Educator Open House gathers educators at the start of the new school semester to find teaching inspiration through Asia Art Archive’s Collections.
This year, AAA invites our colleagues from India, as well as two artist-facilitators from Hong Kong, to share valuable resources and hands-on experience with local educators to inspire artistic research in creative education.
The first session features a talk, exhibition tour, and workshop on the recently launched Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive. The second session, led by Pat Wing Shan Wong and Heesun Seo, educators from the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University, will encourage participants to consider illustration and graphic design as a research and experimental tool.
This programme aims to create a community of educators who can learn from and support each other in a relaxed environment. It is designed for local and international school teachers of visual arts, humanities, social sciences, and theory of knowledge. Teachers of other disciplines and pre-service teachers are also welcome to participate.
SESSION 1
Threads, Trails, Travels: Mrinalini Mukherjee’s Artistic Research
Sat, 23 Sept 2023, 10am–1pm HKT
Quota: 35
Language: English
How can travel experiences and everyday life inspire artistic creation? How do artists record their observations through documentation? In this session, colleagues from Asia Art Archive in India (AAA-I) present a series of activities on artist travels and research through the Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive.
Talk and Exhibition Tour
Speakers: Noopur Desai and Samira Bose
Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949–2015) was a prolific sculptor based in New Delhi who challenged established norms in sculpture making, particularly in her monumental fibre, ceramic, and bronze sculptures. This talk introduces Mukherjee’s artistic practice by taking the participants through materials from her personal archive, as well as the library exhibition “mould the wing to match the photograph.” Focusing on Mukherjee’s travels, the talk explores how artists encounter new sites, contexts, and art forms, and how these become incorporated into their practice. The parallel examples of artists’ travelogues with writings on artistic research from the region will also offer valuable resources for art educators looking to inspire their students to research and record their creative processes.
Artist-led Workshop on Patterns and Paper Weaving
Facilitator: Pallavi Arora
This workshop builds on Mukherjee’s sculptural practice and her use of unconventional materials, as well as the knotting and weaving methods she learnt through engagements with vernacular art forms in India. Participants will zoom into images of Mukherjee’s artwork documentation to find patterns or forms, creating a unique, multi-coloured paper-woven work to take home.
This session is conducted by the co-curators of “mould the wing to match the photograph”—Noopur Desai, Pallavi Arora, and Samira Bose of AAA-I—who worked closely over several months across their respective departments of Research, Collections, and Curatorial, bringing together layers of perspectives to the Mrinalini Mukherjee Archive.
SESSION 2
Unearthing Narratives: Illustration and Graphic Design in Archival Research
Sat, 7 Oct 2023, 2–5:30pm HKT
Quota: 40
Language: Cantonese and English
Building on their first collaboration with AAA, where they co-taught a Studio Graphic Design course at Hong Kong Baptist University’s Academy of Visual Arts in 2023, Pat Wing Shan Wong and Heesun Seo lead this session to show how illustration and graphic design can be employed as research tools to engage with archival materials.
Rubber Stamp Workshop | Collecting and Re-imagining
Led by Pat Wing Shan Wong
Participants will collect segments of archival materials to create three alternative rubber stamps through research, image iteration, and visual creation. They will use the stamps to create new narratives and use them in the subsequent bookbinding workshop.
Bookbinding Workshop | Combining and Curating
Led by Heesun Seo
Participants will first learn about the structure, layout, and materials of books from AAA’s Library Collections, then experiment with non-traditional materials to create innovative bindings for paper. Through hands-on activities and a combination of theory and practical experimentation, the workshop aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of book design and the skills to create your own distinctive designs.
REGISTRATION DEADLINE
Session 1 (English): Thu, 21 Sep 2023
Session 2 (Cantonese & English): Thu, 5 Oct 2023
Both sessions are free with registration. If you would like to join, please register here.
Pat Wing Shan Wong (aka Flyingpig) is Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University. Her work centres on urban development, examining its personal and public impact between architecture, technology, identity, and memory. She has collaborated with the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Art, Kingston School of Art, the Museum of London, and the Royal College of Art.
Heesun Seo is a graphic designer from South Korea currently based in Hong Kong. She is a lecturer of graphic design at the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University, Art Director at ArtAsiaPacific, and also the founder of the graphic design studio Studio Hik. She specialises in exhibition graphic design, printed matter, and designs revolving around art and culture.
The AAA Learning & Participation Programme is generously supported by the S. H. Ho Foundation Limited.
