Hong Kong International Photo Festival – Mega Family: Imagining Home

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Hong Kong International Photo Festival (HKIPF) is returning from 8 November to 8 December 2024, with the flagship exhibition Mega Family: Imagining Home at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Co-curated by Blues Wong and Carol Chow, the exhibition echoes the Festival’s earlier explorations of the theme of “home” in exhibitions 300 Families in 2013 and 1000 Families in 2016. Sponsored by FUJIFILM HK, Mega Family: Imagining Home invites 15 local photographers from different generations to showcase their works about Hong Kong since 2020, reflecting on the redefinition of home and family in the post-pandemic era and serving as a visual documentation of the social changes experienced under the new normality.

Unlike previous years, which featured satellite exhibitions and collaborations with overseas artists, this year’s HKIPF focuses on local culture through this single thematic exhibition. Mega Family: Imagining Home aims to explore the evolving physical, cultural, and even mental landscapes in post-pandemic Hong Kong, examining how the meaning of “home” and “family” shifts with changes in the environment amidst a dynamic social backdrop.

The works of the 15 local photographers weave together a nonlinear, ongoing story of Hong Kong. Each of them offers a unique perspective on the different aspects of “family” and “homeland”, while showcasing the evolution of the photographic medium—from manipulation and mixed media to experiments with artificial intelligence, exemplifying the rhizomatic potentiality of photography in narrating, responding to, and imagining reality.

Featured Artworks

anothermountainman (Stanley Wong): i see ikebana. it is ikebana.

Artist, photographer, and designer anothermountainman has crafted a captivating series of ikebana photography. Upon closer examination, viewers will discover that the subjects are not real flowers but composed of various non-plant materials, including plastic ties, knitting needles, paper shreds, and extraction tubes from rapid COVID-19 antigen test kits. In his artist statement, he succinctly expresses his vision by playing on a Zen Buddhism text : “see flowers from heart, enjoy the flowers. feel home in heart, embrace…and stay home.” This beautifully encapsulates the meaning of home—not merely a physical space, but a profound sense of belonging.

Michelle Chan: A Taste of Home (2024)

A relational artist who works primarily in photography, Michelle Chan uses the camera and manipulated images to generate connections and conversations with people. The photographic series A Taste of Home (2024) is an extension of previous works DayDayCook and Grandma Grandpa Cook 2. In this series, Chan explores the roots of the relationship between her husband’s extended family and food by tracing the history of family recipes from their hometown in Shanwei, China.

Chan Oi Yan: /imagine prompt Home

Even family members living under the same roof can have different interpretations of an “ideal home”. Photographer Chan Oi Yan engaged in a casual conversation with her family to envision what their long-time residence might look like after renovation. After gathering the ideas from all four family members, she synthesised these visions into a singular directive, inputting their collective thoughts into artificial intelligence to generate imagery. These images, printed instantly, masquerade as spontaneous captures of the present moment. The final exhibition interweaves AI-generated instant images with those taken in reality. The illusion in reality and the reality in illusion are thus interlinked.

Almond Chu: HOME PARADOX

Photographic artist Almond Chu explores themes of identity, integration with the environment, and more through a sci-fi lens. In his series, aliens seeking a habitable place become gradually assimilated into the Earth’s environment, ultimately evolving to look identical to each other. This symbolises the loss of individuality and diversity in the process of adapting to life, prompting reflections on the relationship between self and community. When the aliens discover another habitable planet that would restore their diversity, they also face the sacrifice that relocation would cause.

Joseph Fung: Wai Yin Association – A Mega Family

Veteran photographic artist and educator Joseph Fung photographed members of the charity organisation Wai Yin Association, with a special focus on two former presidents. With 40 years of philanthropic legacy, the association and each of its members have demonstrated unwavering commitment to supporting Hong Kong’s most respected charitable organisations. The association firmly believes that private and public sectors can successfully work together for the greater good of society. Their shared ideal of “making a difference for a better tomorrow” positions them as pioneers and inspirations for social responsibility within the Hong Kong community, aligning with the idea of “Mega Family” and the concept of home.

Justin Hui: Searching for Poon

In the work Searching for Poon, artist and architect Justin Hui reconstructs his grandmother’s journey from mainland China to Hong Kong through a collection of her images, weaving together fragments of her life. As her memory gradually fades, Hui becomes the architect of her memories.

Lau Chi Chung: The Dayspring of Eternity: May the dreamy nightfall stay forever…

Lau Chi Chung, a visual artist and collector of old textbooks, is fascinated by stories relating to Hong Kong’s history and vernacular culture. For this exhibition, Lau visualises memories of the district of North Point from the 1940s and 1950s. The district saw the settling of Shanghainese and Fujianese immigrants, who brought with them their wealth, lifestyles, and cultural visions, turning North Point into a vibrant neighbourhood. Through images depicting the area’s past, such as amusement parks, the State Theatre, and metal gates of residents’ homes, the artist metaphorically illustrates that Eternity does not exist.

