An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

Essays

Leung Chin-fung Jeff

Translated by Chan Lai-kuen (Text)
Wong Xiangyi (Endnotes)

Hong Kong art became the focus of

attention upon the changeover of the territorys
sovereignty in 1997. There appeared a number
of overseas exhibitions and articles which
embodied the views of Hong Kong people
on the handover by means of art. Thereafter,
Hong Kong art, with its sporadic exhibitions by
individual local artists, fell out of the limelight in
the international art scene. Rather, the series of
art activities sparked off by the July 1st protest
of 2003 and the conservation controversy on
the Star Ferry Pier (2006) and the Queens Pier
(2007) were the chief factors that stimulated
local cultural studies academics and the media to
focus once again on Hong Kong art. However,
research, verification and comprehensive
analysis on the overall development of Hong
Kong art have always been insufficient among
local art establishments (especially universities
and academies). Under such condition, art
activities became no more than reference
or illustrations of cultural activities of certain
events under certain social issues, which made
it impossible to open up further discussion. The
publication of Xianggang meishu shi (History
1
of Hong Kong Fine Arts) by Mainland scholar
Zhu Qi once triggered some discussions, but

the art world in general has not yet sensed the

urgency of research on local art history and
2
the organization of archive material. With
inspiration from Xianggang shuhua tuanti
yanjiu (Study on Calligraphy and Painting
3
Organizations in Hong Kong) and The Two
Phases of Independent Art Space Development
4
in Hong Kong, I will look at the changes in
mainstream indoor exhibition venues over
the past ten years amidst the development of
contemporary art in Hong Kong, according to
my personal experience. My solitary effort is
only a drop in the ocean for the research on
Hong Kong art history, but I hope this essay
could call attention to the compilation of Hong
Kong art history among the art professionals.
Space is a major limitation affecting local
artists as well as the exhibition culture in
5
Hong Kong. In the early days, artists funded
themselves to hire venues for gatherings,
6
while exhibiting their works at the same time.
With the foundation of the Hong Kong Arts
Development Council (ADC) in 1995, and
the popularity of installation art at the time,
a number of art groups made use of the
ADCs funding to hire retail and industrial
units and turned them into exhibition spaces

81

for installation art, hence a new culture of

exhibition space was brought into shape. The
relationship between art groups and exhibition
spaces became inextricable, as the art groups
were at the same time managers of the spaces
and vanguards of artistic trend that created the
proliferation of art spaces after 1997. With the
increasing institutionalization of art spaces, and
with exhibition bookings being at the point of
saturation, artists came up with the solution
7
of opening their studios for exhibition, thus
a myriad of studio openings and exhibitions
sprung up after 2001, creating the phenomenon
8
of studios in factory buildings. For those
without a studio, they endeavoured to hold
exhibitions in places accessible to the public,
such as cafs, bookstores, shopping malls and
shops. Exhibitions in shopping malls are not
new in Hong Kong, yet they thrived again
after 2003 with the governments boost to
9
creative industry (2003) and the launch of
10
the West Kowloon Cultural District (2004),
with a twist in style from popular photographic
works and community art to works by
internationally renowned contemporary artists.
With the advantage of wide media coverage,
exhibitions in shopping malls have attracted
numerous contemporary artists, and have
hence become the new trend in exhibition in
the new millennium. It is just within expectation
that property developers made use of art
exhibitions as a branding strategy to pave the
way for entrance to the West Kowloon. At
the same time, as two major auction houses
made Hong Kong their bases for auctions of
Asian contemporary art, together with the
booming art auction market and extensive
media coverage, all these served as catalysts for
the proliferation of international art exhibitions
in shopping malls and the continuous growth in
number of small to medium scaled art galleries

82

in the territory. There were only a few galleries

representing Hong Kong contemporary art,
but today various new galleries focusing on
Mainland art also include Hong Kong artists in
their exhibitions. They have not yet created a
market for Hong Kong art, but they do serve as
11
alternative exhibition venues for local art.

Pioneers of Art Space

Exhibition Venues in the 1990s
and before
Before the inauguration of the Hong Kong
City Hall in the 60s, there seemed to be no
formal venue for art exhibition in Hong Kong.
Exhibitions were held in hotel ballrooms or
churches, known examples were the lobby
of St. John Ambulance Headquarters and the
12
gallery of Joint Publishing (H.K) Company.
Subsequently, the Hong Kong City Hall (1962)
and the Hong Kong Arts Centre (1977)
became major exhibition venues for modern
art. Although the various city halls and civic
centres in Hong Kong should be providing a
13
considerable quantity of exhibition venues,
their bureaucratic practice and expensive
hiring charges were no longer compatible with
14
contemporary modes of art practice. With
the overwhelming popularity of installation
and mixed media art, art spaces with flexibility
such as the Hong Kong Arts Centre and the
Fringe Club still fell short of demand, which
gave rise to the emergence of self-started
15
exhibition spaces and mode of practice. From
the two-day exhibition Waiwei (Outside,
16
1987) in the big house at 15th Kennedy Road,
Quart Society which transformed a residential
17
unit into a darkroom and exhibition space,
18
to Artist-in-Western Project of Para/Site
19
held in a rented ground floor retail unit, all
these reflected the incapability of traditional
exhibition space for accommodating the

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

transformation of contemporary art in Hong

Kong, thus artists were compelled to search for
their own space. This indicated that exhibition
spaces were becoming increasingly flexible,
mobile and transitory, creating a culture of a
20
borrowed place, borrowed time.

