Ling U

The MA in curating and art history of Lingnan University is pleased to present Echo Past with Memory, an exhibition co-curated by six MA in curating and art history students. The exhibition presents five Hong Kong artists, Yeung Hok Tak, Malou Ko, So Hing Keung, Lam Wai Kit and Cheung Tsz Ki, whose paintings, photographs, ceramics and installations create landscapes of Hong Kong as a medium linking the past and the present. By presenting the urban and natural landscape of Hong Kong, the exhibition integrates cultural values and significance into the memory of the city and natural landscape, trying to address how people construct their identity in terms of their understanding and imagination about thier living place, thereby to propose visior another or even better sense of identity.

Hong Kong art in the 1990s was characterized by a sense of local identity. It is because there was the that Hong Kong artists are desperately reviewing and renewing their cultural identities under such transitional period of the sovereignty shift. Those artists attempt to show the process of re-searching about Hong Kong's identity through their artworks.

The theme of the exhibition is 'Echo Past with Memory'. By looking at the urban and natural landscapes of Hong Kong, the artists aim to analyze how people connect the past and the present landscape through memory, thus forming a particular way of expressing their personal identity. Hong Kong artist Yeung Hok Tak’s art works, reflects the characteristics of Hong Kong culture through the medium of painting; The porcelain by Malou Ko are placed in the center of the exhibition area, where his paintings constitute a unique way of expressing his sense of personal identity. Two photographs of Hong Kong cityscapes SO Ching Keung showcase landmark buildings from the city's most prosperous period，guiding people to explore the future direction of spiritual return and cultural identity in a landscape constructed place of memory. Mirror me by Hong Kong artist LAM Wai Kit is placed in the middle of the exhibition in the hope that viewers will re-explore their own identity through a living installation. The final artwork placed at the exit is a natural landscape map that Cheung Tsz Ki constructs a tranquil world through the natural landscape of the Tai Tam Reservoir, incorporating cultural values and cultural significance into the memory of the natural landscape, visitors are invited to read the history behind the landscape, and depict that history as a journey towards a pure visual experience.

It is an opportunity to produce and revisit Hong Kong's cultural memory, helping people reflect Hong Kong's post-colonial identity and cultural identity, thereby enhancing a sense of national identity and belonging.

Cheung Tsz-ki graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received the “HKOP Award in Printmaking” in 2018. Some people use art as a way to map out their nationality and identity; some seeks the meaning of life through doubting art; and some sees art as a source of emotional sustenance. Cheung is searching for a reason to make art. Perhaps he is also trying to represent the pursuit of good with his works, while acknowledging powerlessness and loss in life.

Wai Kit Lam graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2003 and a BA (Hons) in Fine Art from Goldsmiths, University of London, the United Kingdom, in 1996. She mainly uses photography, video art, sound and installation as her medium of artistic creation. Lam loves to challenge conventional ideas and rethink humans' diverse representation of relationships and identities. In her exhibit, she emphasises the co-existence of vulnerability and intimacy between humans through a combination of moving images, videos and installations.

Malou Ko is an international award-winning brand designer in Hong Kong. She connects people through her designs. Her designs have been described as delightful, sophisticated, and impactful.

So Hing-keung is a Hong Kong-born photographer. He has held over 34 solo and many group exhibitions in China, Paris, Berlin, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax, Vienna, Macau, and Hong Kong. Among his recent shows is the solo exhibition, “Red”, at the Louis Vuitton Gallery in Hong Kong in 2009. So has also participated in the Guangzhou International Photo Biennial. Works of So Hing-keung are collected by the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and in private collections. Among the awards he has won are the Prize of Excellence of the Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition, Photographer of the Year Awards by the Foreign Correspondence Club of Hong Kong and fellowships from Asian Cultural Council and Hong Kong Arts Development Council. So has four books on his various photographic series. He attained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Photographic Design from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He currently teaches photography at the Department of Fine Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

Yeung Hok Tak