Wanchai Hong Kong Arts Centre | Hong Kong Arts Centre Flagship Exhibition 'Domain・Collision・Collaboration': Seven Artists/Groups Engage in In-depth Dialogue and Explore the Multiverse of Art

Description

The Hong Kong Arts Centre announces its flagship exhibition, 'Domain・Collision・Collaboration', from 26 August to 20 September 2026. In an open invitation, seven well-established artists or groups from local, mainland, and overseas are brought together to form four relational axes: Fang Lijun × Public, Chen Yujiang × Matsui Shiro, Feng Yung Kei × Picture Rhythm Studios (PRS), and Juri Hwang × Andreas Kratky. Through collaboration and collision among the four axes, an in-depth dialogue takes place, showcasing each artist's latest creative trajectory while collectively producing a site-specific responsive art exhibition. The static art space of the Hong Kong Arts Centre is transformed into an organic collaborative entity. The Centre's space carries the cumulative memory of Hong Kong's art and exhibition history; this institutional history is a future history that can be reactivated and continuously pushed forward by artists.

Going Beyond a Typical Group Show: In-depth Dialogue Among Four Groups of Artists

The exhibition encapsulates three interrelated concepts: 'Domain' refers to the architectural and historical context of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, emphasizing the responsiveness of the creations to the space; 'Collision' represents the catalytic moments of encounter between different creative universes; and 'Collaboration' signifies new possibilities arising from dialogue and friction. The dash (・) in the title does not separate but connects, symbolizing the dynamic relationship between the three states.

With seven artists in four groups, each participant first presents their unique artistic language, encompassing a range of traditional and cutting-edge art forms such as ceramics, painting, imagery, interactive installations, digital art, and technology art. Their materials include fragments of ancient buildings, recycled waste, plastic sheets, fishing lines, neon lights, X-ray films, and more. After dialogue and collision, the two artistic languages will showcase a state of coexistence, overlap, or fusion, eventually leading to unexpected artistic presentations and a mutually permeating 'third voice'. The exhibition goes beyond a typical group show, offering an intriguing experiment that explores how two artistic universes establish connections through mutual gravitation.

• Fang Lijun × Public: Fang Lijun will exhibit his 'Marine Ecology Series' at the Centre's entrance. Created with marine debris, this series has been well-received in Bangkok and Shanghai, and it will make its debut in Hong Kong. Fang responds to environmental issues by using recycled materials, examining the relationship between art, public space, and society. 2026 also marks a meaningful return. After his first Hong Kong exhibition at the Hong Kong Arts Centre in 1993, Fang returns to the same venue after 33 years, engaging in a creative dialogue across time. The public will be invited to clean up the coast at Tai Long Wan on Hong Kong Island, turning collected plastic waste into creative materials. Together, they will create large-scale art installations, displayed alongside Fang Lijun's artworks centered on marine debris, incorporating the voices of the public.
• Chen Yujiang × Matsui Shiro: The two artists only met once, but the curator, relying on their curatorial intuition, noticed their similar creative trajectories and over thirty years of university teaching experience. Both artists explore the relationship between human life and the universe through their creations. By incorporating natural, cosmic, and life elements, they construct microcosms with ceramics, light and shadow, and natural media, continuously delving into the concept of 'boundary/penetration/container'. This exploration of the relationship between humans and the order of all things prompts viewers to reflect on their existence in the vast universe, questioning where, when, and how they are present.
• Feng Yung Kei × PRS: This collaboration transcends generations and disciplines, bringing together an architect and contemporary ink artist with a creator specializing in digital art and stage design. Using Hong Kong as their method and space as their theme, they engage in continuous dialogue between history and future, nature and body, light and shadow, and memory. By intertwining historical roof tiles, bodily memories, and digital light and shadow, they reinterpret Hong Kong's past, present, and future, exploring the multifaceted connections between the city and its people.
• Juri Hwang × Andreas Kratky: This pair of artist-partners, hailing from Germany and South Korea respectively, presents artistic practices that transcend cultural backgrounds and creative fields. Their collaboration intertwines technology with bodily experiences, algorithms with memory, and spatial perception with family history. Through the dialogue between algorithmic technology and matriarchal memory, they explore the profound connections between spatial perception, identity construction, and life inheritance.

The Venue Transforms from a Simple Exhibition Space into an Interactive Platform Connecting Artworks and Audiences

With the joint participation of the four creative units, the exhibition will unfold in different spaces within the Hong Kong Arts Centre, offering a holistic artistic experience throughout the venue. From the Jockey Club Gallery in the Centre's lobby to the Pao Galleries, artworks will be distributed across various floors and corners, guiding visitors to interact and engage in dialogue with the pieces as they explore the space. Breaking free from traditional exhibition models, the architectural space becomes an integral part of the artistic presentation. The works not only blend into the venue but also reveal unique facets due to the diverse spaces. Through the exchange between artists, artworks, and audiences, visitors will embark on an immersive artistic journey filled with inspiration.