Era of the Art Space

Quart Society founded in 1990 was the first
21
art space founded in the 1990s in Hong Kong.
22
Subsequently, Artist Commune, Para/Site
Art Space, 1a Space, and the Museum of Site
came into being around 1997, each with its
23
own distinct direction and character. Wong
Shun-kit, who moved to Hong Kong from
the Mainland, is one of the founders of Artist
Commune. He connected the organization
with avant-garde art in the Mainland, since
then, Artist Commune has become a window
to Hong Kong art for Mainland artists. Born
amidst the trend of installation art, Para/Site
placed emphasis on facilitating the promotion
of contemporary art in Hong Kong, thus has
laid the cornerstone of its curatorship-based
24
direction. Para/Site persisted in publication
of a visual arts journal, alongside producing
exhibition programmes and holding seminars,
since then it has become a model for art
25
activities for other art spaces to follow. The
26
Oil Street Artist Village was formed in 1998.
27
Z+ of Zuni Icosahedron and 1a Space were
born inside the complex, while at the same
time Artist Commune had moved in from
an industrial building, making it a major site
for contemporary art exhibitions in Hong
Kong. After the end of the Oil Street Era
(1998-2000), Z+ was closed, while other art
spaces were relocated temporarily in the old
Kai Tak Airport and the Cheung Sha Wan
Slaughterhouse. In 2001, Artist Commune,
1a Space and Videotage moved into the

Essays

ex-Ma Tau Kok Animal Quarantine Depot

in To Kwa Wan (Cattle Depot), which was
the largest exhibition hub in continuation of
the spirit of Oil Street. At first visitors were
scarce due to limited accessibility, but after the
exposure brought by art festivals and book
festivals held there and media coverage, it had
once won immense popularity; the present
image of Cattle Depot Artist Village was thus
established. Ever since the commencement
of the Cattle Depot Era, three prominent
art spaces formed a cluster, each developed
in its own way: Videotage continued its
distribution work, at the same time hosted
exhibitions of various media; 1a Space carried
on its emphasis on curatorship, while playing
an active role in exhibiting works by young
artists (Plate1); Artist Commune maintained
connection with Chinese avant-garde artists
located in different parts of the world and
exhibited their overseas works periodically
(Plate 2). 1a Space and Artist Commune still
owned the biggest exhibition spaces; as the
trend of installation art began to wane, both
these two spaces and Para/Site in Sheung Wan
developed into the white cube format, each
in different occasions pinpointed site-specificity,
locality and community participation in their
development of thematic and curatorial modes

Plate 1

aWay: Group Exhibition of Contemporary

Visual Artists. 1a space, Hong Kong. 2006.

83

Plate 2

Hong Kong sCULpTURE Exhibition. Artist

Commune, Hong Kong. 2005.

of exhibition, as if they were exhibition centres

for contemporary art in Hong Kong.
Besides, Shanghai Street Artspace (SSA)
project was launched by the ADC in 1999
28
(Plate 3). The ADC accepted annual proposals
from community organizations and sponsored
them to run the space and hold exhibitions,
while requiring part of the exhibitions to be
related to community culture. Throughout the
years, the SSA has created the ambiance of a
community gallery and has contributed to the
29
development of Art Map and cradled new
30
art groups. Since 1997, under the conditions

Plate 3

84

Shanghai Street Artspace at Yau Ma Tei.

of the ADCs One-Year Grant, these art

spaces were required to be corporatized and
31
institutionalized, to submit annual overall
targets and directions, and to proactively
schedule their plans and to present exhibitions.
For instance, 1a Space and Para/Site have each
held international conferences on the issue
32
of art spaces, so as to establish their global
positioning and networking. Subsequently their
international exchange activities have become
more frequent, and this period marked the
33
height of prosperity for the local art spaces.
They responded to the trend of globalization in
contemporary art by gradually placing focus on,
and advocating the culture of curatorship.
Apart from developing various creative
media and curatorial directions, the art spaces
also broke new ground in administration.
Para/Site became the first art space to hire
a full-time overseas curator in 2005, and has
held solo exhibitions for world-renowned
artists such as Cao Fei, Laurence Weiner and
34
Dennis Oppenheim (Plate 4). In 2007, eight
major art institutions (including the three art
spaces) joined hands to co-present October
Contemporary, indirectly facilitating cooperation
among the art spaces, which had been working
35
in isolation.

Plate 4

In 2005, Para/Site Art Space was moved from

no. 2 to no. 4 of Po Yan Street.

