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Simon Parry

Mike Chan Wai-ming, 42, was curator of the just-ended IFC Perspectives exhibition where

international works of art were displayed in the shopping mall alongside new fashion lines. He argues

that art must come out of the gallery if it is to survive.

When we approached the international artists and suggested putting their work on show in a shopping

mall, their initial response was 'no'. They were very wary. Most of them are serious artists and they

have never been in a group show, let alone one in a shopping mall, so we had to work hard to

persuade them.

Most of them had never been to Hong Kong before and didn't know the culture of the city. We told

them: 'If you bring your work to Hong Kong and put it in a museum or a gallery, only a limited number of

people will go to these places and your art will be limited to these people. Put it in the Atrium space at

the IFC, and 150,000 people a day will see it.'

That was the most exciting aspect for them. They were interested in the prospect of being able to react

with so many people and eventually we persuaded them to come to Hong Kong. They were very

interested to see how the people of Hong Kong would respond to their art.

It is a good thing for artists to  interact with the masses. If an artist puts his or her work in a gallery only

a small number of people will see it - maybe only the artist's friends - and they won't really receive much

criticism from these people. Put it in a shopping mall with a brand and the artist is really interacting with

society.

We also had to persuade the tenants in the IFC to support the exhibition. For those who weren't too

sure about the idea, we told them: 'Think of it this way - imagine your shop is selling right in the middle

of the Tate gallery.' They immediately clicked and understood the concept.

Fortunately, many of the brands' decision makers are art lovers. The IFC people told me that in the

past, fashion-show brands always had a lot of concerns about things like how big their logo would be.

This time, the brands were very easygoing. They had the patience to work with the artists and they

liked the participation.

The public response to the exhibition was really good. We noticed   Hongkongers like more  interactive

art. There was one sculpture piece with a ball rolling from the top. You drop it and it rolls back again. A

lot of people crowded around this piece.

The other noticeable thing was that a lot of people took pictures of their friends and relatives in front of

the exhibits. It was interesting to see people use the art as a backdrop for their pictures. It's a good

concept because it means people are going to have some interesting art in their family albums.

I am hoping to get a wider appeal for art by taking it to places like the IFC. Most of the places showing

art are museums or galleries and people rarely go there. But with a mall, people shop there every day

or go there on the way to their office or maybe on the way to the airport, and if there is art there, they

stop and they look at it.

It was very hard to find local artists to take part in the exhibition. Hong Kong needs to establish its own

identity in terms of art. China dominates art very much now. We need to do something - the

government or the artists - to really identify Hong Kong's status. Hong Kong is seen by most people as

just belonging to China. It doesn't have much of its own identity.

The first thing we need to do is find the roots of Hong Kong - Hong Kong geographically or politically in

history, the things that make Hong Kong what it is. I think Hong Kong is a medium between China and

the rest of the world. It is a kind of hybrid - a blending of mainland Chinese art and overseas

international art.

There are still a lot of cultural elements which we as artists can use in art. Contemporary Chinese

artists use a lot of Chinese culture and political events in their art. Hong Kong has a lot of elements

artists could use - but most of Hong Kong's identity is vanishing.

It is up to the government to protect that identity and educate people about it, and it is up to  the artists

to rediscover it in their work.



first person