Photos focus on hutong, Latin America

Swire Island East is presenting two photo exhibitions to give the public a better understanding of China and Latin America.

The first exhibition is 'Beijing Hutong' by Wilson Ho, which will be held from June 3 to 13. Hutong is a kind of alleys built early in Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and is a unique feature of Beijing. However, it is now vanishing.

Photographer Wilson Ho spent three years in taking photos of the Beijing hutongs. He wants to inform people about the preciousness of our culture, so that we are provoked to think how to strike a balance between urbanisation and heritage conservation.

The second exhibition is 'Disenos Latinos - Latin Designs' by Barnaby Bruce. It will be held from June 17 to 27. Bruce has travelled through Cuba, Mexican states of Yucatan and Chiapas to Guatemala.

Bruce aims to show the public the striking and hidden patterns of Latin America.

He avoids the familiar cigars 'n' cars furrow, which many photographers emphasise when documenting Cuba. Instead, he focuses on the details of the mysterious and the evocative he encountered during his journey.

What attracted Bruce the most was the music of Santeria. Santeria is the Afro-Cuban religion of the Lucumi, which combines the beliefs of the West African Yoruba people with Catholic symbolism. He studied the local musicians, as well as playing with them. He witnessed a side of Cuba hidden from most travellers and recorded it with his lens and will present this in his exhibition.

For more information, call 2844 5094