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

Post-Exhibition Space: Studio

Cluster in Industrial Buildings
after Studios
As the various art spaces matured, in order
to obtain grants and to achieve sustained
development, their programme schedule
became increasingly busy, while exhibition
booking became saturated, and gradually they
won the acknowledgement of the government
and funding bodies. This led to the inevitable
result of the centralization of the marginal
which limited their flexibility and room for
36
experimentation. For instance, a proposal
by an external organization or artist to hold
exhibition in such art spaces would need to be
submitted half or a whole year in advance, and
would need to wait for an approval. While the
supply of such spaces for hire to independent
artists or art organizations has not increased, it
was necessary to look for new opportunities and
space. Rising to the occasion at the economic
downturn immediately before and after the
outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong, artists found
it easy to rent units in industrial buildings as their
studios, where they also exhibited their works
as a means to attract invitations to exhibitions.
These studios became new exhibition sites after
37
the art spaces aforementioned.
Studio opening is no novelty. As part of the
Fringe Festival in the mid 1990s, artists studios
38
were open to exhibit their works. These
included workshops that doubled as galleries
39
(1983-1996), and the Artist-in-Western
studios in Sai Wan (1996), which were first
used as workshops and then transformed into
exhibition galleries. Whereas after the year
2000, studio clusters have been formed by
a myriad of studios in close proximity to each
other, and the trend of exhibiting the studios
natural condition alongside the artworks has
emerged. Though there had been sporadic

Essays

public openings of such studios in industrial

districts, the first self-started cross-studio
exhibition took place in 2001. It was organized
by a group of teachers and students at the Fine
Arts Department of the Chinese University of
Hong Kong, who had rented units in the Wah
40
Luen Industrial Centre in Fo Tan. Due to lack
of publicity, the initial openings only attracted
fellow artists and friends. However, after years
of persistence, it has attracted a great deal of
media exposure and public interest. Other artists
41
in the same district joined in, and the annual
FotanianFotan Artists Open Studios was
42
created (Plate 5). At the same time, students
at the Hong Kong Art School had set up studios
in Ming Pao Industrial Centre, and hosted
the exhibition Kaizha with accompanying
seminars to complement the launch of their
43
studios in 2002. It succeeded in attracting
media coverage and public attendance, thus
could be considered the first successful example
44
of large-scale open studio, but as artists
started to move out subsequently, the event
was discontinued eventually.
By opening up the studio for exhibition,
45
each artist has his or her own expectations.
From administrative perspective, it is of utmost
importance to gain total independence and
flexibility in terms of form, content, exhibition

Plate 5

Poster for Fotanian Open Studio 2007.

85

Plate 6

LEAPLocal East-Kowloon Art in Progress

organized by teachers and students at the Hong
Kong Art School. Sing Win Factory Building,
Kwun Tong. 2006.

dates and to achieve full autonomy of the artist,

for instance, freedom from the administrative
work involved and the limitation on availability
in the use of art spaces and other exhibition
venues, and to be free from intervention of
the curator. Fotanian, a self-financed, annual
event featuring opening of a group of studios
at the same time, has created a new artistic
community culture of the Shop (exhibition
space) in front and home (studio) at the back.
At first, it was difficult for an exhibition in Fo
Tan to attract visitors because of its remote
location, but as it caught media coverage as a
long-standing annual event, and has obtained
46
commercial sponsorship, it has transformed
the otherwise private factory space into a
brand new exhibition venue. Thereafter
similar events sprouted in other parts of the
47
city, with Kwun Tongs industrial zone being
48
the most outstanding counterpart. Apart

86

Plate 7

Osage Gallery opened a Kwun Tong branch in

2004.

from the curatorial oriented LEAPLocal

East-Kowloon Art in Progress (2006) (Plate
6) organized by teachers and students at the
Hong Kong Art School who had rented units in
49
Sing Win Factory Building, Osage Gallery has
opened a Kwun Tong branch in 2004, which
expanded soon after moving in the location,
and has become Hong Kongs largest private
exhibition space (Plate 7). Part of the artists
who moved out of the Ming Pao Industrial
Centre moved into Chai Wan Industrial City,
where a number of photographers have set
up studios, making this another industrial zone
with exhibitions held at irregular intervals. The
media tended to compare these studios in
industrial buildings with other art communities,
such as the Cattle Depot in To Kwa Wan, Foo
50
Tak Building in Wan Chai, and the Jockey
Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei
51
(Plate 8), so as to highlight the variety of local

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

Plate 8

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre in Shek Kip Mei.

art communities. By studio clusters, I refer

to those gathered naturally in commercially
run factory buildings, as set apart from
those officially organized ones run by certain
institutions. These studio clusters in industrial
buildings were characterized by a culture of selfmotivation and simple organization. The post of
the organizer would change from one project to
another, while the exhibitions were in the form
of an aggregation with the individual studio as
a unit, with unified publicity. Compared to art
spaces, the organization of studios were loose
with no specific core members, exhibitions
were self-financed without the tendency to
develop into officially sponsored art groups.
Obviously their development was influenced
52
by the property rental market, but by now
this cluster has already attracted a considerable
53
number of artists and local galleries, the
number of exhibitions to come is guaranteed,
and the atmosphere is bound to last.

