Farmland Eco-art Exhibition
Exhibition Period -
2021/04/11 (SUN) - 2021/04/17 (SAT)
2021/04/18 (SUN) - 2021/04/23 (FRI)
2021/04/11 (SUN) - 2021/04/17 (SAT)
2021/04/18 (SUN) - 2021/04/23 (FRI)
Farmland nurtures rice, grains, vegetables for human and also provides food for all kinds of creatures. Human and wildlife take what they need and co-exist harmoniously.
However, global agriculture began to industrialize after WWII. Extensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, conversion of agricultural land into urban area, hunting and human disturbances have led to a drastic drop in the number of farmland birds.
The number of Yellow-breasted Bunting (Rice birds) was quite abundant in the past and always common in farmland and open fields. Yellow-breasted Bunting is a migratory bird that mainly breeds in northern Asia such as Siberia, Mongolia etc. In autumn, they started their migration to the south. Flying through mainland China, Hong Kong, and then flying to Southeast Asia for wintering. However, due to habitat destruction and hunting, the number of Yellow-breasted Bunting has dropped by 90%. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List has uplisted Yellow-breasted Bunting from Least Concern in 2004 to “Critically Endangered” in 2017. The situation is severe. It is believed that some other bird species inhabited in farmland are also facing the same threat.
“Farmland Eco-art Exhibition”, which is jointly organized and curated by Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and Art together, hopes to use the uniqueness of art to raise the public awareness on the conservation of agricultural land and the wildlife inhabited in farmland. This exhibition showcases the artwork of seven local artists (in no particular order), including Lai-lai Nataile LO, Wai-yi Monti LAI, WaterBear, Kwok-hin TANG, Martin CHEUNG, Mei-tao MAN, Ban CHEUNG who did artist-in-residency in Hong Kong local farmland.
However, global agriculture began to industrialize after WWII. Extensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, conversion of agricultural land into urban area, hunting and human disturbances have led to a drastic drop in the number of farmland birds.
The number of Yellow-breasted Bunting (Rice birds) was quite abundant in the past and always common in farmland and open fields. Yellow-breasted Bunting is a migratory bird that mainly breeds in northern Asia such as Siberia, Mongolia etc. In autumn, they started their migration to the south. Flying through mainland China, Hong Kong, and then flying to Southeast Asia for wintering. However, due to habitat destruction and hunting, the number of Yellow-breasted Bunting has dropped by 90%. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List has uplisted Yellow-breasted Bunting from Least Concern in 2004 to “Critically Endangered” in 2017. The situation is severe. It is believed that some other bird species inhabited in farmland are also facing the same threat.
“Farmland Eco-art Exhibition”, which is jointly organized and curated by Hong Kong Bird Watching Society and Art together, hopes to use the uniqueness of art to raise the public awareness on the conservation of agricultural land and the wildlife inhabited in farmland. This exhibition showcases the artwork of seven local artists (in no particular order), including Lai-lai Nataile LO, Wai-yi Monti LAI, WaterBear, Kwok-hin TANG, Martin CHEUNG, Mei-tao MAN, Ban CHEUNG who did artist-in-residency in Hong Kong local farmland.
Times Square, Causeway Bay
Cattle Depot Artist Village, To Kwa Wan
Exhibition Details
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Exhibition Period:
2021/04/11 (SUN) - 2021/04/17 (SAT) Opening Time: 10AM - 10PM Exhibition Site: Covered Piazza, Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay Exhibition Period: 2021/04/18 (SUN) - 2021/04/23 (FRI) Opening Time: 11AM - 7PM Exhibition Site: 1a space, Unit 14, Cattle Depot Artist Village, 63 Ma Tau Kok Road, To Kwa Wan |
Participating Artists
LAI Wai Yi, Monti
Local environmental artist and farmer LAI Wai Yi, observes the surroundings through her works, exploring the subtle connection between human and nature. Her works cover installations, paintings and participatory art. In recent years, she established the “ Farm Side Art Research Lab", continuing research on ecological agriculture by combining farming and art.
