Michelle Wong discusses Ha Bik Chuen's documentation of the 1997 Hong Kong exhibition Being Minorities

 

Being Minorities
Image: Being Minorities — Contemporary Asian Art (1 of 68 photographs). (left to right) Oscar Ho, Konstantin Bessmertny, David Clarke, unidentified individual, Michael Chen, Vivan Sudaram, Vu Dan Tan, Robert O’Brien, Chatchai Puipia, Montien Boonma, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Talha Rathore, Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, unidentified individual, unidentified individual.

Whenever I encounter moments where different worlds meet, I am always amazed. One such instance was when I pulled out a paper packet of photographs from one of the many shoeboxes within Ha Bik Chuen’s archive, then still in its former location in To Kwa Wan. (We have since relocated these materials to AAA Project Space in Fo Tan.) These photographs provide documentation of the exhibition Being Minorities, which took place at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1997; the Exhibitions Director of the time, Oscar Ho Hing Kay, curated the show.

Being Minorities explores how British political power diminished in Hong Kong after the handover to Chinese sovereignty, while the ethnic Chinese population became the dominant force. Other non-Chinese communities in the city continued to be marginalised, invisible within mainstream media and discourse. In response, Ho invited non-Chinese contemporary artists to participate in this exhibition. And so, it was on this occasion that individuals such as Montien Boonma, Robert O’Brien, Vivan Sundaram, and Vu Dan Tan came to occupy the same stage and same exhibition space.

Sundaram and Vu shared their personal archives with AAA in 2010 and 2012 respectively, while O'Brien did an extensive interview with AAA in 2015. This means that in 2015, my discovery of Being Minorities in Ha Bik Chuen’s archive was a conduit for these individuals to meet once again, though this time in archival form. 

 

Michelle Wong is AAA Researcher.

Imprint

Author

Michelle WONG, 黃湲婷

Topic
Essays
Date
Mon, 26 Jun 2017
Tags
Exhibition Histories Complex Geographies
Share

Relevant content

From Exhibition Documentation Album of 'Henry Moore Exhibition of Sculptures and Drawings'
Ha Bik Chuen Archive 夏碧泉檔案
Collections

Ha Bik Chuen Archive 夏碧泉檔案

01 Front Cover, VG London, 1969
Geeta Kapur and Vivan Sundaram Archive
Collections

Geeta Kapur and Vivan Sundaram Archive

Special129
Salon Natasha Archive
Collections

Salon Natasha Archive

AAA Project Space, Archiving Materials
Ideas is AAA's New Online Journal
Press

Ideas is AAA's New Online Journal

Asia Art Archive publishes new essays, interviews, and curated journeys through the research collections

SeeingThings_List
Seeing Things, Being There
Programmes | The Ha Bik Chuen Archive Project

Seeing Things, Being There

6 Oct–25 Nov 2017

Being Minorities — Contemporary Asian Art (Set of 68 Photographs)
Being Minorities — Contemporary Asian Art (Set of 68 Photographs)
1 Document

Being Minorities — Contemporary Asian Art (Set of 68 Photographs)

強勢以外 — 亞洲當代藝術 (68張照片)

Interview: Robert O'Brien — Transcript (English)
Interview: Robert O'Brien — Transcript (English)
1 Document

Interview: Robert O'Brien — Transcript (English)