Since 2009, the flagship exhibition has served as a pivotal platform showcasing contemporary Asian art perspectives, gathering creators from various regions to foster cross-border artistic exchanges. Over the years, the exhibition has collaborated with multiple guest curators from Asia who possess extensive experience. Through their insights and selection of materials, they explore artistic concepts that reflect the spiritual landscape of the region. Past flagship exhibitions include 'Enjoy Yourself Tonight: The Art of Chan Fuk-sin' in 2022 and 'Wan Chai Grammar: Past, Present, Future Tense' in 2018, among others.

Curator of the exhibition, Fong Man-yee, states, 'We believe that art is not a one-way appreciation but a continuous process of exchange and interaction between artists, artworks, spaces, and audiences. Based on this belief, we present the 'Domain・Collision・Collaboration' flagship exhibition this year, offering an intriguing and experimental art practice. Departing from the formulaic approach of merely displaying works, we intentionally pair artists from different cultural backgrounds and creative fields, inviting them to use the exhibition space as a context for creative dialogue. We look forward to seeing the multiverse of art that will emerge. We hope that the public will not only be spectators but also actively participate, connecting with the artists and artworks to collectively achieve a boundary-crossing and inspiring artistic experience.'

The Public Becomes the Eighth Exhibiting Unit, Interacting with Fang Lijun, a Representative of China's 'Playful Realism'

Public participation is an indispensable element of this immersive experience, and a series of workshops and activities are specially designed to invite the public to join the creative and exchange process. Local upcycling designer Baisite will lead the public to clean up the coast at Tai Long Wan on Hong Kong Island, collecting plastic waste and transforming it into creative materials for unique art pieces. The completed works will be exhibited alongside Fang Lijun's marine debris-themed creations, further conveying environmental messages.

Hong Kong Arts Centre Flagship Exhibition 'Domain・Collision・Collaboration'

Date: 26 August – 20 September 2026
Venue: Hong Kong Arts Centre (4/F-5/F Pao Galleries and G/F-4/F Jockey Club Gallery)
Ticket: Free admission

Pick Plastic, Remake Plastic: Beach Cleanup and Marine Debris Art Workshop

In response to Fang Lijun's artworks created with marine debris, local upcycling expert Baisite Design Studio will join the public in cleaning the coast at Tai Long Wan on Hong Kong Island, turning the collected plastic waste into unique art pieces.

Date: 23 August 2026
Time: 1:30pm – 5:00pm
Location: Tai Long Wan, Hong Kong Island
Registration: https://www.art-mate.net/doc/98693

Pick Plastic, Remake Plastic: Marine Debris Art Installation Co-creation Workshop

In this workshop hosted by Baisite Design, participants will upcycle marine plastic waste into a large-scale art installation. This installation will be exhibited in the Centre's atrium alongside Fang Lijun's works created with similar materials, engaging in a profound artistic dialogue.

Session: 2 September 2026, 2:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
19 September 2026, 2:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 5:30pm
Venue: 3/F Lobby, Hong Kong Arts Centre
Registration: https://www.art-mate.net/doc/98695

Introduction to 'Domain・Collision・Collaboration' Exhibiting Artists

Fang Lijun

Born in Handan, Hebei Province, in 1963, Fang graduated from the Printmaking Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing in 1989. Fang prefers naming his works by their creation year, deliberately avoiding external narrative frameworks and allowing the pieces to communicate with viewers through their pure visual language. As an internationally renowned artist, Fang has held nearly 40 solo exhibitions worldwide. He has participated in prestigious events such as the Venice Biennale and the São Paulo Art Biennial, and served as a guest professor at over 20 universities worldwide. His works are collected by top institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and the Fukuoka Asian Art Museum in Japan.

Public

The public breaks free from one-way gazes, opening their hearts and reorganizing their thoughts to create their voices and works, engaging in a spiritual dialogue with the artist.

Chen Yujiang

A pioneer of Hong Kong contemporary art in the 1990s and a veteran educator, Chen was born in Hong Kong in 1952 and graduated from the Fine Arts Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1983. He later obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan, USA, in 1988. Chen excels in experimental explorations across composite media, ink, and calligraphy. In the 1990s, he coined the 'domestic aesthetic' concept, responding to the spatial constraints faced by local artists by transforming everyday items into creative tools, paving a new path for conceptual installation art in restricted environments. He has participated in over 100 exhibitions, including the 51st Venice Biennale and the 2nd Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art. Chen served as the editor of the Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook and taught art at CUHK for over 25 years. He currently acts as an advisor to Asia Art Archive and Yale-China Association, residing in Hong Kong.