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《One Page》
Handmade paper made with Fa Lo Pak rice straw, paper making tools and materials: rice straw, wood ash solution, stone, guava tree hammer, sieve, grain of rice, mould and deckle 2021 In the eighth year of growing paddy, I tried to make paper with straw for the first time. After macerating the straw, I boiled it with plant ash for two to three hours, then used a wooden stick or a stone to hit the straw for a few hours until it became pulp. The echo from hitting resounded across the valley. After that, the pulp would be put into a pot and mixed well with water. After getting dehydrated and dried, the paper was created. The rough texture of the paper embodies the toughness of my “rice life” in these years. |
LO Lai Lai
Studies agriculture in Sangwoodgoon. Self-deprecating that the term “Half-Farming, Half-X”, which was written in the artist's resume, was actually the cause or result of distraction. Love cats and Japanese food.
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《Life as usual》
Fabric 2021 Paddy growing is a ceremonious process. Amid the chirping of birds and the singing of bugs, rice evolves through repeating procedures. While green leaves are tillering and rice blossoms are falling off gradually, unexpected guests rush into the gold. Year after year, life goes as usual. Furoshiki (Japanese wrapping towel) is printed with related patterns and calendars, which represent April -June 2021, July - September 2021, October - December 2021, January - March 2022 respectively. Furoshiki can be used as a wrapping towel to pack lunch, bottles or other belongings. |
ZHANG Zhe, Ban
Ban ZHANG Zhe (CHEONG Chi Ping) is an artist who believes in the value of innovation. He is passionate about creating works of sculpture using non-traditional materials, breaking the boundaries of tradition and leading to almost complete freedom both in the deployment of materials and the creative process. He used to explore philosophy through his works, making them interactive and going beyond being decorative. His works were featured in numerous international exhibitions, including ECHO-Hong Kong Sculpture Biennial 2010, Spain LOOP Video Festival 2009-10 This is Hong Kong, etc.
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《Walking with Rusted Animals—Balance》 Paper, Wood, Straw 2021 [Myth of ecological balance] I am lying on the grass, looking at the birds singing, imagining I am flying in the sky. Looking over the vast paddy field, like a golden sea; swaying with the wind, like celebrating the foison. Suddenly, there came a series of loud noises, bursting through the sound of the birds and the wind. Every sound struck my ears hard. The pace of urbanization is speeding up, and nature, is shriveling. Squeaks of birds, rumble of woods, seeking common ground despite dissimilarity, composing the piece of the era! Birds resting in the paddy field, nibbling the grains, eating their fill to stay safe from extinction. Farmers reluctantly watching their harvest being carved up, speechlessly painful! At this moment, the bird and the grains are facing each other. Yet, can the harmonious coexistence of human and nature endure? |
TANG Kwok Hin
TANG Kwok Hin is a mixed-media artist in Hong Kong. He obtained his Master of Fine Art degree at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His work originates in his inquiries into his own background as an indigenous inhabitant, for which he explored the meaning of existence and the intimate aesthetics that are closely related to his own life journey and experiences. He was awarded the first prize at Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial in 2009 and was also a grantee of Asian Cultural Council in 2013.
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《Sough》
Acrylic Case, PLA 2021 Do not scare them, Do not disturb them for no reason. The people who have lost their flights can still hear the birds flying and singing in the air full of virus: on the field; between the buildings; on the trees. Where are the trees? In the city or the nature. Don’t attempt to twist the agreed manners between humans and birds. Once human crowds or mechanical sounds appear, this place will become lifeless. I dreamed of an artificial bird getting lost in this square. In a flash, the bird missed the breath of humans. |
Martin CHEUNG
Born in Hong Kong in 1978, Martin graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honors) at the Victorian College of the Arts in Melbourne Australia in 2001. Cheung’s best known work is Duck Cam – Melbourne (2001), a conceptual photographic work which he converted a Roast Duck into a Pinhole camera, photographing Melbourne’s Chinatown. The work is collected by Pinhole Resource in the United State.
