Dear Hongkongers in Berlin,
If you would like to join our project 'A big tree makes good shade and the shade gathers people 樹大可成蔭 樹蔭好聚人' , please bring your punched leaves to our opening at MOMENTUM, Kunstquartier Bethanien on Sunday 11 July from 13-19h.
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About the Project -
Luke CHING 程展緯 was invited by curator Angelika Li to bring the spirit of the community project 'A big tree makes good shade and the shade gathers people 樹大可成蔭 樹蔭好聚人' (2021) to Berlin. The diasporic landscapes of Hongkongers in Germany and Switzerland are gathered and the installation will be put together at the opening of the latest chapter of the HOMELAND in TRANSIT exhibition series 'Through the Clouds' at MOMENTUM, Kunstquartier Bethanien in Berlin on Sunday 11 July, from 13-19h.
The concept stems from a recent community project of the artist in a district called Happy Valley in Hong Kong with a local art space C&G Apartment in April and May 2021. Happy Valley is the home of the horse-racing course and is often associated with the phrase 'horse will race, dance will continue' referring to the fifty years of autonomy the city was promised after the handover of 1997.
Observing another phenomenal migration wave in Hong Kong, Ching prepares the mini leaves as souvenirs for the people who are leaving. The leaves in our palms act as pixels of camouflage landscapes, urging us to reflect on the notion of change: climate/temperature, nature/environment, synchronising indoor/private lives. This contemplation is believed to have a therapeutic effect.
Ching has extended the project to different districts in Hong Kong and was invited by the curator to expand the project and its spirit with the Hong Kong communities in Switzerland, where the curator lives, and to Germany, where this exhibition take place in both Murrhardt and Berlin.
In this installation, the leaves are collected by Hongkongers in Switzerland and Germany from their everyday living environments and punched to create a new diasporic landscape and memory to reflect on the notion of transition. Camouflage is a combination of a plural colour spectrum and corresponds to different terrains. In the artist’s eyes, with many leaving Hong Kong, the concept of ‘we’ will have to transcend physical space and territory from now on and rebuild many small reasons to come ‘together’.
The Chinese saying 'A big tree makes good shade and the shade gathers people' echoes the pixel nature highlighted in Ching’s video work, and also the solidarity of people. The audience can take some leaves home as souvenirs and Hongkongers are welcome to add some leaves to the gathering of new landscapes and stories.
About the Exhibition -
HOMELAND in TRANSIT returns to MOMENTUM with a new chapter:
Through the Clouds
Featuring:
LUKE CHING // LO LAI LAI NATALIE // YIM SUI FONG
Curated by Angelika Li
OPENING: Sunday 11 July 2021 @ 1 – 7 pm
CORONA SAFETY: FFP2 mask required, no booking necessary.
EXHIBITION:
11 – 25 July 2021
Wednesday – Sunday, 1 – 7 pm
MOMENTUM
Kunstquartier Bethanien Mariannenplatz 2, 10997 Berlin
The exhibition is running in parallel at Ein Fenster inmitten der Welt, Wolkenhof, Murrhardt, Germany from 4.6-22.7.2021.
More info:
