From the fraternal hatred and passions of Hui Man-keung and Ting Lik in the classic television series “The Bund”, to the rivalry between Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung that dominated the music world, to king of the nonsensical Stephen Chow . . . movies, television, and popular music are for generation after generation the imprints that mark the passing of years. In the same way, Kai Tak Airport has been an important window onto the growth and development of Hong Kong since its economic boom, bearing witness to the joys and sorrows of waves of mass migration in 1990s, until its “glorious retirement” after re-unification. Today, it awaits its transformation to become a cruise terminal and new tourism attraction. The Kai Tak Airport is not only an important mark of the times; it is also the meeting point between Hong Kong and the outside world where all of the anticipation, fear, and imagination intersected.

Mainland China and Hong Kong have an inseparably close relationship, both economically and politically. For historical reasons, Hong Kong’s social norms, education and legal systems are totally different from that of the Mainland. The resulting cultural and intellectual divergence has often meant that the two cultures stood as opposites against each other. However, since the reform and opening up of the Mainland since 1980s, as the dominant popular cultures, Hong Kong and Taiwan culture swept across the Mainland, bringing to the new generation of youth a great culture shock. Hong Kong and Taiwanese movies, television series, popular music, and stars accompanied this new generation as they grew up. During the journey of their maturation, the influence from Hong Kong culture stood as an exquisite panorama that grabbed attention and provoked thoughts.

The five emerging Mainland artists represented in this exhibition were born between 1970 and 1985. Although they grew up in different environments, they share one connective pen stroke, which is their relationship to Hong Kong popular culture. The curator, Janet Fong said, “Our various experiences from youth to adulthood formed our current personalities and ideas. Of the five artists participating in this exhibition, a commonality is their remembrance and records of memories and experiences that relate to Hong Kong.”

This exhibition is held in the Cattle Depot Artist Village at To Kwa Wan, near Kai Tak Airport. Standing near this historical and cultural window of exchange, the five artists not only will show their stories, conceptions and imagination of Hong Kong, they greatly hope to have face to face interactions with the people and the culture of Hong Kong. Some artists will invite members of the public to participate in creating an artwork; others have plans to create a unique experience for each visitor. Through numerous methods, this exhibition tries to connect to memories of the popular culture, so as to construct an impression of contemporary Hong Kong.

In addition, this exhibition will also have an “Art Education Corner”, where through the artists’ saved childhood objects, pictures and words, more visitors will understand the impact Hong Kong culture has had on the generation who grew up after the Reform and Opening of the Mainland in 1980s, as well as its importance in this unique time-period of history.

Curator: Janet Fong
Artists: Ge Fei + Lin Zhen, Hua Jun, Xin Yunpeng, Zhao Chen

Opening Reception:20 May 2011 (Fri), 7:00pm
Dialogue with artists and curator: 21 May 2011 (Sat), 2:30pm