You can’t decide on an achievable New Year’s resolution? Why don’t you kick off the year by visiting the diverse exhibitions Hong Kong has to offer this month? We selected eight contrasted exhibitions from Cézanne and Renoir to homegrown and Hong Kong-based artists, from photography, design and sculpture to painting, ink and drawing.
Enjoy Your Cultural January!
EVENTS IN FOCUS
GIRAFFE LEUNG AND JAY LAU: REALITY BUT VIRTUAL
#painting #multimedia
The exhibition features Hong Kong artists Giraffe Leung Lok Hei and Jay Lau Ka Chun, using coins and prints as their canvases, employing real fragments of Hong Kong’s history as a medium to collaboratively create virtual scenes constructed from reality, showcasing a frame of “Hong Kong” in a parallel time and space.
Until 8 February – AISHO Hong Kong – More details here
YUKISAMA IDA: DAY ZERO
#painting #sculpture
The exhibition challenges us to embrace change while navigating an ever-evolving future. Japanese artist Yukimasa Ida’s work provides new perspectives that help us navigate the complexities of tomorrow. Igniting hope and purpose, this showcase compels us to become active participants in shaping our collective destiny, encouraging us to embrace a vision of harmony that transcends time.
Until 31 March – VILLEPIN – More details here
DAPHNÉ MANDEL: THEIR MEMORIES
#painting
Positioning herself as an observer, the Hong Kong-based French artist has been engaging with her adopted city’s past for many years. Exploring villages in the New Territories and collecting stories from local villagers whose lifestyle is on the brink of disappearing, she explores the themes of pattern and repetition versus singularity and uniqueness through the narratives of rural life and industrial heritage.
Until 25 January – Gallery Exit – More details here
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Portrait of Two Girls, ca.1892
CEZANNE AND RENOIR: LOOKING AT THE WORLD
#painting
This is the first large scale exhibition dedicated to the two French Impressionist masters Paul Cézanne and Pierre-Auguste Renoir in Hong Kong, showcasing 52 masterpieces from the Musée de l’Orangerie and the Musée d’Orsay in France. The exhibition simulates a dialogue between Cézanne and Renoir, inviting viewers into their inner worlds and offering new insights into their lives and deep friendship.
17 January to 7 May – HKMoA – More details here
Chau Sau Lan, Domestic Worker’s Picnic, 2024
HONG KONG EMERGING ARTISTS EXHIBITION – PART II
#painting
The exhibition provides a free platform for young Hong Kong artists under the age of 40 to showcase their artistic direction and achievements to the general public. It inherits the philosophy of reviving Chinese culture from Professor Jao Tsung-i, Master of Chinese Studies, by encouraging participating artists to revitalise the spirit of Chinese art.
Until 3 March – Jao Tsung-I Academy – More details here
IN RETROSPECTIVE: THE EARLY CHINESE PHOTOGRAPHY COLLECTION OF MOONCHU FOUNDATION
#photography
The exhibition showcases over 500 selected pieces from the Moonchu Collection of Chinese Photography, covering major historical events in China during the Qing dynasty, such as the Second Opium War, the Self-Strengthening Movement, the First Sino-Japanese War, the invasion of the Eight-Nation Alliance and the Russo-Japanese War among others. Other photographs depict urban landscapes, historic buildings and people’s livelihood in the late Qing dynasty and early Republican period.
Until 3 February – Hong Kong Museum of History – More details here
Ruth Asawa: Doing Is Living, David Zwirner, Hong Kong
RUTH ASAWA: DOING IS LIVING
#ink & drawing #sculpture
This is the first solo presentation in Greater China of sculptures and works on paper by American artist, educator and arts advocate Ruth Asawa (1926–2013). It provides an overview of the artist’s wide-ranging practice, focusing in particular on her affinity for the natural world, which in turn provided a constant source of inspiration in her art.
Until 22 February – David Zwirner – More details here
MAKING IT MATTERS
#architecture #crafts #design
The exhibition examines making as a process of creative expression and its long-lasting impact on individual lives, global communities and fragile ecosystems. Mostly draws upon the works of the M+ collections, it features artists, designers and architects John Cage, Harold Cohen, Julie & Jesse, John Maeda, Raffaella della Olga, Anna Ridler, Ki Saigon, Fujimori Terunobu, Jay Sae Jung Oh, Stanley Wong, and Võ Trọng Nghĩa Architects.
Until 30 November – M+ – More details here