Artists from around the world are currently on view at Hong Kong’s museums and galleries, from New Zealand’s Lisa Reihana at Tai Kwun Contemporary to New York’s Taro Masushio at Empty Gallery and a host of contemporary Chinese artists at M+’s second exhibition of its extensive Sigg Collection. Here we present five of our top recommended exhibitions for you to see this month, and expand your horizons of what photography and image-making can look like.
DigiRadiance: GOLD_LEAD_WOOD _COAL
Tai Kwun, 2 November – 30 November
DigiRadiance: GOLD_LEAD_WOOD_COAL presents a newly commissioned, multi-channel video installation produced by the internationally acclaimed New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana. The fictional work is based on the moving story of SS Ventnor, a vessel had been en route with the remains of Chinese gold-diggers from New Zealand’s South Island to Hong Kong and Canton. However, it tragically sank passing New Zealand’s North Island, close to a Māori settlement. The Māori inhabitants gathered the remains of the Chinese and buried them according to their local customs. Taking this historic tragedy as a starting point in her speculative tale, the artist explores questions around foreign labor, longing and displacement.
Tai Kwun, 2 November – 30 November
DigiRadiance: GOLD_LEAD_WOOD_COAL presents a newly commissioned, multi-channel video installation produced by the internationally acclaimed New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana. The fictional work is based on the moving story of SS Ventnor, a vessel had been en route with the remains of Chinese gold-diggers from New Zealand’s South Island to Hong Kong and Canton. However, it tragically sank passing New Zealand’s North Island, close to a Māori settlement. The Māori inhabitants gathered the remains of the Chinese and buried them according to their local customs. Taking this historic tragedy as a starting point in her speculative tale, the artist explores questions around foreign labor, longing and displacement.
Taro Masushio: Pass
Empty Gallery, 21 September – 30 November
Pass is New York-based artist Taro Masushio’s second solo exhibition with Empty Gallery, in which the artist positions photography as a kind of ontological research or speculative machine within a nexus which also includes video, drawing, and sculpture. Pass originates from Masushio’s intimate engagement with the touristic travel photography of his own father—a retired Japanese school teacher with a penchant for excursions to far-flung and exotic locales. He appropriates and transforms these superficially unremarkable vacation images—which mingle conventional romanticism with a certain hazy coloniality—printing them on scavenged cardboard used for the bulk shipment of Japanese consumer goods.
Empty Gallery, 21 September – 30 November
Pass is New York-based artist Taro Masushio’s second solo exhibition with Empty Gallery, in which the artist positions photography as a kind of ontological research or speculative machine within a nexus which also includes video, drawing, and sculpture. Pass originates from Masushio’s intimate engagement with the touristic travel photography of his own father—a retired Japanese school teacher with a penchant for excursions to far-flung and exotic locales. He appropriates and transforms these superficially unremarkable vacation images—which mingle conventional romanticism with a certain hazy coloniality—printing them on scavenged cardboard used for the bulk shipment of Japanese consumer goods.
Voices of the Walls: Group Show
Blue Lotus Gallery, 16 October – 1 December
Voices of the Walls is an exhibition that explores the history and visual culture of the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. The show will feature photographs by the authors of City of Darkness, Greg Girard and Ian Lambot, unseen silver gelatin prints by Keeping Lee and AI generated imaginary work by Bianca Tse inspired by the Walled City. According to Founder, Sarah Greene, the exhibition ‘underscores the significance of remembering Kowloon Walled City as a testament to human ingenuity and adaptability. It celebrates the spirit of those who lived there while highlighting the vital role of photography and books in preserving heritage in a constantly evolving city like Hong Kong, for generations to come.’
Blue Lotus Gallery, 16 October – 1 December
Voices of the Walls is an exhibition that explores the history and visual culture of the Kowloon Walled City in Hong Kong. The show will feature photographs by the authors of City of Darkness, Greg Girard and Ian Lambot, unseen silver gelatin prints by Keeping Lee and AI generated imaginary work by Bianca Tse inspired by the Walled City. According to Founder, Sarah Greene, the exhibition ‘underscores the significance of remembering Kowloon Walled City as a testament to human ingenuity and adaptability. It celebrates the spirit of those who lived there while highlighting the vital role of photography and books in preserving heritage in a constantly evolving city like Hong Kong, for generations to come.’
The Embrace and the Passage: Group Show
Para Site, 2 November – 23 February
The Embrace and the Passage at Para Site is a show of all-new commissions by Michele Chu, Florence Lam, Monique Yim, and Bunny Cadag, curated by Jessie Kwok. Through immersive installations, the exhibition examines the complex relationship between host and guest as a framework to explore questions of intimacy and hospitality during times of transition and displacement. A host embraces, cares, and remains, while a guest arrives, adapts, and departs. In the physical or metaphorical sense—as a body, home or a place—the host-guest dynamic is marked by codependence, negotiation and sometimes conflict. The exhibition also features live performance works with choreography and audience participation.
Para Site, 2 November – 23 February
The Embrace and the Passage at Para Site is a show of all-new commissions by Michele Chu, Florence Lam, Monique Yim, and Bunny Cadag, curated by Jessie Kwok. Through immersive installations, the exhibition examines the complex relationship between host and guest as a framework to explore questions of intimacy and hospitality during times of transition and displacement. A host embraces, cares, and remains, while a guest arrives, adapts, and departs. In the physical or metaphorical sense—as a body, home or a place—the host-guest dynamic is marked by codependence, negotiation and sometimes conflict. The exhibition also features live performance works with choreography and audience participation.
M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story
M+, Ongoing
M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story is the second of three planned exhibitions of the M+ Sigg Collection, taking a visual approach to examine the styles and practices of contemporary Chinese art from the 1990s to the present. Distinct from the socio-political interpretative framework or the chronological narrative of the inaugural exhibition of the M+ Sigg Collection—From Revolution to Globalisation, Another Story surveys how artists reconsider their cultural identities and express their uncertain state of being during China’s rapid modernisation in the 1990s. The exhibition brings together a multitude of works that exhibit qualities of overflowing visuals, ambiguous meanings, obsessions with transiency, and traditional interpretation. It offers a different perspective on understanding contemporary Chinese art and foregrounds its unique visual language through the lens of artists who strive for self-presence.
M+, Ongoing
M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story is the second of three planned exhibitions of the M+ Sigg Collection, taking a visual approach to examine the styles and practices of contemporary Chinese art from the 1990s to the present. Distinct from the socio-political interpretative framework or the chronological narrative of the inaugural exhibition of the M+ Sigg Collection—From Revolution to Globalisation, Another Story surveys how artists reconsider their cultural identities and express their uncertain state of being during China’s rapid modernisation in the 1990s. The exhibition brings together a multitude of works that exhibit qualities of overflowing visuals, ambiguous meanings, obsessions with transiency, and traditional interpretation. It offers a different perspective on understanding contemporary Chinese art and foregrounds its unique visual language through the lens of artists who strive for self-presence.
PHOTOFAIRS Hong Kong will take place 26-30 March 2025 (VIP Preview March 25) at the Central Harbourfront.
