Hong Kong’s first nude art festival, the life model behind it and why she wants to walk the city’s streets naked
Siu Ding, model, photographer and advocate for body acceptance, talks about the challenges of putting on Hong Kong Body Fest in a city as conservative as Hong Kong, and how she hopes to break down the taboos about nudity
A freshly bathed Chinese child mischievously galloping nude around the family home might hear their grandparents disapprovingly chide them as tsau gwaai, meaning grotesque, or ugly. The intention is well-meaning: “Put some clothes on, hide yourself, you’ll get cold”, but the choice of words is problematic, Liu Ngan-ling believes.
“Slowly, it shows you that you can never enjoy your body – you have to cover it up and hide it,” says the photographer and life model, who is better known as Siu Ding.
Siu Ding a.k.a Liu Ngan-ling
An advocate for body acceptance and freedom in choosing whether to be naked in public, Liu is organiser of the exhibition Body Fest, Hong Kong’s first collection of nude art, which features photography, painting and illustration depicting naked bodies.
The works are on display until Sunday in a room at Wan Chai’s Foo Tak Building – a hub for artists and creators, and home of the non-profit organisation Arts and Culture Outreach (ACO). With pink fabric hanging on the walls and beanbags scattered across the floor, the space feels intimate and cosy, almost womb-like, creating a calming, non-threatening atmosphere.
“It’s about going back to the idea that if you don’t realise what your needs are and understand your body, you can’t talk about anything else – like your sexuality,” she says.
Entering the room you first notice a red fabric vagina hanging from the ceiling. Guests are invited to put their head inside artist Kobe Ko’s sculpture and listen to recordings of people talking about sex.