The Third Space is an invitational programme series that introduces alternative learning platforms to re-imagine art education. By creating an open space for independent thought, we activate and engage in environments beyond the boundaries of home and workplace. Through the programme, participants establish a new sense of space and belonging in the city while making connections between art and society.
Invited co-organiser for the inaugural programme Michael Leung gravitates towards places where communities voluntarily gather, root, and responsibly thrive. He also believes in alternative learning platforms that bring students to places outside of conventional classrooms.
PRE-CAMP
Leading up to Sai Wan Winter Camp, a series of public programmes provides an opportunity for a wider audience to engage in the themes to be explored during camp. It is also a chance for camp participants to prepare their mindsets and build knowledge prior to the trip.
Outdoor Screenings of Into the Wild
Written and directed by Sean Penn | 2007 | 148 min | English
Freshly graduated from college with a promising future ahead, 22-year-old Christopher McCandless instead walked out of his privileged life and into the wild in search of adventure. Was he a heroic adventurer or a naïve idealist, a fearless risk-taker or a tragic figure who wrestled with the precarious balance between man and nature? Along the way, he encountered people who shaped his understanding of life and whose lives he, in turn, changed.
Session 1
Date: Thu 5 Nov 2015, 7:30–10:00pm
Venue: Outdoor garden, Kai Tak Campus, Hong Kong Baptist University, 51 Kwun Tong Road, Kowloon (Choi Hung MTR Exit A2)
Session 2
Date: Thu 12 Nov 2015, 7:00–9:30pm
Venue: HKU rooftop farm, Runme Shaw Building, University of Hong Kong (HKU MTR Exit A2)
Programme partners:
General Education Unit of HKU provides whole-person education aiming at creating an intellectual and humanistic campus climate conducive to students’ personal growth, intellectual discussion, cultural interflow and art appreciation. gened.hku.hk
Putyourself.in provides a platform to help self-organised events sell tickets online. The platform is created with the belief that everyone could be an event organiser, sharing his/her interests with others. www.putyourself.in
Vapus, the 10th cabinet of visual arts society of Hong Kong Baptist University student's union wishes to show the diversity of art through holding different arts events, and promoting the culture of art.
Screening of Stray Dogs
Directed by Tsai Ming-liang | 2013 | 134 min | Mandarin with English subtitles
An alcoholic man and his two children wander the margins of modern day Taipei, from the woods and rivers in the outskirts to the rain-streaked streets of the city. The father scrapes out a meager income as a human billboard for luxury apartments, while his young son and daughter roam the supermarkets and malls surviving off free food samples. How does a family living in such poor conditions continue to live? Where can they find comfort and support?
Date: Sat 21 Nov 2015, 8:30–10:30pm
Venue: Ground Floor, 18 Pitt Street, Yau Ma Tei
Programme partners:
18 Pitt Street is an experimental community space rooted in Yau Ma Tei. As a critique of the institution, gentrification and capitalism, 18 Pitt Street is community-supported with unconditional funding so as to rebuild and reflect on one’s relationship to community, truth and social bonding.
WINTER CAMP
In this year's Sai Wan Winter Camp, participants pitch tents in Sai Wan Sai Kung. What does it mean to inhabit public space? In open space, how can we engage with sounds—something that has no discernible substance or mass? Can we be conscious of the way we consume and make sense of everyday objects so we can rediscover our understanding of the world?
Sai Wan village is one of the last heritage settlements of Hong Kong due to historical and geographical factors. Disputes about the usage of the land erupted in 2010 among indigenous Sai Wan villagers, the government’s Agriculture Fisheries and Conservation Department, and a private investor. Leung has been exploring salt-making and sustainable living alongside local villagers at Sai Wan, and through active collective engagement, the programme prompts us to question and examine public space and civic culture, reflect on our relationship to the environment, and reconnect with nature.
