The best 2017 Hong Kong contemporary art exhibitions, from the old school to the surreal

Whether it was interpretations of the 20th anniversary of China resuming sovereignty, or dissected frogs performing a morbid dance as electricity stimulated their dead muscles, there was something for everyone this year

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Artist Ni Youyu talks to Hung Fai, whose work The Six Principles of Chinese Painting – Transmission IV hangs behind them, at the M+ Pavilion of the West Kowloon Cultural District. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 1:04pm, 29 Dec 2017Updated: 1:04pm, 29 Dec 2017

Artists’ responses to the 20th handover anniversary; previews of future programmes of the M+ museum of visual culture; long-awaited solo exhibitions; and two quirky shows about collective dancing and beauty pageants. These were among the most memorable contemporary art happenings in Hong Kong in 2017.

Six Scenarios of Mindful Practice: Ego-centric Suffering, Severe Attachment (2017) by Tsang Tak-ping. Photo: Tsang Tak-ping

The handover exhibitions

The 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to Chinese rule saw curators and artists take stock of the city’s metamorphosis. The resulting works were by and large subtle, personal, and open to interpretation, a welcome respite from the polarising political narrative that dominates public and private discourse.

Tsang Tak-ping’s Six Scenarios of Mindful Practice: Ego-centric Suffering, Severe Attachment (2017) at the “Talkover/Handover 2.0” exhibition in 1a Space was particularly affecting. The artist made the installation using seemingly random items to plot his own transformation into a Buddhist and a farmer since the handover to China in 1997, which in turn pulls the audience into quiet reflection. Revisit the four summer exhibitions at 1a Space, Videotage and Karin Weber Gallery here and two other exhibitions at Blindspot Gallery and Para Site in the autumn.

Hong Kong artists reflect on life in the 20 years since Chinese rule over city resumed

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