Essays

exhibition sites. Apart from those events

which the curator invited collaborating artists
and poets, such as CityPoetry (2001) held in
show windows in various shops in Central,
a number of bookstores and caf have also
provided exhibition space after the year 2000.
Though equipped with basic exhibition lighting,
these spaces are small and informal, often
limited to the walls adjacent to bookshelves
or dining tables, therefore quite often only two
dimensional works could be accommodated.
Some of the shop proprietors welcome
proposals as they aim to combine art, business
54
and living. This kind of mini exhibitions is most
advantageous in attracting media coverage, and
both the store /caf and the artists can access
each others clientele, thus creating a two-way
publicity channel. Some first floor bookstores
(bookstores located on the first storey or
above in commercial buildings) have also
hosted exhibitions. Apart from photography
or paintings by individual artists, curated
exhibitions tend to fuse visual art with literature,
resulting in a mix-media approach that aptly
55
suits the context of a bookstore. Examples
are Qiuying shi huazhan (Qiuying Poetry
56
and Paintings Exhibition), a commemoration
of the poetry journals anniversary, and
57
CAlternative Reading on Text (Plate 9);

Alternative Guerrilla Attacks

Exhibitions Outside the Venue
Artists (especially new, nameless or still
in school) were unable to rent officially run
exhibition halls and art spaces due to various
reasons, therefore industrial units, shops
on the first storey or above, and shopping
mall lobbies have become their temporary

Plate 9

CAlternative Reading on Text Exhibition.

Mackie Study, Causeway Bay. 2005.

87

Plate 10 Prison Art Museum Exhibition. Victoria Prison

Compound, Central, Hong Kong. 2007.

some accompanied book launches by the

exhibiting artists, such as Xinhua dongwu lieqi
58
(Xinhua Animal Hunt) and Studio Hong
59
Kong London. Now there are not many
exhibitions held in first floor bookstores, but
more often they take place in major stores such
as Joint Publishing Company (Hong Kong) in
Wan Chai, Cit Bookshop, Xin Hua Book City
and Commercial Press in Tsim Sha Tsui, which
have set up function rooms and exhibition areas
for cultural activities or exhibitions.
The number of exhibitions per month has
been on the rise, thanks to ADCs sponsorship.
Whereas due to lack of funding or curatorial
considerations, different kinds of exhibitions
have never stopped to develop in alternative
venues, especially in small or private spaces.
Prison Art Museum (2007) (Plate 10) and
The Hong Kong Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale
of Urbanism / Architecture (2008) are two
examples where exhibitions were held in the
historical monument, Victoria Prison, with art
works displayed in prison cells and offices. Some
chose to exhibit in residential units due to
curatorial reason, such as Jiashi (Home Affairs,
1999) and Kaiwu (Open Home, 2007), while
Artiststudio: Arthome (Sik On Street, Wan
Chai), Mr 221, Studio Bibliothque (Fo Tan),
and C & G Artpartment (a painting studio cum
exhibition space located above the hustle and

88

bustle of Prince Edward) were artist studios

60
that doubled as exhibition space. After Para/
Sites Para/Site Central lodging in Hanart TZ
61
Gallery, which is just the size of an exhibition
62
panel, White Tube is perhaps another tiny
exhibition space, making use of corridors
outside classrooms for small scaled exhibitions
by students and alumni of the Hong Kong Art
School (Plate 11). Unconventional exhibition
sites are more often home for new media
art, for example, Upstairs Downstairsa
dialogue with Hong Kong (2005) located in
the Broadway Cinematheque and its bookstore,
and Project Big Bang (2007) which took place
in a ground floor retail unit of an industrial
building on a temporary lease. Because
conventional venues are not always able to
provide professional technical aid or facility,
it is a necessity for new media art exhibitions
to conduct very comprehensive exhibition
design and layout, in whatever kind of space
they exhibit. Therefore, based on curatorial or
resource consideration, to hold an exhibition in
a shopping mall or a public space actually could
fetch more visitors and attain greater flexibility
of space usage.

