Talks & Screenings: Dead Water Convulsion–Hong Kong–1980s

A conversation between Leung Chi Wo and Josh Hon
2270 Sauder Industries Policy Room
SFU David See-Chai Lam Centre for International Communication, 515 W Hastings
July 8, 2016 | 3:30 pm

Centre A guest curator Leung Chi Wo and artist Josh Hon explore the art and political scene of Hong Kong in the 1980s in this presentation. Hon, as a pioneering artist of the 1980s left Hong Kong at the peak of his career to move to Hope, British Columbia timed specifically after the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. Historically, many other Hong Kong citizens also left Hong Kong for North America at this time.

Hon’s multi-varied work of painting, theatre and installations as well as his own identity as both Hong Kongese and Canadian will be discussed.

An english subtitled episode of Art Magazine: “Art & Politics” will also be screened, a Hong Kong TV program that prominently featured Josh Hon.

This conversation is taking place in conjunction with Josh Hon’s exhibition, Dead Water Convulsion—Hong Kong—1980s, currently on display at Centre A.

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Screening and Artist Talk with Josh Hon
Saturday, July 16, 2016, 4pm
Centre A, 229 East Georgia Street

This Saturday, we will be screening an English subtitled episode of RTHK’s Art Magazine ‘Communication’, a 1980s Hong Kong TV program that prominently featured Josh Hon. Following the screening, Josh Hon and Hong Kong Exile’s Natalie Tin Yin Gan will have a conversation about Hon’s work and communication with Centre A’s current exhibition, Dead Water Convulsion–Hong Kong–1980s, as the backdrop.

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In Dead Water Convulsion–Hong Kong–1980’s, Josh Hon and exhibition curator Leung Chi Wo looks back at the art and political scene of Hong Kong in the 1980s. Hon, as a pioneering artist of the 1980s left Hong Kong at the peak of his career to move to Hope, British Columbia, after the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. Historically, many other Hong Kong citizens also left Hong Kong for North America at this time.

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JOSH HON was one of the most known artists in the 1980s in Hong Kong but faded out from the Hong Kong art scene in the early 1990s when he immigrated to Hope, British Columbia. However, with his cross-disciplinary practice from theatre performance to multi-media installation, he still remains as one of the most well-remembered artists of his time in Hong Kong art history. In the 1980s, his one-man show at the Hong Kong arts centre was critically acclaimed and cemented his role as a key pioneering figure in the Hong Kong arts scene. Hon’s brief career in the 1980s is an example of the first generation of Hong Kong artists who made use of a rather global art language without a burden of the Chinese tradition. This recollection of his artistic practice and his life in Hong Kong establishes the notion of memory in the study of Hong Kong art prior to any historical writing.

LEUNG CHI WO is a Hong Kong visual artist and currently teaches at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong His works mainly range from photography, installation, paintings and videos. Leung was also one of the co-founders of Para/Site Art Space in Hong Kong—which was established in early 1996 and was the first exhibition-making institution of contemporary art in Hong Kong. For this exhibition, Leung is acting curator and researcher of Josh Hon: Dead Water Convulsion—Hong Kong—1980s.