Marking the opening of AAA’s newly renovated library, this programme brings together a group of artists and cultural workers to discuss the historical and contemporary conditions that make collective work necessary in Hong Kong. How do different generations of art collectives learn from each other? In Hong Kong, where land and space are tightly controlled, how do artists work collectively to share access to these resources?
This event is part of The Collective School, AAA’s current project that explores artist-driven and collective models of learning. Developed in collaboration with Gudskul, a Jakarta-based collective that runs a grassroots school for other collectives, The Collective School provokes debate about what makes collectivity necessary for survival today and how collectives remain adaptive and relevant to their respective contexts.
*Please register separately for each talk.
Talk #1: How to Make a Great Name for Your Artist Group
2–4pm
The first talk invites eight Hong Kong–based artists and cultural workers who have been part of collectives focusing on performance art, community engagement, and cultural labour from the 1990s onward. They discuss the evolution of collectivism, collaboration, and self-organisation as artistic strategies in Hong Kong, and how their work has responded to key moments such as the establishment of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in the 1990s and social movements since the early 2000s.
Artists Chen Shi-Sen, Lai Chun Ling, and To Yeuk speak about why working collectively is essential in their performance-based and socially-engaged practices. Scholar Siu King Chung, artist Duncan Wong, and researcher Phoebe Wong discuss how and why collectives emerged in the mid-1990s in response to new art forms and topics, such as installation, community art, and cultural studies. Leung Ka Man and Ocean Leung share their experimental practice and its relation to their educational works.
Speakers:
Sanmu Chen Shi-Sen, Southern Artists Salon, Green Wave Art, The Originals
Dick Lai Chun Ling, Your Ears Covered, The Originals
Leung Ka Man, Epical Chamber
Ocean Leung Yu Tung, Epical Chamber
Siu King Chung, NUX, Community Museum Project
To Yeuk, Your Ears Covered, The Originals
Duncan Wong, NUX
Phoebe Wong Siu Yin, Kultkuli, Community Museum Project
Moderator:
Anthony Yung, AAA
Talk #2: From a String to a Web, When to Fall?
4:30–6pm
The second talk brings together three young collectives—Black Window, Floating Projects, and Popo-Post Art Group—to discuss different modes of collectivity in response to recent changes in Hong Kong. How are connections made in the formation of a collective? How to strike a balance between collective and personal endeavours? How can collectives develop strategies to propose alternative ways of knowledge-making?
Winnie Yan speaks about her involvement in Floating Projects (est. 2015), a multidisciplinary platform that encourages experimentation and critical discourse. Chung Wing Shan and Aaron Lam introduce the Popo-Post Art Group (est. 2018), which seeks to host happenings in idle and underrated spaces. Yentl Tong and Chung Wong discuss Black Window (est. 2020), a collectively-run kitchen and info shop, formed by a group of friends engaged in exploring the interstices between action and aesthetics.
Speakers:
Chung Wing Shan & Aaron Lam, Popo-Post Art Group
Yentl Tong & Chung Wong, Black Window
Moderators:
Winnie Yan, Floating Projects
Susanna Chung, AAA
The Collective School is generously supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, as well as Wendy Lee & Stephen Li, and Virginia & Wellington Yee.
Supported by
Hong Kong Arts Development Council fully supports freedom of artistic expression. The views and opinions expressed in this project do not represent the stand of the Council.
