Hong Kong Arts Development Council will take part in the 52nd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia in June this year with presentations of artists from Hong Kong, China.
STAR FAIRY : Hong Kong in Venice, a playful, critical and engaging project initiated by Norman Ford, will feature the works of three experienced international artists MAP Office (Gutierrez + Portefaix), Amy Cheung and Hiram To.
Under the curatorial direction of arts veteran Norman Ford, STAR FAIRY sets out to ask questions on how Hong Kong shows itself to the world. In the curator’s words, cities create and employ representational strategies in promotion of a particular identity. The city’s motivations are primarily a promotional, income-generating exercise. But it is also about making meaning. It empowers real-world intervention into the state of a city’s culture and, importantly, influences how that culture is produced, then packaged and consumed (how it is perceived) internationally. This process is the focus of STAR FAIRY’s critique. The projects will question this process, where a city seeks fame, purposefully engaging with the various strategies a city might use to represent itself.
STAR FAIRY offers some playful and engaging responses to these questions. MAP Office presents “Concrete Jungle / The Parrot’s Tale”, an artificial, mist and plant filled ‘urban jungle’ with talking parrots peppering visitors with humorous, critical questions. Amy Cheung’s ambitious two-part project “Devil’s Advocate,” consists of an elegant Ferris wheel like structure with frozen figures and bumper-cars that destroy each other, both connecting with a carnivalesque mystery. Lastly, Hiram To’s elaborate installation “I Love You More Than My Own Death” weaves multi-layered references like game shows, cinema, contemporary art into Hong Kong’s fascinating relationship with fame. The exhibition creates a playful, critical and entertaining experience for the audience through the combination of sound, image, text, video and objects.
The exhibition site is located at Arsenale, Campo della Tana, Castello 2126, 30122 Venice. The Press Conference will be held on 8th June at 10.45 am in the Teatro Piccolo - Arsenale and the opening ceremony will be at 12.00 pm in the venue.
Preview will run from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, 6 to 9 June 2007. Starting from 10 June onwards till 21 November, the exhibition will be open from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm (closed on Tuesdays, except Tuesday 12th June).
The ADC has been taken part in the Biennale di Venezia with presentations of artists from Hong Kong, China since 2001. The total number of visitors of the past three exhibitions amounts to 100,000.
Biographies of curator and artists are per attached. Further details of the project will be announced nearer the event.
INFORMATION:
(Venice)
Arte Communications
Tel: (39) 041-526 4546 Fax: (39) 041-276 9056
Email: info@artecommunications.com
pressoffice@
Web site: www.artecommunications.com
(Hong Kong, China)
Wendy Tso
Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Tel: (852) 2820-1031 Fax: (852) 2824-0585
Email: wendy_tso@hkadc.org.hk
Web site: www.hkadc.org.hk
