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HKFP
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- HKFP
Sculpture with figures in yellow raincoats will not be reinstalled ‘in situ' after repair, Hong Kong gov't says
An artwork by famed Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming, which includes figures in yellow raincoats, will not be reinstalled at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre despite the completion of the restoration work, the government has said. Ju's sculpture 'Lining Up' featured 10 figures standing in a line. Some wore black suits, two were in yellow raincoats, and one woman stood in pink holding a yellow umbrella. It was installed outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui in 2017. The artwork was removed in June after being covered by hoarding boards, sparking censorship concerns online. The government said at the time the piece was 'under repair.' Locally, yellow is associated with pro-democracy movements, particularly yellow umbrellas. During the 2019 protests and unrest, a demonstrator wearing a yellow raincoat died after falling from a platform outside a mall – yellow raincoats subsequently became a protest symbol. An HKFP reporter on Monday saw that the hoarding boards had been removed, leaving a white mark on the ground where the sculpture used to be. A few steps away, figures of Xi Yang Yang and Le Rong Rong, mascots for the upcoming National Games and other sports events, stood on display. In response to HKFP's enquiries, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) said that 'the restoration has been completed' and that the artwork 'is now in [the] LCSD's collection storage.' It also said: 'As the sculpture concerned had been on display at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Piazza (the Piazza) for many years since 2017, it would not be reinstalled in situ.' The LCSD did not reply to HKFP's question of whether the artwork would be displayed elsewhere. The Chinese white dolphin-inspired mascots Xi Yang Yang and Le Rong Rong are currently exhibited outside the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to promote the 15th National Games, as well as the 12th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 9th National Special Olympic Games, the department added. The LCSD 'reviews its public art installations from time to time,' the department said. Created by the late Ju in 2002, Lining Up is part of his Living World series. The LCSD hosted an exhibition of artworks from the series at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in 2014 – three years before Lining Up was displayed outside the centre. In a Facebook post published in 2017, the Art Promotion Office under the LCSD invited members of the public to take photos with the artwork. 'Painted with vibrant colours, ten figures with different poses, clothes and body shapes are lining up casually… the queuing figures are expressively sculpted to large blocks with rough edges, which present a vivid depiction of people's contemporary life,' the post read. 'Among the figures, the one who wears a cap is actually the representation of Ju Ming himself!' The artwork was covered with the hoarding boards, which bore a photo of the sculpture. However, the two figures in yellow raincoats in the image were obscured by a notice, informing people that a reinforcement project was underway, with the yellow umbrella barely visible.
South China Morning Post
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
How Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour doubles as a floating art gallery
The city's premier art space draws millions with its large-scale installations by artists like Kaws in a space bigger than the M+ museum There's one venue that has revolutionised the way art is consumed in Hong Kong over the past decade or so. It isn't the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, home to Art Basel; neither is it M+, the undoubted quality of the art museum's extensive collection notwithstanding, and nor is it any of the city's many clusters of private galleries. Instead, one of the venues most responsible for popularising art in the city is one that many of its residents walk past, gaze at or cross over every day, and might not immediately think of as an art space: Victoria Harbour. In recent years, the waterway that defines the city has hosted a series of head-turning, agenda-setting artworks. The die was cast in 2013, with the pioneering visit of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's Rubber Duck, a 16.5-metre-high replica of the classic bath toy that won the city's hearts; the duck returned to the harbour a decade later accompanied by a friend. The KAWS: HOLIDAY sculptural piece at Victoria Harbour. Photo: Felix Wong Then, in 2019, a 37.5-metre-long, inflatable incarnation of US art celeb Kaws' mouse-like character sprawled across the harbour. Rather more enigmatic were the harbour's 2024 visitors – a collection of glowing ovoids that spilled into it from neighbouring Tamar Park, and Japanese hi-tech art collective teamLab's 'Resonating Life Which Continues to Stand' exhibition, part of the Art@Harbour initiative from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), which kicked off in 2022. Then, in December 2024, the skies above the harbour were lit up by the city's first pyrotechnic drone show, as part of Hong Kong's ubiquitous recent descent into panda-related delirium. It's fairly obvious why any artist would like the harbour as a backdrop for their work: it's one of the world's most iconic scenes. It has the advantage of being able to both frame and become part of any work that's floated on its waters. 'Rather than serving merely as a backdrop for artworks, the harbour itself becomes part of the installations,' says a spokesperson for the LCSD. 