- Government aims to optimise use of the waterfront, but residents say there should be an entry fee for the attraction, funded by HK$50 million in taxpayer money
- Visitors are required to book a time to interact with the ‘eggs’, which change colour and make different sounds when touched
Egg-shaped objects dot Hong Kong’s harbour in an art installation opening on Monday. Photo: Sam TsangAn art installation featuring hundreds of giant glowing egg-shaped objects dotting Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour will open to the public on Monday, as the government seeks to make better use of the waterfront in defining the city’s image and draw more tourists.
Residents who took a peek at the installation during a preview on Sunday were mostly delighted with the spectacle, but some said the government should charge visitors for entry. The installation, along with another art project by local artists, is being funded by HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) in taxpayer money.
Running until June 2, “Continuous” at Tamar Park in Admiralty is part of the government’s Art@Harbour initiative. It aims to make the harbour the city’s artistic brand and draw visitors from around the world.
The 200 egg-shaped objects, each measuring three or five metres (10 or 16.4 feet) tall and sitting on land or water, change colour and emit a different sound in response to touch.
The project is a collaboration between the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Japanese brand teamLab, an interdisciplinary group of artists formed in 2001 in Tokyo.
The installation will be open to the public between 6.30pm and 11pm, with no admission fee, but only those who made a reservation online can enter a cordoned off area where interacting with the objects is possible.
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Authorities have not disclosed the exact ticket quota, but indicated up to tens of thousands of tickets for viewing this week were handed out within two hours.
Founder of teamLab Toshiyuki Inoko said the Hong Kong iteration of the installation was the largest it had created, and ensuring the objects remained stable on the water during strong winds was one of the challenges they faced.
“When people touch the ovoid, it falls over and rises back up, and also releases a sound tone and changes colour, and the colour would resonate continuously across the entire space … the people here, including yourself, are part of the artwork,” he said.
“We want to create experiences where people could enjoy the continuity and find beauty in it.”
All advance time slots for March are taken, but ones for the first week of April will be available for booking at noon on Monday. The system will also open time slots for same-day booking at 1pm every day.
Mary Ng, a 40-year-old Hongkonger who works in the textile and clothing industry, toured the installation outside the cordoned off area with her husband. She said the government should charge visitors, for example HK$100.
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The couple visited a few teamLab artworks in Japan before and were surprised by their collaboration with Hong Kong authorities.
“It’s a bit touching that we can hear the music and experience the ambience again in Hong Kong,” said Ng. “This event should be able to entice quite a lot of visitors. We are wasting the chance if we do not charge anything.”
A 45-year-old woman who only wanted to be identified by her surname Ma agreed that the government should charge for entry, although she found the exhibit less immersive compared with other teamLab installations she had visited elsewhere.
“I had a surreal experience when visiting other teamLab installations, which were mostly indoors, but this one is located outdoors and we could hardly detach ourselves from reality during the whole journey … they are just luminous installations to me,” said Ma, who works in the social service sector.
Deputy Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Eve Tam Mei-yee said the government offered free entry because the city was still in the early stages of returning to normality, and they wanted to attract people from both Hong Kong and elsewhere.
Authorities earlier said it expected more than 2 million people to visit the five installations of the Art@Harbour initiative, with two on Hong Kong Island and three in Kowloon.