If you are a hiker, you must have heard of or even visited Chuen Lung Yum Cha; if you are an art lover, you may have already learned about Chuen Lung through the “Encounter! Mountains, Rivers, People” public art project launched in 2018. For Chuen Lung, it may be familiar yet unfamiliar to everyone, and now there is finally a chance to get a deeper understanding of this mountain range.
Operated by the Hong Kong Photographic Culture Association and curated by the Hong Kong International Photography Festival, the new photography cultural space “Kwan Man Space” is located in Chuen Lung Village, Tsuen Wan. It officially opened on May 9, 2024. The association will launch art exhibitions and a series of public activities related to Chuen Lung culture, history, and local ecology, extending contemporary photographic art creation, discussion, learning, and imagination to rural areas, promoting the development of photography combined with local culture.
About “Guanwen Space”
The predecessor of “Kwan Man Space” was the Kwan Man School, which was built by villagers and has a history of more than 60 years. Many villagers have studied here and have deep feelings and memories. The Hong Kong Photographic Culture Association has revitalized this abandoned village school into a public art space, hosting various photography activities and showcasing diverse visual cultures. This not only creates a connection between this historically rich village and contemporary life, but also creatively preserves the precious memories of the villagers. The renovated “Kwan Man Space” tries to retain the original appearance of the school building as much as possible, with two classrooms serving as exhibition spaces, providing viewers with a tranquil environment to appreciate the works, making it a revitalizing and life-giving initiative.
“The establishment of ‘Guanwen Space’ is also aimed at creating a community-based and publicly accessible artistic space. By leveraging the unique humanistic environment of Chuanlong, we invite artists and researchers from different fields to conduct on-site observations, combining perspectives on natural ecology, history, agriculture, food, community design, science, etc., allowing traditional cultural wisdom to collide with contemporary viewpoints. At the same time, through various photography activities, we showcase a diverse visual culture.”
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To celebrate the opening of the space, “Guanwen Space” will present a joint exhibition by local artists Wong Suk-ki and Bai Qi, showcasing works created based on the stories of the villagers in Chuanlong Village.
Opening Joint Exhibition: “Stone and Gaze”, “Image and Voice: A Few Stories of Chuanlong Village Residents”
As early as 2021, the association invited two visual artists, Wong Suk-ki and Bai Qi, to reside in the village, conduct preliminary field investigations for the Guanwen Space, contact villagers, and use images to communicate and piece together the life stories of the villagers. These stories were also revealed in the opening exhibition.
The solo exhibition created by Wong Suk-ki is titled “Stone and Gaze”, inviting a group of villagers to take out old family photos, recall the scenes when the photos were taken, and present them in different ways, such as enlarging and focusing, re-painting, or transforming text. The text part is handled by poet Liu Zhiyun, who, in the selected photos and a large amount of interview materials, extends the moments in the photos through imagination in the form of short stories, with a special focus on the roles and experiences of women in the village in the old days. In addition, Wong Suk-ki borrowed objects that can hold memories from the stone piles in front of the Chuanlong Stone Factory, collected wild grasses, flowers, and seeds that grew outside the village school before renovation, put the seeds in and replanted them, symbolizing the connection between the past and the present, and presenting the continuous cycle of life and continuation.
While “Voice of Images: Stories of Chuanlong Villagers” is jointly planned by Bai Qi and Huang Shuqi, hoping to see the Chuanlong stories belonging to them from the images taken by the villagers. Ms. Zhai Manjing (Heidi), Mr. Chen Weichang (Changge), and Mr. Zeng Jianwen (Wenge) were invited to participate, because the backgrounds of the three are different, and they see different aspects of Chuanlong in their eyes. They also hope that through the exhibition, people born here can tell their stories in the form of photographic art, reproduce the feelings of the villagers in the past; and viewers can also take this opportunity to understand this land through the villagers’ vision.
In addition to exhibitions, “Guanwen Space” will launch a series of regular projects and workshops, inviting image-making artists from different cultural backgrounds to engage in in-depth local exchanges with the public. Activities include: Photography Salon, River Ecological Research and Ecological Guided Tours, Photobook Corner, and research projects in collaboration with different units.
Mr. Ko Chi-keung, Chairman of the Hong Kong Photographic Culture Association, said: “The Kwan Man School is of great historical significance. Initially funded and built by villagers, it not only provides education for children in Chuen Lung Village, but also carries the life stories of the people of Chuen Lung. ‘Kwan Man Space’ will actively organize diverse activities, using images as a medium to create more connections with contemporary life in this 500-year-old Hakka village, sparking new dialogues and allowing more people to understand the area, preserving the precious memories of the villagers through creativity.
“Kwan Man Space”
Address: 338 Tsuen Kam Road, Chuen Lung Village, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong
Enquiry Phone: 2777 0955
Opening Joint Exhibition
1. “Stone and Gaze” by Huang Shuqi
2. “Image Speaks: A Few Stories of Chuanlong Village Residents” by Bai Qi, Huang Shuqi
Date: May 10, 2024 to August 4, 2024
Time: Thursday (by appointment) | Friday, Saturday, Sunday (11am to 2pm, 3pm to 6pm) | Closed on Monday to Wednesday