'The expansive views and reflective waters enhance the visual impact, facilitating visitors to experience art in a context that is both inspiring and immersive.' Two giant inflatable giant pandas on the waterfront opposite the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre. Photo: Edmond So Indeed, the location, according to a teamLab spokesperson, 'was one of the unique points of this exhibition in Hong Kong. 'We have been creating art since the year 2001 with the aim of changing people's values and contributing to societal progress. The environments where viewers and artworks are placed together allow us to decide how to express those changes. In that sense, Hong Kong harbour is very interesting in many ways. Newsletter SCMP Global Impact By submitting, you consent to receiving marketing emails from SCMP. If you don't want these, tick here {{message}} Thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Please check your email to confirm your subscription. Follow us on Facebook to get our latest news. 'We wanted to make something that would make the sea look different from the way it normally looks, as if it is connected to the land. The ovoids extended all the way across to Victoria Harbour [and] into the city. There is a kind of experience where the sea and this place merge seamlessly, without a boundary.' Similarly, Hofman, who specialises in large-scale outdoor works, found Hong Kong to provide both a uniquely scenic canvas and a particularly receptive audience for Rubber Duck. This installation by Japanese art collective teamLab was part of the Art@Harbour initiative at Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour. Photo: AFP 'The first time we did it in Hong Kong, it was overwhelming. We offered a sneak peek of the making of it, and there were massive queues of people waiting just to see it tested. I stayed for three weeks and did six or seven interviews a day. So many people came out. What I was struck by is that people in Hong Kong are often quite rushed, but this really changed; people took time – they even left work early just to have a peek. Victoria Harbour changed; people told me it would never be the same again.' The biggest challenge, he says, are the elements – it was the Hong Kong heat that caused one of the two ducks to deflate in 2023. The location also creates other issues, adds the department spokesperson. 'One of the biggest challenges was managing the heavy maritime traffic, strong winds and rough waves. Setting up and securing the exhibits at sea was significantly more complex than land-based installations. 'Key concerns included ensuring the safety and stability of the floating artworks for nearly three months during the rainy season. Manpower was required to regularly inspect and maintain both the marine and land installations.' One thing is clear from the reactions to the various harbour-based artworks, though: whatever the practical challenges, the buzz generated by the backdrop is more than enough to make them worth enduring.
South China Morning Post
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
How Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour doubles as a floating art gallery
There's one venue that has revolutionised the way art is consumed in Hong Kong over the past decade or so. It isn't the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, home to Art Basel; neither is it M+, the undoubted quality of the art museum's extensive collection notwithstanding, and nor is it any of the city's many clusters of private galleries. Instead, one of the venues most responsible for popularising art in the city is one that many of its residents walk past, gaze at or cross over every day, and might not immediately think of as an art space: Victoria Harbour. Advertisement In recent years, the waterway that defines the city has hosted a series of head-turning, agenda-setting artworks. The die was cast in 2013, with the pioneering visit of Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman's Rubber Duck, a 16.5-metre-high replica of the classic bath toy that won the city's hearts; the duck returned to the harbour a decade later accompanied by a friend. The KAWS: HOLIDAY sculptural piece at Victoria Harbour. Photo: Felix Wong Then, in 2019, a 37.5-metre-long, inflatable incarnation of US art celeb Kaws' mouse-like character sprawled across the harbour. Rather more enigmatic were the harbour's 2024 visitors – a collection of glowing ovoids that spilled into it from neighbouring Tamar Park, and Japanese hi-tech art collective teamLab's 'Resonating Life Which Continues to Stand' exhibition , part of the Art@Harbour initiative from the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), which kicked off in 2022. Then, in December 2024, the skies above the harbour were lit up by the city's first pyrotechnic drone show, as part of Hong Kong's ubiquitous recent descent into panda-related delirium. It's fairly obvious why any artist would like the harbour as a backdrop for their work: it's one of the world's most iconic scenes. It has the advantage of being able to both frame and become part of any work that's floated on its waters. 'Rather than serving merely as a backdrop for artworks, the harbour itself becomes part of the installations,' says a spokesperson for the LCSD. 'The expansive views and reflective waters enhance the visual impact, facilitating visitors to experience art in a context that is both inspiring and immersive.' Two giant inflatable giant pandas on the waterfront opposite the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre. Photo: Edmond So Indeed, the location, according to a teamLab spokesperson, 'was one of the unique points of this exhibition in Hong Kong.