Jimmy Lee:︰￭﹞(Laughter carries the warmth we share now)

Inspired by the theme song ‘No Regrets Loving You in This Life’ from the TV series A Kindred Spirit, this body of work reframes the viewer’s gaze from directly within the eye itself. Capturing the landscapes of Hong Kong as projected onto the retinas of its people, artist Jimmy Lee reinterprets the facade of Hong Kong through the concept of imagined and real imagery.

Kevin Ling: Wash Out

Kevin Ling’s practice encompasses various media, including land art, sculpture, video, and installation. In the work Wash Out, the artist likens the land to a canvas, where the traces accumulated on old ground resemble ink slowly left by time. This transforms the ground beneath his feet into a vast canvas soaked with ink. Using water as a medium, the artist washes away the traces on the surface, leaving blank spaces while simultaneously redefining the ground with a new painting.

Thomas Lin: Sunshine of Yesterday

Thomas Lin’s art is rooted in his interest in historical narratives and photography. His works showcased in this exhibition are inspired by the period around 1839, marking two significant historical crossroads: the invention of photography and the birth of Hong Kong. Amid a vast ocean of data, Lin draws on fragments from the puzzle of history to uncover insights within collective ideas. He then lets these insights “reappear” by giving them forms that coincide with that time, blending contemporary technologies with the earliest photographic techniques.

So Hing Keung: Reappearance of Buddha’s Light

As he grows older, photographer So Hing Kueng finds himself gazing at Hong Kong through a lens clouded by time, where the essence of his birthplace becomes increasingly elusive. In light of the many changes the city has undergone over the years, he has decided to embark on an introspective journey to relearn and rediscover his hometown. Through a series of photographic works capturing various scenes of Hong Kong, So hopes to express his emotions and perspectives about his home today.

Wong Chi Lam: 20422 Kilometres

Wong Chilam is a photographer from Hong Kong who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in art psychotherapy in the UK. Her works centre on the home and family of her partner, Arthur, who comes from a multicultural background, exploring the complex relationship between home and identity. She describes home as an expanding and moving circle, where the centre of the circle represented her entirety during her childhood. As she grew up and stepped out along the continuously extending diameter, she began to incorporate various elements into her concept of “home”. In her series, Wong reflects on the overlap of two circles—her home and Arthur’s home—contemplating whether this connection, in the context of different cultures and backgrounds, makes home feel more complete or distances them further apart. Each homecoming signifies a farewell to another home. The process of seeking home is both a healing journey and an exploration and reflection on one’s own sense of loss.

Paul Yeung: Parade

A former photojournalist and photo editor, Paul Yeung has captured the vibrant, ever-changing hues of city life and the motion of the parading crowds in his photographic series. Photography offers the rare gift of capturing this ‘this-has-been’ moment, preserving it briefly before it fades into the past.

Yu Ho Yeung: Eagle Hunters of the Altai Mountains

Freelance photographer Yu Ho Yeung’s works showcase the traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Kazakhs and their unique culture of eagle hunting. Today, there are only two to three hundred eagle hunters in the world, and their skills, passed down through generations, are now facing sharp generational differences in expectations towards life. Through depicting the lives of the hunters, the photographer prompts viewers to reflect on their own roots and culture, as well as the transformations of home and the new generation’s visions for the future.

Vincent Yu: 21 Days

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Vincent Yu has worked as a photojournalist covering major news events across the Asia–Pacific region since 1985. As a professional photojournalist and a close observer of the city’s development, he has acquired a special sensitivity towards capturing moments and opportunities. During the pandemic in 2021, he returned to Hong Kong with his daughter from abroad and underwent a three-week hotel quarantine. It became the longest period he had ever spent alone with his daughter, which turned into a magical journey together. He decided to document this unique experience with his camera. The experience altered his concept of “home” in Hong Kong.

Collateral Programmes

This summer, HKIPF collaborated with these 15 photographers to produce 15 videos set against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour and the iconic Star Ferry, documenting the interaction between the photographers and the harbour. On the swaying ferry, the photographers captured the scenery along both sides of the harbour, contemplating the meaning of “home”. From historically significant landmarks like Hong Kong Cultural Centre and the Clock Tower to the imposing skyscrapers, planes soaring overhead, and sailors quietly pulling the ferry back to the dock, each frame tells a story of the city. As the sounds of the ferry’s horn blend with the crashing waves and the chatter of the crowds, the photographers quietly emerge at the bustling pier, as if reminding us that this is where lives converge. The trailer has been uploaded to HKIPF’s YouTube channel (click here to watch).

In addition to the flagship exhibition, HKIPF 2024 has also curated a series of artist talks aimed at providing visitors with deeper artistic insights. The first talk takes place on 9 November, themed around the exhibition title Mega Family: Imagining Home, featuring artists anothermountainman, Joseph Fung, Jimmy Lee, and So Hing Keung, who will share their interpretations of the theme and the concepts and inspirations behind their works.