(1/11+12+18+19/2014) http://www.fotanian.org/
Fotan is an industrial warehouse area in the New Territories where many Hong Kong artists (notably those who used to study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which is nearby) have their studios. Once a year, Fotanian is a joint event when all artists open their doors to the public. The studios are spread out across multiple warehouse buildings in between other non-artistic warehouse operations and street-level car repair shops. Even with the map/leaflet produced for the open studio event, it is not an easy task to find your way around, given the maze-like structure of the buildings. Fortunately there are guided tours, which I followed for a while, and then I switched to following my more experienced Hong Kong friend.
The visit resulted in a mixture of feelings as varied as the artists are, really, one could find all kind of work. From student-like work over showroom style pop-up galleries to real workspaces of some of well- known Hong Kong artists. A list of names I remembered or recalled from business cards: Wylie Choi/Cat O’Neil/Debe Sham Hoi Yee, Tommy C.K. Wong, Phoebe Man, Sim Chan, Wilson Shieh, Chow Chun Fai, Ho Sin Tung, Cheung Tsz Hin.