Mekong: New Mythologies Exhibition – 2017
28th Apr 2017
The Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) and Children of the Mekong are delighted to announce the inauguration of Mekong – New Mythologies, a large transnational group exhibition which will run from May 5th to 21st May 2017. Co-presented with Children of the Mekong, a French NGO established since 1958, this exhibition is organised in support of the charity and is an associated project of Le French May.
Conceptualised by MAP Office and Hong Kong Arts Cente’s Laure Raibaut and inspired by the research of Ho Chi-Minh City based artist Richard Streitmatter-Tran, the exhibition will unfold various ecological, social and political issues and legends around the Mekong and other liquid territories of South-east Asia.
Fact and fiction are two facets of interpretation that criss-cross and often overlap into grey areas. Our beliefs are very much influenced by cultural legends steeped in ancient folklore and mythologies, as well as by geographical positions and political dimensions. It has become widely accepted by most that within the ecosystem of mountains, oceans, jungles, and rivers are mysterious, curious beings that co-exist, mostly in harmony, with humankind.
The Mekong and its surrounding regions form such a liquid territory. Mekong – New Mythologies proposes to navigate and explore the unique specificities in relation to South-East Asia and its territorial waters, and to determine whether this dissemination of land is directing a new reading of contemporary art in the region.
For the first time in Hong Kong, this selection of works by 19 South East Asian artists and artist duos will form an archipelago radiating from the Mekong delta out towards the Pearl River Delta and the Philippines. Through the presentation of subjective histories between the artists and their environment, the exhibition takes a multi-pronged examination into how liquid geography reinvents the region’s borders, identity, historical sagas and its future. Holistically, this multi-media exhibition will form a programme where geography narrates a specific reading of this liquid territory through the eyes of the artists.
The exhibition Mekong – New Mythologies comprises sculpture, installations, projections, drawings and photographs. It will present new and existing works by: Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan (the Philippines), Cao Fei (China), Heman Chong (Singapore), Ho Tzu Nyen (Singapore), Naiza Khan (Pakistan), Aung Ko (Burma), Leang Seckon (Cambodia), Leung Chi Wo (Hong Kong), MAP Office (Hong Kong), David Medalla (the Philippines), Tuan Andrew Nguyen (Vietnam), Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier (Laos/UK), Dinh Q.Le (Vietnam), Araya Rasdjarmrearnsook (Thailand), Richard Streitmatter-Tran (Vietnam), Vandy Rattana (Cambodia), Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand), Samson Young (Hong Kong) and Robert Zhao Renhui (Singapore).
Vong Phaophanit and Claire Oboussier
The night is immenser than its hours. Pure memory is bigger than its borders.
Photographic diptych
2017