The Siu King Chung Archive offers an extensive collection of materials about Hong Kong art from the 1980s to the 2000s. These materials highlight the development of self-organised art practices in Hong Kong’s art scene and serve as valuable references for contemporary community and education practices. The archive illuminates Siu’s multifaceted career as a scholar, educator, curator, and artist in Hong Kong, documenting his artistic and curatorial practices that were characterised by an emphasis on reinforcing underrepresented histories and the importance of community participation. Further, the archive contains materials about Hong Kong art policy and art and design education, reflecting Siu’s extensive research across multiple subjects.

Biographical Notes 
Born in 1962 in Hong Kong, Siu King Chung (蕭競聰) obtained his Certificate of Foundation Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic in 1984 before obtaining his BFA (1986–87) and MA in Art (1987–90) at Northern Illinois University. Siu returned to Hong Kong in 1990 and spent a year as a secondary school art teacher, later joining the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)’s School of Design as Research Associate (1991–92) and Lecturer (1993–94). 

In 1992, he taught a course titled “Installation Art–Fabricated Reality–An Installed View” at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Together with a group of students interested in installation art, they formed the art collective NUX (八人入乂) in the summer of 1993. NUX, active from 1993 to 2000, was a loosely organised group without fixed members. The members came from diverse disciplines, including architecture, art education, computer programming, graphic design, product design, and theatre. Installations of NUX were created with the intention of discussing the display itself. The group experimented with different materials and explored the metaphorical implication of objects and spaces. NUX participated in multiple exhibitions and events, including at A Festival of Installation Art: Documentary Exhibition (1994), Blackbox Exercise (1994), the Hong Kong Installation Festival 1995, New Horizon in Art–Installation (1996), and Sentimental Education (1997). 

Deeply engaged in art and design education in Hong Kong, Siu considered how everyday objects visually represent culture and encouraged his students to design projects with social impact. He began teaching at PolyU School of Design in 1993. Before his retirement in 2022, he served as Associate Dean (2015–22), Associate Professor (1995–2022), and Programme Leader of the BA (Hons) Art and Design in Education Programme and BA (Hons) Social Design Programme. As Programme Leader, Siu designed the curriculum to reflect consistently on the potential of art education and its connection to design. In 2017, he founded the Social Design Programme, in order to nurture the development of designers and project coordinators for projects catered to social needs. Siu’s projects encouraged students to observe their environment and develop participatory initiatives that fostered community dialogue. 

Siu co-founded the curatorial collective Community Museum Project (CMP, 民間博物館計劃) with Phoebe Wong, Tse Pak-chai, and the late Howard Chan in 2002. Siu met Chan and Wong at PolyU while working as a Research Associate, and had noticed a lack of documentation and writing on creativity in Hong Kong. This led them to collaborate with students from the Art and Design in Education Programme to curate experimental exhibitions, including The Archaeological Finds of the Lo Ting Culture (1998) and Designs You Don’t Know What to Do With (1999). The collective was officially formed after meeting Tse in 2002. CMP aimed to showcase the underrepresented histories and cultures of Hong Kong through publications and exhibitions within a community setting. Siu regarded his involvement in the CMP as inseparable from his teaching, frequently involving his students from PolyU Design in CMP projects. Notable CMP projects included Objects of Demonstration (2002, 2004), (This Is Not) Fake Museum (2003), and In Search of Marginalised Wisdom: Sham Shui Po Craftspeople Exhibition (2007). 

In addition to his artistic and community involvement, Siu has researched and written extensively on art, design, visual culture, and cultural policy. He authored Lesser Designs (2012), co-authored Designs You Don't Know What To Do With: A Book About (the Meanings of) Design and Its Alternatives (2004), and co-edited Deep Water (2017). Exploring the relationship between visual art and design and the development of design education curricula, he published “Redeveloping Design Education in Hong Kong?” in 2003. Other papers explore the application of museum methodologies in representing community values and practices, including “Street as Museum as Method: Some Thoughts on Museum Inclusivity” (2008) and “Informal Religious Shrines: Curating Community Assets in Hong Kong and Singapore” (2014). 

Description of Series 
Materials collected during the first phase have been provided by Siu King Chung. These digitised materials consist of photo documentation, ephemera, administrative documents, and correspondence related to his participation in curatorial endeavours of community art projects, art collectives, and his own artistic practices. The archive also includes Siu’s writings, research materials, and teaching materials.  

Dates (inclusive) 
1989–2011 (phase 1)

Languages 
English, Traditional Chinese 

Collection Access 
Open for research. Onsite-only and restricted materials—including but not limited to correspondence, newspaper clippings, and unpublished writings—are available for consultation at AAA in Hong Kong, New Delhi, and New York. Please submit the Application for Access to Research Collections Form at least five working days in advance. 

Collection Use 
Subject to all copyright laws. Permission to publish materials must be obtained from copyright owners. Please contact research@aaa.org.hk for further enquiries.  

Archival History and Project Team 
The Siu King Chung Archive is part of the project Recalling Disappearance: Hong Kong Contemporary Art. The digitisation started in November 2023. Phase 1 containing over 300 records was launched in September 2024. 

The Siu King Chung Archive was developed by Anthony Yung and Hazel Kwok, with support from Isabella Chan and Aki Kung. Erica Leung also contributed in the process with the annotation and translation as Research Assistant. The physical materials were digitised by Research Assistants Cho Wing Ki, Elliot Deng, Cami Hui, Krystie Ng, and Chung Wong. 

Acknowledgements
Recalling Disappearance: Hong Kong Contemporary Art is financially supported by the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The content of this programme does not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. 

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