A chance to view “Hong Kong Through Australian Eyes” is available this week at the Anita Chan Lai-ling Gallery at the Fringe Club, in Central, in an event organised by the Australian consulate.
The photographic exhibition, which runs until October 29, features the work of four Australians examining their connection to their adopted hometown.
For Palani Mohan, who has published several photographic books, including Wind Water (2017), the show is a reflection on more than a decade as a resident of Hong Kong, including a period based on a boat in Aberdeen on the south side of Hong Kong Island: “The colours, sounds and chi of the city came right up to our front door,” says Mohan. “It was a wonderful gift.”
Photojournalist Isaac Lawrence says Hong Kong is “a culturally rich city that is always offering new ways to see it”, and Jayne Russell, who worked as a news photographer in London’s Fleet Street for 18 years, spent time recording the lives of Hong Kong’s “boatpeople”, concerned that “their stories and unwritten history will die with them”.
Australia’s consul general, Elizabeth Ward, sees the collection as a celebration of “a connection of long standing, dating back more than 200 years, when the first Cantonese-speaking migrants ventured south seeking new opportunities. Since then, the movement of people in both directions has forged deep people-to-people links between our communities.”
“Hong Kong Through Australian Eyes” runs until October 29 at the Anita Chan Lai-ling Gallery, Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. Admission is free.
Dried fish in Sheung Wan (2015), by Jayne Russell.
Tanka boatpeople in Aberdeen (2014), by Jayne Russell.
Directions (2013-15), by Simon Fuller.
Dragon boats feature in Rush of Colour (2019), by Palani Mohan.
A Star Ferry navigates Victoria Harbour while heavy rain falls in Hong Kong on July 20, 2021. Photo: Isaac Lawrence/AFP
Apocalypse (2016), by Simon Fuller.
Stillness of Light (2019), by Palani Mohan.
A deck hand looks at his phone as a Star ferry crosses Victoria harbour in Hong Kong on June 14, 2020. Photo: Isaac Lawrence/AFP
