The Art of CUHK 2016 “BA Graduate Exhibition”

Hong Kong, June 4 – June 29, 2016, http://www.artofcuhk.hk/

The yearly exhibition of Chinese University of Hong Kong’s art students and more. Getting to the “University” MTR station is quite convenient, but finding one’s way around the maze of buildings widely spread on a big mountain slope is another one. But I managed. The determined hikers have been rewarded by loads of interesting student works. First I visited the Art Museum which has the BA graduate exhibition. At first the number of “traditional” Chinese style ink paintings and calligraphy was a bit shocking to me, I felt like travelling back in time. But that’s why Chinese U is called as it is, and this traditional “academy” flair has been present throughout. Once I went through the whole show I realized this was one of the faces, balanced out by “contemporary” “western” approaches to sculpture, performance art, etc. The most underrepresented has been “western style” painting. The graduate’s exhibition showed a variety of approaches, but it was also (as it usually is) difficult to present this variety within a coherent curatorial narrative, leaving rather fragmented impressions. I wondered how all these approached and styles could get along within the academic program: cursive script calligraphy besides post-internet LED smileys…

From the Art Museum – which by the way was in the middle of heavy construction during exhibition opening hours, adding special sledgehammer sound effects and earthquake-like floor tremors – the hike continued further up the hill, the New Asia College build around the New Asia Tower, which was unfortunately inaccessible. Not only was the tower locked, but also the Ch’ien Mu Library where one part of the undergraduate student’s exhibition was hosted.

A second part of the exhibition was located in an adjacent building was open. This were probably the studios where the students worked during the semester, now cleaned up and equipped with white panel walls. The show was organized as a series of mini-exhibitions and this actually made it look more coherent than the graduate exhibition at the Art Museum. I did not manage to see the whole show before it closed at 5pm, but from the part I saw, it was quite impressive. Works ranged again from very traditional to conceptual. The separate mini-shows allowed the students to practice their exhibition-making skills, resulting in a dialogue between individual artworks.

Last, here are three works that stood out on the conceptual side: sharpened thermos bottle, remembering the color of an experience captured in a photograph, waiting for the same call number at the canteen and a diary of the time spent, and using the McDonald’s birthday party event offer to organize a video screening:

Overall, it was worth the trip and hike, and it’s probably the best art to be seen in Hong Kong around this time of the year, young and fresh.