral relationship between the world’s two leading powers, China and the United States. The legacy of the city’s colonial past, the apparent accomplishments connected to the flourishing age of China, alongside the sweeping changes that are happening in the world — trade war, global epidemics and a new world order that vividly questions globalization due to the increasing dynamic between free markets and state capitalism – are constantly opening up new political spaces, while Hong Kong’s people are tactically reinventing themselves, resiliently striving to shape what we know as Hong Kong today.

Hong Kong’s complex history and its unique identity has inspired artists to explore the conflicting notions of localism, nationalism and globalization. The works of Hong Kong’s artists reflect diverse experiences, often confronting mainstream narratives, portraying ways of life as a form of subversion and resistance. Hong Kong: Tales of the City, a debut collaboration between Videotage and Denny Dimin Gallery, aims to explore how moving images of Hong Kong empower us to rethink the larger context of changes that are occurring globally. By presenting various works, this exhibition addresses and negotiates a different geographical context — Hong Kong art in the United States — an experience that is shared and situated, and yet opens up room for wider reflection on what is happening “here and there.” The exhibition contains three distinct parts: Publicness, Everydayness, and Queerness. “Publicness” presents works that address civic participation and imagination. These works demonstrate how video art serves as a medium for individuals to rethink a sense of self in collective settings. “Everydayness” presents works that narrate ordinary life and settings that make up the lives of Hong Kong’s people. “Queerness” presents works that encourages a queer reading of Hong Kong culture, a move beyond accepted boundaries offered by the changing culture in identity politics within and outside of Hong Kong. How could Hong Kong’s public affairs, everyday life and radical imagination about these identities offer us insights into the current social and political landscape of our time? In a time when a relatively minor decision in one place may create ripple effects everywhere, from global finance to movements around the world, this exhibition will review the ways in which Hong Kong artists construct meaning about their spaces, while also exploring the “so far and yet so close” relationship between Hong Kong and the United States.

Curator: Isaac Leung

策展人語

在《Global Hong Kong》一書中，學者Cindy Wong和Gary McDonogh提出：「自開埠以來，香港在本質上是『全 球』的。」他們深信香港「夾在兩個世界帝國──中國和大英帝國的邊緣之間」，甚至在「全球化」成為流行用語之前，香港就已經是「過去兩個世紀的全球化實驗室」。的確，遠早在1990年代之前，不斷增長的國際投資興起和文化交流促進來往互動前，香港已是個獨特的城市。這可追溯到清代，作為英國於華南地區的轉口港，香港周旋於香港、中國和英國之間的廣泛社會和政治力量之間。迄今為止，這座城市已被重新構想並經歷了重大改革，成為中國內資本主義的前哨基地。香港資本自由流動和適應力強的經濟模式創造了一種獨特的資本主義，支撐起當前的本地和國際事務全球事務──在政治上糾纏於顯著的矛盾，折射出香港的本土身份、中國國內政治，以及世界上的兩個主要強國──中國和美國的雙邊關係等議題。這個城市的殖民地歷史遺產、緊密連繫中國蓬勃發展的明顯成果，和世界上正在發生的巨變──貿易戰、全球流行病以及因自由市場和國家資本主義之間的動盪增長而強烈質疑全球化的新世界秩序──不斷開拓新的政治空間 ，同時香港人民在策略上進行自我改造，靈活變通地塑造今天我們所稱的香港。

香港複雜歷史和獨特身份啟發了藝術家探索本土主義、民族主義和全球化等相互矛盾的概念。香港藝術家作品反映出不同經歷，時常反抗主流敘事，描繪生活方式作為一種顛覆和抵抗的形式。「香港—城市傳記」為錄映太奇和Denny Dimin Gallery的首次合作，旨在探索香港流動影像如何使我們反思全球變革背後的大脈絡。是次展覽通過呈現各種作品，針對與探討一種不同的地域性脈絡──香港藝術在美國，構造一種可共享、可設身處地經驗，同時亦創造更多空間， 開闊思考正在「此處和彼處」發生的事情。展覽包含三個不同部份：公共性、日常性和酷兒性。 「公共性」呈現的作品涉及公民參與和想像：這些作品展示了錄像藝術如何充當個人的媒介在集體環境下反思自我意識﹔ 「日常性」呈現與敘述構成香港人生活的日常和場景﹔「酷兒性」呈現了一些鼓勵為香港文化作出酷兒式閱讀的作品，踰越香港內外的身份政治中文化演變下約定俗成的界限。究竟香港的公共事務、日常生活和對身份認同激進的想像，如何為我們當下社會和政治格局提供見解？今天，在一個地方下的一個微小的決定，便可能引發無處不在連鎖反應——從全球金融到世界各地的社會運動。身處這個時代，是次展覽將回顧香港藝術家如何建構其空間的意義，同時探索香港與美國之間「既遠亦近」的關係。

策展人：梁學彬

Exhibition Period: 13 March – 18 April 2020
Opening hours: Tue – Sat, 11:30am – 6pm

Opening Reception: 13 March 2020(Fri), 6pm – 8pm

Panel Discussion: 14 March 2020(Sat), 3pm
Moderator: Barbara Pollack
Panelist: Valerie Doran, Linda Chiu-han Lai, Lau Wai, Daniel Chen
(free and open to the public)

Venue: Denny Dimin Gallery, 39 Lispenard St, New York, NY 10013, United States

Artists
Ellen Pau – Diversion (1990)
Chloe Cheuk Sze Wing – Waiting For Another Round (2015)
Lee Kai Chung – The History of Riots (The DJ) (2013)
Chilai Howard – The Doors (2008)
Linda Lai Chiu Han – Door Games Window Frames: Near Drama (2012)
João Vasco Paiva – Action Through Non Action (2009)
Joseph Chen – Sleepingtripping Dualogy (2018-2019)
Chen Pin Tao 6.o.6.6.y.C.C.- The Euthanasia Project (2019)
Ip Wai Lung – Qingdao Lotus Pond (2018)

Details:
https://dennydimingallery.com/exhibitions/hong-kong-tales-of-the-city-curated-by-videotage/

展期：2020年3月13日至2020年4月18日
時間：週二至六,11:30am至6pm

開幕：2020年3月13日(五), 6pm至8pm

專題討論會：2020年3月14日(六), 3pm
主持：Barbara Pollack
講者：任卓華、黎肖嫻、劉衛、Daniel Chen
（免費進場，歡迎公眾人士參與）

地點：Denny Dimin Gallery, 39 Lispenard St, New York, NY 10013, United States

藝術家
鮑藹倫 – 《兩頭唔到岸》 (1990)
卓思穎 – 《正等待下一輪》 (2015)
李繼忠 – The History of Riots (The DJ) (2013)
鄭智禮 – 《門》 (2008)
黎肖嫻 – 《景框戲門》 (2012)
周奥 – Action Through Non Action (2009)
陳敬元 – 《夢遊記二部曲》 (2018-2019)
陳品陶 6.o.6.6.y.C.C. – The Euthanasia Project (2019)
葉惠龍 –《青島蓮花池》 (2018)

詳情：
https://dennydimingallery.com/exhibitions/hong-kong-tales-of-the-city-curated-by-videotage/