“How do we, as humans, individuals, and members of a community, embrace the destruction and recreation of our socio-economic cityscape, collective memories and interwoven identities?” -- Elaine Chiu

 

Growing up in Yau Tsim Mong District, one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the city, Hong Kong artist Elaine has been witnessing the drastic and continuous transformation of the urban space and environment since her childhood. The transient, fluidic, and intersecting memories and impressions about Hong Kong have been deep-rooted in her consciousness and self-identity. 

 

With the effect of the amendment of the Building Ordinance in 2011, thousands of signboards, hand-written or neon-lighted, have since been removed all around the city. Elaine initiated an on-site sketching campaign to record the fleeting cityscape with her paintbrush in the past three years. Street-sketching prompts her to contemplate the disappearance of numerous heritage buildings and tenement houses in the local community under rapid urban renewal. 

 

Titled Before Memories Expire, this exhibition is a continuation of Elaine’s previous on-site sketching and community art project. Centring her research around endangered buildings, architecture, cityscape, and memories of Hong Kong, her work explores different organic carriers, and their relationship with time and people, including community culture, architectural structures and memories, that are formed bottom-up in the urban space. 

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「在建築物和建築群不斷刷新、呼吸、成長和演化的過程裏，我們作為回憶的共同擁有者，在不斷被拆毀和重建的社會環境、回憶與身份下，該如何自處？」— 趙綺婷

從童年到中學，藝術家趙綺婷都在深水埗、石硤尾和油尖旺度過。趙綺婷成長在千禧年代，目睹社區瞬息萬變，見證周遭的建築物「建完又拆」、「拆完又建」，使她對自己和對香港的認知、印象，都變得恍惚、流動、重疊，回憶仿若有限期，一觸即碎、一瞬即逝。

《建築物條例》於二零一一年修訂後，原本在市區林立、數以千計的手寫招牌和霓虹燈牌，自此被列為僭建物，遭逐一清拆。趙綺婷在三年前展開街頭寫生紀錄，令她驚覺，高速的重建令無數歷史建築和唐樓命懸一線，甚至逐漸消失於城景之中。

這次展覽以《記憶若有限期》為題，延續藝術家先前的實地寫生與社區考察，以唐樓和歷史建築物作為切入點，探討唐樓、建築物、城景及記憶， 一些城市環境中一些由下而上產生的有機載體，以及它們與人、時間的關係。是次個人畫展將展出一系列的塑膠彩、水彩平面及立體作品，於2021年5月6日起於JPS畫廊開展，為期一個月，開幕儀式為當天下午五時至八時。

展覽標題: 《記憶若有限期》
展覽地點：JPS畫廊（中環置地廣塲中庭2樓218-219號舖）
展覽日期: 2021年5月6日 至2021年6月6日
展覽開幕: 2021年5月6日 下午五時至八時