©Terry Ng
Guest curator, Kevin WY Lee, shines a light on photography from Hong Kong and Taiwan with a special slideshow projection tonight.
“When talking about photography from East Asia, we usually reference works from Japan and China. But photographers from Hong Kong and Taiwan are little known outside their territories. I saw this as an opportunity to do something that hasn’t been done before. How about we start a conversation with the guys across the waters?” says the founder of International Photographer Asia (IPA).
©Shen Chao-Liang
Kevin features a diverse collection of 18 photographers in the slideshow, all of differing ages, styles and experience. From Hong Kong, Lam Yik Fei documents last year’s Umbrella Movement, while Ducky Tse shows fading remnants of British colonialism and Paul Yeung photographs the Hong Kong police force and their presence in society. The Taiwanese photographers such as Yen Peng-Chun recreates the afterworld in an old pumping station and Chen Chin-Pao focuses his project on the Taipei’s ubiquitous betel nut girls. The line-up also includes selected works from Chang Chao-Tang, one of Taiwan’s most important photographers.
©Lam Yik Fei
The close proximity that the two territories share with China directly and subtly fuels the work, as they struggle with issues such as identity, territory and nationship. “A lot of the work is about the future – who are they, where are they going, what is their identity?” says Kevin.
Tonight’s show is not meant to be an extensive representation, but hopefully it’s a start to get the conversation going.”
Catch the slideshow projections tonight at FCC, starting from 8.30pm.