Exhibitions in Shopping Malls

Some artists believe that metropolitans

Plate 11 White Tube situated outside the classrooms

on the 10 th floor of the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

today do not frequent museums, therefore

exhibiting in a shopping mall becomes a more
63
effective alternative to reach the public. A
number of group exhibitions came to the
scene upon the rise of curatorial culture, such
64
as ART Windows in various shop windows,
and Box, A Hong Kong Exhibition featuring
art works by various artists in display cases
65
in Langham Place. While arttube remade
from a retail unit at exit J of Mass Transit
Railway Hong Kong Station, and Roving Art
a series of cylindrical showcases in various
train stations, are among the considerablyscaled venues that exhibit Hong Kong art on
a regular basis.
Since the initial proposal of the West
Kowloon Cultural District was scrapped and
is waiting to be redrawn, the number of
exhibitions held in shopping malls has risen
drastically, with those in Times Square and
Sino Group venues being the most impressive
in scale. The Sino Group has not only provided
free venue or co-presented the exhibitions,
but has also dedicated in the promotion
of art by creating the Art in Hong Kong
programme which consisted of exhibitions
with accompanying seminars and workshops,
and has increased the number of permanent
66
exhibition venues from one to three. Threedimensional works by renowned contemporary
artists have been exhibited in Times Square for
a number of times, they graced the atrium on
the second floor as well as the outdoor plaza,
attracting passersby to take photos (Plate 12).
Other shopping centres such as the Taikoo
Place in Quarry Bay, Three Pacific Place in
Wanchai, and Langham Place in Mongkok, all
have hosted art exhibitions from time to time.
Exhibitions with popular themes are much
more fitting in these places than avant-garde
or experimental art, but they never lack artist

Essays

Plate 12 Black Sheep Exhibition. Times Square,

Causeway Bay. 2007.

participation, as exhibitions in shopping malls

can draw wide media attention, thus enhance
artists exposure.

Gallery Exhibitions
Before 1997, there were only a handful of
art galleries representing local artists, including
Hanart TZ Gallery, Alisan Fine Arts, and
Art Beatus Gallery. They were also veteran
galleries representing contemporary art from
the Mainland. John Batten Gallery and Grotto
Fine Art, opened in 1997 and 2001 respectively,
were both small scaled galleries who persisted
in representation of Hong Kong art. Their
founders have written prolifically about Hong
Kong art, besides being active promoters
of Hong Kong art to collectors. Apart from
the above galleries that worked closely with
local art, the number of galleries featuring
contemporary art has risen remarkably from
67
2005 to 2007. Among them many were
founded by art aficionados and artists, such as
UMA G in Wanchai (2005-2007), YY9 Gallery
in Happy Valley (opened in 2004), and Edge
Gallery in Causeway Bay (opened in 2007)
whose founders each runs an architectural and
interior design business, apart from being agents
of contemporary art.

89

The Pottery Workshop founded in the 80s,

68
OP fotogallery in the 90s, Too Art (Plate 13)
69
70
in 2005, and hulahoop gallery in 2007
are all small-scaled artist-run galleries. Though
space is generally limited in new galleries in
Hong Kong, they provide room for thematic
exhibitions of two-dimensional art works such
as painting and photography. Galleries with a
Hong Kong focus such as Grotto is a rarity,
but Grotto has facilitated the rise of a group of
young artists such as Chow Chun-fai and Lam
Tung-pang, making lives as full-time artists
possible. In addition, a number of newly opened
galleries started to feature local artists, attracting
more local talents to exhibit in galleries so as
to gain knowledge of the local market and
to explore the possibilities of going full-time.
As a result, galleries have become another
stronghold for exhibition favoured by Hong
Kong artists.

Post-exhibition Era
The number of exhibitions held in
unconventional venues has been on the rise,

Plate 13 Too Art was set up in the Hong Kong Arts

Centre in 2005.

90

as the demand for exhibitions grows daily.

The exhibition spaces are characterized by
unique geographic location, dates and scale
of exhibitions, thus the artist is compelled to
consider the influence of such factors on the
display and interpretation of art works. In the
face of never-ending supply of exhibitions
in unconventional venues, the listings and
promotional features in popular magazines
often confuse the reader, making him / her
unable to tell whether a certain event is actually
a short-term exhibition or a promotional event
by artists or a store in the shopping centre. As
one is surrounded by exhibitions everywhere, a
post-exhibition ambiance is thus created.
I think the transitions that exhibition
venues have undergone reflect the changes
in the mode of practice among visual arts
organizations in Hong Kong. From the 60s to
the 70s, art organizations were mainly founded
by active artists who advocated new concepts
and styles in art by grouping like-minded artists
and holding exhibitions consistently. In the
80s, the organizations gathered for the chief
purpose of hosting joint exhibitions, thus group
exhibitions conveying various ideas were often
produced. Artists at the time strayed out of
the beaten track of conventional venues to
find the ideal site for their new art forms, such
as installation or performance art. In the 90s,
the One Year Grant of the ADC prompted
the existence of art space organizations
which run their own exhibition spaces. Based
in their respective sites, the art spaces have
motivated different modes of exhibition, from
the initial, more mainstream direction of the
critique of the nature of exhibitions and local
71
identity, to the grand direction of out of the
exhibition hall, into the community during the
era of the art spaces, which the art spaces
materialized by absorbing and creating annual

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

plans for various curatorial projects. Therefore,

the term art spaces does not only mean the
venues that inspired discussions and trends
within the art industry, but has also become
a synonym of major art organizations in the
1990s. The plunge in property market and
economic downturn of post-SARS Hong Kong
enabled more art studios to sprout in various
districts, especially in industrial buildings. Due to
location and rent prices, more studio clusters
formed by artists with different art forms and
backgrounds have emerged. A different team
of artists served as organizers for each studio
opening, this reflects that artist groups have
transformed from institutions to regional
aggregation, with organized annual exhibitions
transformed into short-term alliance. Exhibition
venue management, however, is still the core
of power in this densely populated city, and
space is still a crucial factor in the development
of Hong Kong art.

