Asia Art Archive welcomes Leo Li Chen as our researcher-in-residence.

For his residency, Chen considers Ha Bik Chuen’s role as an artist and active participant within the art ecology, using Ha’s collage books, exhibition documentation, and artwork case studies. Through his research Chen seeks to explore the exchange between private archives and official narratives, and the subjectivities and democratic possibilities in the archive. His research will contribute to and inform AAA’s workshops surrounding Ha’s archive, and an undergraduate research workshop on Hong Kong Art History, currently in collaborative development with The University of Hong Kong for 2017–2018. Chen has also been invited to participate in the exhibition 'The Man Who Never Threw Anything Away' at Guangdong Times Museum in 2017 as research curator, where he will present part of his findings.

Chen’s residency is part of The Ha Bik Chuen Archive Project (2016–2019), generously supported by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Leo Li Chen is a curator and researcher based in Hong Kong. He is also a Research Associate at the Department of Public Policy in City University of Hong Kong. His main research interests are spatial and aesthetic politics, and artistic intervention in China. He was the curator of ‘That Has Been, and May Be Again’ (Para Site, Hong Kong, 2016), ‘Powerless’ (Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong, 2016), ‘Adrift’ (OCAT, Shenzhen, 2016) and ‘Unlimited Space: The Re-imagination of Everyday Life’ (Starprojects, Hong Kong, 2016). He is a long-term contributing writer for LEAP, TANC, Art World, and Art China.


Residencies and fellowships under the The Ha Bik Chuen Archive Project aim to catalyse new ideas and knowledge by opening up, activating, and circulating materials from the Ha Bik Chuen Archive. Practitioners in artistic production, exhibition-making, and curatorial and art historical research are encouraged to email research@aaa.org.hk for more details.