HKADCSkip to content(8 September 2016, Hong Kong) M+, the new museum for visual culture in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, today inaugurated the solo exhibition of Tsang Kin-Wah: Nothing at M+ Pavilion, the home for M+ exhibitions in the district in the run up to the museum opening in 2019. Co-presented by M+ and Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) following the success of 56th Venice Biennale presentation, Tsang Kin-Wah: The Infinite Nothing in 2015, the newly commissioned work in response to the Venice exhibition last year, will be available for public visits from 9 September to 6 November.
At the inaugural exhibition ceremony today, Chief Executive Officer of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) Mr Duncan Pescod said, “Today marks a new chapter for M+, not only because M+ now has a base for putting the works on display, but it also signifies that the museum will be able to run test programmes by engaging a wider audience through exhibitions and programmes showcasing M+’s own collection.”
HKADC’s Chief Executive Ms Winsome Chow said, “After showcasing Hong Kong visual arts in Venice Biennale since 2001, the Hong Kong exhibitions are gaining more exposure and recognition internationally, especially in the last two rounds of collaboration with M+. Following the remarkable success of Tsang Kin-Wah’s exhibition in Venice last year, we are delighted to showcase his work to the Hong Kong audience in this special venue, the brand new M+ Pavilion.”
Co-curated by Doryun Chong, M+’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator, and Stella Fong, Lead Curator, Learning and Interpretation with support from Sharon Chan and Winnie Lai as Assistant Curators of M+, Nothing is a site-specific installation by local artist Tsang Kin-Wah who will bring to viewers an immersive experience that addresses the essence of life and human beings’ inability to escape fate. Combining metaphors and allegories drawn from philosophies, literature and religious concepts, with elements of film, music and other popular culture references—ranging from the Christian Tree of Life to the Buddhist Bodhi Tree; from Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange to the music of Kurt Cobain, the lead singer and guitarist of Nirvana; and from Shakespeare’s Macbeth to Béla Tarr’s The Turin Horse, Nothing invites viewers into the emotional ebbs and flows of the artist’s inner world and compels them to reconsider life’s absurdity and nothingness.
“As I conceived this exhibition, I thought of many different theories. Some of them were related to the previous exhibition in Venice, such as Nietzsche’s ‘eternal recurrence’ and the idea of the cycle, “said Tsang Kin-Wah. “The text of Macbeth is a reference point this time. It discusses life in a way as if from a position of profound experience. There are many desires you want to pursue, but in the end, all of it is illusory, to a degree that those things can even seem very empty.”
“Tsang Kin-Wah is an artist who is widely respected and admired not only for his singular visual vocabulary but also the seriousness and rigour in his thinking and conceptualisation that he brings to his body of work. What you would get in this exhibition is a visual, perceptual and total experience. But ultimately it is about what it means to be an existence in a contemporary society and he examines this in a very powerful perception-changing and perhaps life-changing ways,” said Doryun Chong, Co-curator of the exhibition.
Tsang Kin-Wah: Nothing will run from 9 September to 6 November 2016, opening from Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays, and from 11am to 6pm. On every Saturday, Sunday and public holidays during the exhibition period (except 17 September), shuttle bus service will be available from 11am to 6pm between West Kowloon Project Site Office and the M+ Pavilion. For details please visit http://www.westkowloon.hk/nothing.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Exhibition Period: From 9 September until 6 November 2016
11 am – 6 pm Wednesday to Sunday and public holidays
Location:
M+ Pavilion, WKCD
Admission:
Free
Special transportation arrangement:
On every Saturday, Sunday and public holidays during the exhibition period (except 17 September), shuttle bus service will be available between West Kowloon Project Site Office and the M+ Pavilion from 11am to 6pm.
Talks
As part of the exhibition Tsang Kin-Wah: Nothing, M+ presents a series of free programmes including talk, guided tours, and events for teachers with the hope to provide deeper understanding of the exhibition and the artist to the public.
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