Artists should get together and put pressure on the Government to preserve this space - which has tremendous potential - for the artists in Hong Kong struggling to work in tiny studios. All power to 1a space and their first exhibition. Keep on going.
Passionate feedback like this spouts from the Painting HK exhibition visitors' book, and from those who attended the opening-night party at 1a space, venue for the exhibition of some startling canvases. But while the show, which featured the work of numerous local artists, had its strong points, it is the gallery itself which is galvanising people behind the banner of creativity. In case you haven't heard, something powerful, but intangible, is at stake: an energy that has, in only four months, injected Hong Kong's small, fragmented, artistic community with a sense of solidarity and collaboration. And the eye of this creative storm? The former government storage depot in North Point.
The cluster of deceptively bland buildings at 12 Oil Street was, until last July, the Government Supplies Department, a repository for everything from stationery to computers to furniture. When the premises moved to another site in the area, a sign was posted outside the barbed-wire-topped wall announcing its vacancy and offering short leases. A couple of fashion photographers moved in, spread the news, and soon art galleries, performers, architects and interior designers were staking their claims to choice spaces which would have been difficult - and extremely expensive - to find elsewhere in Hong Kong. It offers 4.5-metre high ceilings, natural light, an amazing waterfront view ... all at a mere $2.50 a square foot.
And there is more of that elusive ingredient - atmosphere - than you can shake a paintbrush and canvas at. The place is so big, and contains so many rooms, that reminders of their former lives as laboratories, offices or cafes linger. There is even a mortuary, accompanied by the inevitable ghost stories, for an added frisson.
Of course, there's a catch. With the exception of a red-brick sports hall on the periphery, which is a listed building, the entire lot is high on the list of premises scheduled for auction - and eventual demolition - when Tung Chee-hwa's land-sale freeze ends in March. Barring a last-gasp government decision to extend the lease, which will become even less likely if the property market picks up, as predicted, the fun could all come to a premature end on December 31.
So why are people willing to take a gamble on a temporary state of affairs? Jacqueline Fung, who runs an architectural design company, called 2dn, in the main building, said, 'I'm here more for the environment than the cheap rent. That's good too, but it's really the place - knowing everyone, being able to go and visit them and talk, instead of being closed up in an office.' This cocktail of creative types and cool accomodation, while taken for granted in places like New York's East Village or London's Docklands, is unprecedented in Hong Kong. According to Wong Yue-wai of the Z+ gallery, which opened in October, 'Everything here is a first.