Leung Chun-fung Jeff is Independent Curator

Essays

1 Zhu Qi, Xianggang meishu shi (Hong Kong:

Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) Company Limited,
2005).
2 Leung Chin-fung, Ji HistoriCity Xianggang
yishushi shuxie yuanzhuo zuotanhui, Hong Kong
In-media (20 October 2007). See http://www.
inmediahk.net/node/261562.
3 Zhang Huiyi, Xianggang shuhua tuanti yanjiu
(Hong Kong: Department of Fine Arts, Chinese
University of Hong Kong, 1999).
4 Cheung Mei and Crystal Lai, The Two Phases
of Independent Art Space Development in Hong
Kong, in Howard Chan and Cheung Mei, eds.,
In-between International Community-initiated Art
Space (Hong Kong: 1a space, 2002), p. 133.
5 Oscar Ho, Loujia yu yishu xingshi, Hong Kong
Economic Journal, 26 Nov 2003, p. 28.
6 Tsang Tak-ping, The Experience of Establishing
an Experimental Art Space in the Grassroots
District, in Zhang Fenglin, ed., Complement and
Supplement: Appreciation of Hong Kong Installation
Art (Hong Kong: Step Forward Multimedia
Company Limited, 1999), pp. 179-189.
7 Cheung Mei, Zai gongye dasha de chuangyi
tiankong, Hong Kong Economic Times, 24 Sept
2003, C18.
8 Dushi kaihuang, Hong Kong Economic Journal,
8 Feb 2006, p. 28.
9 Research Department, Hong Kong Arts
Development Council, Hong Kong Cultural
Affair Record (2003). See http://www.hkadc.
org.hk/rs/File/info_center/reports/200402_hk_
cultural_events_2003.pdf.
10 Research Department, Hong Kong Arts
Development Council, Hong Kong Cultural
Affair Record (2004). See http://www.hkadc.
org.hk/rs/File/info_center/reports/200501_hk_
cultural_events_2004.pdf.
11 Olivia Chung, Too Close for Comfort, Muse
Magazine, 2007, no. 9, p. 42.
12 For information on exhibitions, see Zhu Qi,
Xianggang meishu shi; Alex Ng, Sheying zazhi:
Xianggang sheying 20 nian (Hong Kong: Pop Art
Group Ltd, 2007).
13 See note 6.
14 Leung Po-shan, Cong gongzuo shi daobi kan
bendi zhanchang kongjian, in Lai Kin-keung and
Leung Po-shan, eds., Cong guodu kuayue qianxi: qi
ren shiyi pinglun zixuan wenji (Hong Kong: Hong
Kong Arts Center, 2002), p. 181.
15 Tsang Tak-ping, Jiushi niandai Xianggang de
yishu kongjian, in Chan Yuk-keung and Mok Karleung, eds., Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 1999
(Hong Kong: Department of Fine Arts, Chinese
University of Hong Kong, 2000), p. 30.

91

16 Oscar Ho, Waiwei: yi ge lishixing de zhanlan, in

Lai Kin-keung, ed., Xingcai fengliu: Xianggang shijue
wenhua shihua (Hong Kong: Joint Publishing (Hong
Kong) Company Limited, 2002), pp. 72-75.
17 Xianggang linglei kongjian lishi jianbiao, in Howard
Chan and Cheung Mei, eds., In-between International
Community-initiated Art Space, p. 33.
18 Para-site, the antecedent of Para/Site, lasted four
months. See Leung Chi-wo, Arts Space in Para/Site
and Hong Kong, in Navigating the Dot: 50 th Venice
Biennale, Artists from Hong Kong, China (Hong Kong:
Hong Kong Arts Development Council, 2003), p. 20.
19 See note 15, p. 33.
20 See note 18, p. 19.
21 See note 15, p. 33.
22 Artist Commune was founded by core members of
the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation in 1997. Its
earliest registered address was Cheung Fat Industrial
building, Shek Tong Tsui.
23 For the origin of each art space, see Tsang Tak-ping,
Jiushi niandai Xianggang de yishu kongjian and
Xianggang linglei gongjian lishi jianbiao.
24 See note 6.
25 Well-known followers include White Tube initiated
by teachers and students of Hong Kong Art School
(corridor at 10/F, Hong Kong Arts Centre) and their
White Text, and the Shanghai Street Artspace run by
Creative Arts Department of The Hong Kong Institute
of Education in 2005-06.
26 In 1998, Government Property Agency leased units
at the old building of the Government Supplies
Department at Oil Street in North Point at a low
price. Many artists and art organizations were attracted
and thus rented them. The Oil Street Artist Village
was named as it resembled the East Village in New
York. Many local visual art organizations, including
Artist Commune, 1a space and Positive Null, moved
into the Oil Street Artist Village and made it the most
important exhibition site at the time. In October 1999,
Hong Kong SAR Government decided to retrieve the
building for urban reconstruction when the leases
terminated in December that year. After some
confrontations and negotiations, the government
finally agreed to provide artists with the Cattle
Quarantine Depot in To Kwa Wan, Kowloon, under
a 3-year lease, and promised to renew the lease if
such a renewal would not effect future development
of the land.
27 For Z+, see Chan Yuk-keung, Xianggang zhuangzhi
yishuxie zai 2000 nian in Chan Yuk-keung and Mok
Kar-leung, ed., Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 1999,
p. 53.
28 In 1999, Hong Kong Arts Development Council,
with the support of Home Affair Bureau and Land
Department, rented with a small sum of money No.