Matsui Shiro

A contemporary sculptor from Japan and a leading figure in the Kansai New Wave movement of the 1980s, Matsui was born in Nara, Japan, in 1960 and graduated from Kyoto City University of Arts. He initially gained recognition for his humorous and thought-provoking sculptures combining various materials. Since the 1990s, Matsui has garnered international acclaim for his large-scale site-specific balloon installations that seamlessly integrate with architecture. He skillfully utilizes space and membrane structures to create intriguing and thought-provoking works, constantly challenging human perception, spatial awareness, and the boundaries between interior and exterior.

Feng Yung Kei

An architect, designer, and ink artist, Feng was born in Hong Kong in 1952 and started practicing Chinese ink painting at the age of 15. He often draws inspiration from Hong Kong's local landscapes, incorporating his unique architectural perspective into his creations. His polyptych works are renowned for their seamless integration with interior spaces. Former Director of Shanghai Art Museum, Fang Zengxian, praised Feng's works as a 'spiritual utopia', reflecting his broad creative vision of elevating ink art from 'landscape depiction' to 'space interpretation'. In 1989, Feng participated in the 'Chinese Contemporary Painting 1984–89' exhibition curated by renowned professor and curator Wu Hung at Harvard University, marking his emergence in the ink painting world. Feng's creative footprints span the globe, with solo exhibitions in New York, Paris, Beijing, Shanghai, Avignon, Taipei, Hangzhou, Hong Kong, and other cities. His works are collected by international corporations and art institutions, including the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the National Art Museum of China, the Shanghai Art Museum (now the China Art Museum), the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.

Picture Rhythm Studios

Led by interactive installation artist Paul Shepherd, Picture Rhythm Studios is a global creative agency that transforms educational experiences through interactive and multimedia design, enabling audiences to explore different layers and facets of life through multisensory engagement. PRS is dedicated to exploring health, environmental, social, and identity issues in a dramatic 'dialogue' format, offering new perspectives for audiences to understand themselves and the world. Their core approach involves blending analog and digital media, incorporating physical and virtual objects into immersive narratives, and placing audiences in pivotal positions to evoke surprise and curiosity. The PRS team comprises stage designers, projection mapping and robotics experts, visual design artists, and art entertainment producers, breaking expressive boundaries through cross-disciplinary collaboration to craft memorable experiences filled with color, entertainment, and fashion.

Juri Hwang

A Korean-American media artist and researcher based in Hong Kong and Los Angeles, Hwang is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Film and Television at Hong Kong Baptist University. With a diverse educational background in cross-disciplinary media art and film production, Hwang creates experimental research tools spanning art, technology, neuroscience, and narrative fields to explore sensory perception and issues of oppression and empowerment. She is committed to social change, utilizing community collaboration and artistic intervention to improve the voice autonomy and quality of life for the hearing-impaired. Her work 'Somatic Echo' is a sound piece using bone conduction to experience bodily listening, which received an Honorary Mention at the Ars Electronica Festival in Austria. 'Nightfield' is a multi-sensory installation exploring sonic memory. Hwang has also collaborated on projects such as 'Bleeding Through - Layers of Los Angeles: 1920-1986', 'Three Winters in the Sun: Einstein in California', and 'Venture to the Interior'.

In her current artistic intervention project, 'Here, My Voice', Hwang leads a cross-disciplinary research collaboration between music, medicine, and narrative to support the hearing-impaired in connecting with their voices, enhancing their confidence and enjoyment of music.

Andreas Kratky

A media artist from Germany, Kratky is currently a Professor and Director of the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University's School of Communication, creating art across Hong Kong, Los Angeles, and Berlin. Kratky focuses on new forms of cinema, experiential cinema, and the poetics of databases and artificial intelligence, with his work spanning the fields of art, human-computer interaction, and digital humanities. His notable works include the interactive Japanese theatre documentary 'That's Kyogen', the interactive installation and DVD 'Bleeding Through -- Layers of Los Angeles 1920-1986', the algorithmic film system 'Soft Cinema', and the interactive costume projections and stage devices for Christopher Marlowe's opera 'The Jew of Malta'. Kratky's works have been exhibited at renowned institutions worldwide, including the ICA in London, ICC in Tokyo, HDKW in Berlin, Centre Pompidou in Paris, and REDCAT in Los Angeles. He received a nomination for the Scientific and Technical Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contribution to the development of the modeling software 'Xfrog'.