Date: Wed–Fri, 16 Dec 10am–18 Dec 4pm
Venue: Tai Long Sai Wan, Sai Kung
Language: Cantonese
Fee: Free of charge
Quota: 12
Facilitators: Fiona Lee, sound artist; Michael Leung, designer, saltmaker, and urban farmer, Ng Ka Chun, artist
Camp eligibility:
Participants of ages 18–30 with a passion for the arts and an interest in current social issues are welcome. In order to facilitate a collaborative environment, we are seeking both participants with previous camping experience and personal camping gear, and participants with no prior camping experience to share and engage in different capacities.
Camp application:
To apply, please or use our online application form, or download this application form and email it to learn@aaa.org.hk, or fax to +852 2815 0032 by Sun 15 Nov 2015. Successful applicants will have a pre-camp briefing session prior to a preceding programme on Sat 21 Nov from 6:45–8:15pm.
WRITTEN RESPONSES
Two written respondents have been invited to observe, reflect, and interpret the entire process of the programme. The written responses serve not only as documentation, but also to further cultivate diverse perspectives and ideas.
Written responses will be available in early Jan 2016.
Written responders:
Evelyn Char, writer, critic, editor of Fleurs des Lettres, and curatorial board member of 1a space.
Sylvia Chow, cultural reporter of Hong Kong Economic Times.
RECOMMENDED READINGS
Bhabha, Homi K., The Location Of Culture, London: Routledge, 1994. [English]
Hsu, Claire and Chantal Wong, Field Note 01: The And: An Expanded Questionnaire on the Contemporary, Hong Kong: Asia Art Archive, 2012. [English]
Kerouac, Jack, The Dharma Bums, Penguin Books, 1976. [English]
Kerouac, Jack, Lonesome Traveller, London: Flamingo, 1994. [English]
Kipling, Rudyard, Just So Stories, London: Macmillan, 1955. [English]
Kruse, Christiane and Antje Majewski, Ziran / Nature: Art, Nature, and Ethics, Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2015. [English]
Kwok, Mangho, Installation Created at an Art Camp, Hong Kong, 1994, Artwork documentation.
More, Thomas, Sir, Saint, Utopia, New York : Cambridge University Press, 2002. [English]
Morton, Brian, The Marine Flora And Fauna of Hong Kong And Southern China IV : Proceedings Of The Eighth International Marine Biological Workshop: The Marine Flora And Fauna of Hong Kong and Southern China, Hong Kong, 2-20 April, 1995, Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1997. [English]
Oldenburg, Ray, The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts And How They Get You Through The Day, New York: Marlowe & Co., 1997. [English]
Pan Xinglei, Forward’95, Hong Kong: San Sai Kei Publisher HK, 1996. [English]
Sundaram, Vivan, Sailboat and Oar Resting Against Tent, India, 1992, Artwork documentation.
Sundaram, Vivan, Tent/Home (Exhibition view), India: Himachal Pradesh, 1983, Personal record.
Thoreau, Henry David, Walden, New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. [English]
Weerasethakul, Apichatpong, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Thailand, 2010, Film.
Wilson, Raymond, Lord Of The Flies, London: Macmillan, 1986. [English]
Recommended Short Films
Zhan, Wang, Beyond 12 Nautical Miles: Floating Rock Drifts on the Open Sea, China, 2000, DVD.
POST-CAMP
A series of post-camp programmes generated by participants, artists, and other arts organisations to extend discussions from the camp back to the city.
Date: Spring 2016
Programme partner:
soundpocket is a promoter, educator, facilitator, and gatherer. Working in the fields of sound, art and culture, they find sound in diverse and dynamic relations with many different art forms (visual art, installation art, music, theatre, dance etc.), and with a variety of cultural contexts that give meanings to our lives. www.soundpocket.org.hk
Enquiries:
Tel: +852 2844 1121, Email: learn@aaa.org.hk
The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation is the lead sponsor of Learning and Participation Programmes 2015