Curatorial Process and the One World Exposition: A Conversation with Isaac Leung

Saturday 7 January 2012

6.00pm – 8.00pm

Talk 6.30pm (in English)

Generously hosted by Spring (Workshop)

3/F Remex Centre, 42 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Hong Kong

Free Admission

Stills from Yang Fudong's The Fifth Night, 2011

Courtesy Yang Fudong and Spring (Workshop)

To welcome in the new year and to the mark the end of the One World Exposition, Diorama Projects presents a special talk with co-curator of the event, Isaac Leung to be followed by a reception.  Hosted by Spring, a new non-profit art space in Hong Kong, the event will also be a final opportunity for viewing Yang Fudong’s multiscreen video installation The Fifth Night (2011).

Isaac Leung will share his thoughts and experiences as co-curator of the One World Exposition on the closing of the event.  In conversation with Davina Lee, Leung will discuss the curatorial process surrounding the event and the intention through the One World Exposition to provide a "grounded platform to problematize the existing paradigm of (media) art".

Isaac Leung is a practicing artist, curator and researcher in art and culture. Leung received an Honorary Fellowship of a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the New Media Art Department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, the University of the Arts London. His passion in exploring issues in contemporary art began during his time in college. During 1998-2008, his artworks were exhibited in over 30 venues across the globe. His works were featured on National Public Radio (USA), and in Agence France-Presse (France), Chicago Tribune (USA), NY Arts Magazine (USA), Chicago Readers (USA) and the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong). As a Board Director of Videotage, he initiated and participated in projects that included exhibitions, workshops, lectures, publications, online projects and symposia, including 40 Years of Video Art in Germany and Hong Kong (Hong Kong and Germany), Borderline International Film Art Exhibition (Beijing, China), The 12th Venice Biennale International Architecture Exhibition (Venice, Italy; Hong Kong) and Microwave International New Media Arts Festival (Hong Kong).

Leung is currently a doctorate researcher at the School of Creative Media, the City University of Hong Kong, specializing in the contemporary Chinese art market.  In the meantime, interdisciplinary One World project is being materialized as an academic thesis for a Master of Philosophy degree at the Lingnan University.

Davina Lee is Hong Kong based independent curator, writer and founded Diorama Projects in 2008.  Lee graduated with an MA in Photography (Contemporary and Historic) from Sotheby's Institute, London (2007) and is a practicing lawyer.  The objective of Diorama Projects is to identify, develop and realize projects that will stimulate artistic and cultural exchange and collaboration.  At the core of each project is the desire to engage audiences at all levels, from passive observation to active critical debate. Since its creation Diorama Projects has organised and created a number of events in Hong Kong and France, including Diorama Projections, a series of monthly screenings of video work and live conversations with new and established artists.

Lee has previously curated the following exhibitions One Suitcase Per Person (2011) for 1a space, Hong Kong, 30 Lux (2011) and I’ll Be Your Mirror (2011) for 2P Contemporary, Hong Kong, Simulated Alternate Realities (2010) for 1a space, Chroniques Hongkongaises (2010) Festival Voies Off, Arles, France, Proxemics (2009), Artistree for Swire Properties, The Mother of All Journeys (2009) for Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Distance Decay (2009) Festival Voies Off, Arles, France, China Lucida (2009) for Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Espace Liminal - Photographies d’Architecture (2008), Le Moniteur, Paris, and Dialogue (2003) at the Foreign Correspondents Club, Hong Kong.  In addition to critical essays on art and photography related subjects, Lee has written for the Journal of the Royal Photographic Society, Muse, Qvest, Monocle, Hong Kong Tatler and Vogue China.

About Spring:

In the autumn of 2012, Spring will open as a non-profit arts space committed to an international cross-disciplinary program of artist and curatorial residencies, exhibitions, music, film and talks. Anchored in the Wong Chuk Hang industrial neighborhood of Hong Kong, Spring will serve as a platform and laboratory for exchange between the vibrant artists and organizations that define Hong Kong's rich cultural landscape and the emerging and established artists and organizations around the world that seek to engage in far-reaching dialogue. www.springworkshop.org

About One World Exposition:

It is the first substantial project that aims to explore the development of Chinese media art from regional, national and global perspectives. Through a series of exhibitions, screenings, performances, artist talks and symposia, this project hopes to enrich the public’s understanding of contemporary Chinese media artists and their works from different context and cultural backgrounds, and hopefully bridge artistic and cultural exchange between regions and across time. www.oneworldexpo.org

About Videotage: The organization brings together internationally recognized media artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, who work on video art, film, lighting, theatre, computer game and interactive media. www.videotage.org.hk

For more information please email info@dioramaprojects.org or go to www.dioramaprojects.org