Hong Kong Conversations is an ongoing series of talks that considers Hong Kong's art ecology within a wider cultural and sociopolitical framework. Organised in collaboration with the New Hall Art Collection—a collection of modern and contemporary art by women at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge—the 2018 edition brings together artists, researchers, and art practitioners to discuss how the status and representation of women artists in Hong Kong have changed from the 1960s onwards. The event traces personal memories and discusses collection strategies in institutions to open up questions around women in art in the region.
Opening Remarks
Erica Lam, Project Manager, Cultural Heritage Leadership Project, Fringe Club
Claire Hsu, Co-founder & Executive Director, Asia Art Archive
Eliza Gluckman, Curator, New Hall Art Collection
Panel 1 | Survival and Aspiration: On Becoming an Artist
What does it mean to be a woman artist? Building on research from the New Hall Art Collection, the panel begins with researcher Phoebe Wong examining the status of women artists in Hong Kong through its art ecology, exhibition histories, and societal development. The panel also invites Choi Yan Chi, Ho Sin Tung, and Jaffa Lam to discuss events significant to their creative practices, exploring how changing socioeconomic and cultural conditions inform their career aspirations and often multi-faceted practices—as artists, educators, and organisers.
Speakers:
Choi Yan Chi, Artist
Ho Sin Tung, Artist
Jaffa Lam, Artist
Moderator: Phoebe Wong, Independent Researcher
Panel 2 | Mind the Gap: Women Artists in Art Institutions
This panel considers the representation of women artists from three different art institutions: Asia Art Archive, M+, and the New Hall Art Collection. By comparing the way they each address the presence (or absence) of women artists in their collections, this panel hopes to generate critical reflection on how institutional policies can shape public awareness of women in art, in Hong Kong and beyond.
Speakers:
Eliza Gluckman, Curator, New Hall Art Collection, Murray Edwards College
John Tain, Head of Research, Asia Art Archive
Pauline J. Yao, Lead Curator, Visual Art, M+
Venue: Fringe Underground, Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road,Central, Hong Kong (MTR Central Station Exit D)
Free and open for public with registration.
Choi Yan Chi is an artist, curator, and art educator. After her studies at the Art Institute of Chicago, Choi has been committed to promoting contemporary art in Hong Kong since the 1980s. She was a Grantee of Asian Cultural Council in 1990. Her solo exhibitions include An Extension into Space, Hong Kong Art Centre, 1985; the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Germany, 1993; and [Re-]Fabrication, Para Site, 2006. In 2002, Choi helped establish the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University, and became part of the teaching faculty. Choi is co-founder of 1a space.
Lam Laam Jaffa received her BFA, MFA, and Postgraduate Diploma in Education at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is a sculptor specialising in large-scale, site-specific works, primarily made with recycled materials such as crate wood, old furniture, and umbrella fabric. She has been involved in many public art and community projects in Hong Kong and overseas. Her works often explore issues related to local culture, history, society, and current affairs.
Ho Sin Tung was born in Hong Kong, where she currently lives and works. She graduated with a BFA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008.
Phoebe Wong is a Hong Kong-based culture worker with a special interest in contemporary art, design, and visual media. She was Head of Research at Asia Art Archive before becoming an independent researcher and writer in 2012. Her writings have been published in Art Plus, Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, and the International Association of Art Critics Hong Kong, amongst others.
Eliza Gluckman is Curator of the New Hall Art Collection at Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, the largest collection of work by women in Europe; and she also curates for A Woman’s Place Project. She has an MA in Fine Art from the University of Edinburgh and an MA in Curating Contemporary Art from the Royal College of Art. She has worked at Space Studios, the RSA, Parasol unit, and Asia House; and has programmed a central London gallery as part of an independent curatorial partnership, Day+Gluckman, for over ten years.
John Tain is Head of Research at Asia Art Archive. Prior to joining AAA, Tain was a curator for modern and contemporary collections at the Getty Research Institute for ten years. He has organised exhibitions and programmes, among them Greetings from L.A. and Video Art from the New China. His writings have appeared in Artforum, The Brooklyn Rail, Flash Art International, ArtReview Asia, and ART PAPERS. He is President of the Society of Contemporary Art Historians, and in Los Angeles was a member of the programming committee at Human Resources LA, and also on the faculty at the USC Roski School of Art and Design.
Pauline J. Yao is Lead Curator of Visual Art at M+. She has held curatorial positions at the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, and worked as an independent curator and writer in Beijing for six years, helping co-found the storefront art space Arrow Factory. Since joining M+ in 2012, Yao has played an active role in building the visual art collection by overseeing and acquiring works from around Asia and internationally.
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