92

404, ground floor, Shanghai Street in Yau Ma Tei

and made it an exhibition venue. Its purpose was to
encourage art creation and promote the development
of visual arts in Hong Kong by providing a free
exhibition venue for art organizations and artists. Also,
it aimed to offer more opportunities for the public to
participate in and learn about visual arts.
29 Art Map was established in 2001 and Art Map
Limited was registered to be non-profit-making
arts organization in 2002. It was entrusted with the
management of the Shanghai Street Visual Art Space
from 2003 to 2004. For more information, see Lau
Kin-wah, ed., Yishu ditu: zhanlan + chuban 2001-2005
(Hong Kong: Art Map Limited, 2006).
30 Department of Creative Arts and Physical Education
of The Hong Kong Institute of Education was
entrusted with the management of the Shanghai
Street Artspaces from 2004 to 2006 (http://www.
ied.edu.hk/news/html/2004/20040806_c.html). Later,
some members formed an art body to run the space.
For details, see Renwen fengjing anchored by
Zhang Zhuoxiang at Radio 1, RTHK (29 September
2007) (http://www.rthk.org.hk/asx/rthk/radio1/
CultureTalk/20070929.asx).
31 See note 18, p. 20.
32 Alice Jim, In-Between / Space Traffic: Premising Art in
Hong Kong, Space Traffic: Artist-run Spaces beyond a
Local Context (Hong Kong: Para/Site Art Space, 2002),
pp. 115-120.
33 Para/Site Collective formed by some members of the
Para/Site was selected to participate in La Biennale di
Venezia in 2003, which confirmed the achievement
of arts space in Hong Kong.
34 Clarence Tsui, Fresh Canvas, South China Morning
Post, 22 March 2005, C6.
35 Shiyue zai duli, Hong Kong Economic Journal, 8
October 2007, p. 39.
36 Tsang Tak-ping, Ziwo zhongxin shuo bianyuan, Hong
Kong Economic Journal, 17 January 2002, p. 32.
37 Cheung Mei, Zai gongye dasha de chuangyi tiankong,
Hong Kong Economic Times, 24 September 2003, C18.
38 During the Fringe Festival (renamed as The Annual
City Festival from 1998) held by Hong Kong Fringe
Club in the years of 1993, 1994, 1997 and 1998, some
artists studios were open to visitors. See Xianggang
linglei kongjian lishi jianbiao.
39 For the history and mode of studio, see Howard
Chan and Cheung Mei, eds., In-between International
Community-initiated Art Space, pp. 33, 133.
40 In 2001, the exhibition Huihua jiaju (Painting
Furniture) was held in the Yi Liu Painting Factory. In
the meantime, students at the Fine Arts Department
of the Chinese University of Hong Kong held the 318
Studio Opening. See Lam Tung-pang, Cong huotan
dao huotan, Twenty-first Century, vol. 101, June 2007,

An Overview of the Transitions Undergone by Major Art Exhibition Venues during the Last Decade