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《Earth Camera》
Farmland, mud, plastic sheet, resin coated photo paper, aluminium foil, wood 2021 What is the difference between sunrise, twilight and dawn? How to distinguish sunset, dusk and nightfall? Inspired by the artworks of Terrence Dinnan and Dominique Stroobant, who are the artists from the 80s, an idea came to my mind — What would be the viewpoint of the land in Hong Kong? That was my initial motivation to start creating this artwork. With the farmer's permission, I have dug a 6-foot diameter, bowl-shaped hole in the farmland in Tsat Sing Kong, Pat Heung, Yuen Long, and created this “EARTH CAMERA” with the earth, wood and other materials. Then, I used photographic papers as the recording medium, placed them pointing towards the sky, and took a 24 hours exposure. The exposure time of the photos is from 8:30 pm on February 5, 2021, to 8:29 pm on the next day. The artwork shows the sunrise and sunset, flowers, trees and nearby buildings, the viewpoint of farmland to the sky, which is the landscape that we are accustomed to since we were born on the earth. After shooting, I tried very hard to discover the interaction between this series of photos and the farmland, and I discovered it was barely romanticizing this act. In fact, these photos only documented the law of the earth rotation objectively, not more. Eventually, I discovered that what I truly cared about was, when dawn and light will show up. |
Water Bear
Water Bear, a local illustrator, graduated from the Department of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong, majoring in animation and digital imaging. Lived in Nam Sang Wai for 11 years and have just returned to the city. Therefore, most of his works are related to nature. In 2019, he participated in the Fishpond-Diving Art Exhibition. He has published picture books "An Ear Mite and Cats That Can Hear Colors" and "Little Wild Boar Finds a Way."
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《Farm Wheel》
Wood, Ox Bone 2021 Rolling is the main process when local farmers grow paddy rice. Digging, threshing, filtering, rice milling and so on, all rely on the “rolling” of the machines to finish those meticulous and complex procedures. Rolling, is also the key element of animation. The frame can stay for 1/24 second in our sight by rolling, thus becoming a smooth animated image. The installation includes different frames, showing a farmer farming and birds living in a paddy field. Those frames roll in the wheel to create an animation, reflecting on the roles of farmers and birds in farmland respectively. |
MAN Mei To
Man Mei To obtained her Bachelor degrees in Arts from Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT) and Hong Kong Arts School in 2017, majoring in painting.Man’s artworks tell the stories on the basis of the materials, with the employment of different techniques and mediums. Man has initiated her solo exhibitions from 2016, Including “Laundry Shop” ( A walk with A3, Hong Kong,2016 ) ,The Distance of Space( Floating Projects, Hong Kong,2018 ), etc. She also has rich experience of local and international exhibition showcases, including “Primitive Sense Art festival” ( Omachi City, Nagano, Japan,2016 ), “Ensemble “( VT Artsalon, Taipei,2017 ), etc.
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《Petrichor》
Mixed Media 2021 MAN Mei To uses sounds to create her work, those sounds were collected by herself while joining a series of artist residence activities. Artist collected mud from the area of Ma Shi Po, completely dried out. Accompanying the display is a soundscape, the artist recorded the sound when she rehydrated them (as the water filled up the pores, it produces sounds similar to the ambient sounds of forest). When dry soil and water reunite, it remains claimed after short dysphoria, refills the patience and sounds to wait for desiccation. The field is full of golden paddy, reap the paddy and put them in the water, please listen to the sound carefully while rice grows and moves in the water. The installation asks the audience to listen closely to the land and the sounds that are produced by a given terroir.⠀ Migratory birds flying to the south and resting there, paddy grown there, were the food for the birds, recording their trace. Please let the city know the northernmost forest in Hong Kong. |
Organizer:
Art Together, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society
Art Together, Hong Kong Bird Watching Society