pp. 11-13.
41 Artists and art organizations that participated in the
Open Studios of Laohuo xintan (2003) and that
of Fotanian (2004) were different. Since then, there
have been different units that joined or withdrew from
the Open Studios each year.
42 For a brief history of Fotanian, see Leung Po-shan,
Retreating from the Forefront of Organization: the
Example of Artists in Fo Tan Industrial Area, in Mok
Kar-leung and Chan Yuk-keung, eds., Hong Kong Visual
Arts Yearbook 2003, pp. 112-125.
43 Choi Wing-sze, Bangong bansi, fenxiang yu canyu, in
Tang Ying-chi, ed., Oasis: Artists Studios in Hong Kong
(Hong Kong: Hongya chuban youxian gongsi, 2007),
p. 157.
44 The exhibition was held in six artists studios in Ming
Pao Industrial Centre, Chai Wan, on 5, 6 and 12
October 2002. See Jiang gongchangqu jiancheng
yishu shequ, Wenweipo, 28 October 2002, A20.
45 For viewpoints of different artists, see Tang Ying-chi,
ed., Oasis: Artists Studios in Hong Kong.
46 In 2007, Fotanian obtained sponsorship from Sino
Group for advertising and printing, and financial
supports from other private sectors.
47 Examples included N ai dau artspace in Central (20052006), Black Spot (since 2007) and Artiststudio in Wan
Chai (since 2007).
48 Sherry Lee, Industrial Action, South China Morning
Post, 21 October 2004, C5.
49 LEAPLocal East-Kowloon Art in Progress was
held in six artists studios in No.15-17 of Sing Win
Factory Building, Shing Yip Street, Kwun Tong, on
17-19 February 2006. The exhibition was composed
of shows designed by different curators in different
studios exhibiting various living status of artists.
50 Tenants of the Foo Tak Building are mainly art
organizations. For details, see Yeung Hiutong,
Chengshi yu xiwang xilie zhi faxian yishu (2) liaojie
Fude louwei yu naoshi de wenhua yishu kongjian,
Artslink, July 2005, pp. 2-3.
51 Huang Jieyu, 853 dazao Shixiawei chuangyi zhongxin,
Wenweipo, 26 November 2006, C1. See http://paper.
wenweipo.com/2006/11/26/YC0611260002.htm.
52 Oscar Ho, Chuangzuo kongjian de sheng yu si, in
Tang Ying-chi, ed., Oasis: Artists Studios in Hong Kong,
p. 11.
53 In 2007, Hanart TZ Gallery and the newly established
Blue Lotus Gallery purchased units in the Wah Luen
Industrial Centre in Fo Tan. In 2006, 10 Chancery
Lane Gallery set up its gallery in the Chai Wan
Industrial City. These galleries held exhibitions and
activities irregularly. In 2004, Osage Gallery was open
in Kwun Tong Industrial Area, putting up exhibitions
regularly.
54 Examples included Culture Club, Les Artistes Caf,

Essays

DY Club and Shiyi hang Tea Shop.

55 Chan Sai-lok, Xishuo Qiuying shi huazhan yi ci zai
erlou shudian niqing woyuan de meili xiangyu. See
http://www.hkbobby.com/qypoetry/exhi_con.htm.
56 Qiuying shi huazhan consisted of fourteen
exhibitions, which lasted for about one year (May
2004 to June 2005). It was curated by Chan Sai-lok
and He Di of the Qiuying Poetry Society and held in
Violet Books in Mongkok.
57 Exhibition entitled CAlternative Reading on Text
was curated by Nian jiu ji (29s) Publisher and Leung
Chin-fung, held in the Mackie Study, Causeway Bay,
from 23 May to 3 July 2005. See http://www.29s.org/
exh_mac/c.html.
58 Kwai Tsing Amusement Park and Xinhua Animal
HuntSculptures by Wong Tin-yan (Exhibition
Gallery, Kwai Tsing Theatre, from 19 January to 5
February 2006; Xinhua Book City, from 7 February
to 16 March 2006) was one of the exhibitions of the
Artists in the Neighborhood Scheme III.
59 Accompanying the publication of a new book entitled
Studio Hong KongLondon, an exhibition of the same
title was held in the Activity Area of Tsim Sha Tsui
Books Centre of the Commercial Press from 14 to
18 October 2007.
60 C&G Artpartment Gallery, located in a retail and
residential space at Sai Yeung Choi Street in Prince
Edward, was established by artist Clara Cheung
and Cheng Yee-man who once worked for Artist
Commune. See http://www.candg-artpartment.com/
index_CHI.html.
61 Para/Site Central lodging in Hanart TZ Gallery was
established in 2001 and run by Para/Site Arts Space.
See http://www.para-site.org.hk/central/central.htm.
62 White Tube, formerly known as The Art School
Learning Centre Galleries, was established in 2001 at
the East Town Building. In May 2004, it moved to the
corridors outside the classrooms on the 10 th floor of
the Hong Kong Arts Centre. See www.whitetube.org.
63 See note 14.
64 ART Windows, curated by Sabrina Fung, invited
local artists to display their art works in various shop
windows. See http://artwindows.sffahk.com.
65 Box, A Hong Kong Exhibition, curated by artist
Simon Birch and The Great Eagle Group, displayed art
works of various artists and designers in glass cabinets
in different parts of the Langham Place from 29 June
to 31 July 2005.
66 Three exhibition venues included ground floor of
Olympian City I, the lobby and corridor of the 1st floor
of Central Plaza in Wan Chai, and the basement of
Hollywood Plaza in Sheung Wan (the exhibition hall
was leased to a commercial gallery in 2008 and thus
no longer available).
67 Leung Chin-fung, The Ecology of Visual Art in Hong

93

KongA Response to Carol Lee, White Text,

2007, no. 4, pp. 101-102.
68 See note 17.
69 For the background of Too Art, see http://
www.tooart.com.hk.
70 For the background of Hulahoop, see http://
www.hulahoop.hk/home.html.
71 Oscar Ho, Zhanlan cehua de fazhan, in Chan
Yuk-keung and Mok Kar-leung, eds., Hong Kong
Visual Arts Yearbook 1999, p. 26.

94