香港‧中國‧香港
中國作為香港藝術的一面鏡

林東鵬

2008年，香港回歸中國的第十一年。
香港在鄧小平五十年不變的承諾下，以“特別行政區”為名，實行一國兩制，且保留香港人來往中國內地出入境的兩重程序，使其有別於一般中國內地的城市。在這五十年從殖民地轉化為中國其中一個城市的適應期期間，香港跟中國的微妙關係既為社會帶來衝突與爭議，同時亦迎來轉變與機會。在五分之一適應期過去後，兩地在文化藝術的層面出現了甚麼轉變？當中又產生了哪些相互的影響或思潮？從兩地的社會與藝術此一關係的變化去考慮，這個獨特的五十年是一個值得兩地共同研究的時期。
相對於上述有關社會與國家的大議題，藝術創作有時是個人與渺小的。藝術家僅僅是一個實踐者，只能從實踐者的角度去發出聲音。筆者於2007年於北京設立工作室，遊走於香港與內地之間進行創作及展覽，當時並沒有料到，這行徑會漸漸成為一種政治姿態多於其他。在2007至2008年期間，筆者與香港藝術家周俊輝單單因為到北京設立工作室，就曾多次接受本地媒體訪問，並受亞洲藝術文獻庫之邀，於“香港國際藝術展2008”以“香港北京”為題，以對話形式公開講述於北京設立工作室的經驗，探討香港藝術家的身份問題，以及內地藝術界對香港藝術的一些反應（圖1）。
這股在香港的2008年中國熱，當然更多是源於媒體對北京舉辦奧運會的關注。香港各界舉辦大大小小以北京奧運為主題的展覽，有邀請國內藝術家來港展覽的活動，例如時代廣場主辦“藝術‧時代‧廣場──隋建國作品展”；或是香港藝術家創作以奧運為主題的展覽，包括在香港牛棚藝術村藝術公社舉行的“遊戲競技場”，還有因奧運熱而促成的公共藝術計劃──新地慈善基金與康樂及文化事務署創建於沙田的“城市藝坊”。至於帶有官方背景的藝術活動，則有在北京舉行的“相約北京──2008奧運文化活動‧港澳藝術節”暨“2008港澳視覺藝術展”，當中由香港藝術館館長譚美兒策劃、七位香港藝術家參與的“香港製造”，先於香港藝術館展出，後移至北京中華世紀壇世界藝術館。另外，香港的C‭ & ‬G藝術單位亦舉辦了名為“鳥巢之下”的展覽，邀請近年於北京設立工作室的香港藝術家，包括趙顯才、周俊輝、郭孟浩（蛙王）、李鵬、莫偉康、沈嘉豪及筆者，借北京奧運熱探討香港藝術家前往中國內地發展的情況。
至於2008年香港藝術家參予的內地藝術項目，包括“廣州三年展”（張韻雯、鄭波、白雙全、劉香成、周依、託拜厄斯‧伯格、李鴻輝、李傑、梁志和、黃慧妍）、“第六屆深圳國際水墨雙年展”（馮明秋、石家豪、許雨仁、蔡布穀、黃麗嫻、黃孝逵、沈平、王無邪、熊海、張民軍）、“墨緣100──中國宋莊水墨同盟第二屆名家邀請展”（梁巨廷）、“第二屆上海當代藝術館文獻展：夢蝶”（陳麗雲及石家豪）、“出境——廣深港澳當代藝術展”（白雙全、程展緯、梁美萍、林東鵬、徐世琪）、廣州維他命藝術空間位於北京建外SOHO的“這個店”展覽計劃（白雙全及李傑）。此外，香港藝術家參與的藝術博覽會包括：“2008中藝博國際畫廊博覽會”之“亞洲年輕藝術家個展”（林東鵬及周俊輝）、ShContemporary‭ ‬舉辦之“上海藝術博覽會國際當代藝術展”（石家豪、又一山人、‭ ‬Simon Birch、陳渝）。而新媒體藝術的展覽項目，有香港資深多媒體藝術家洪強參與的“心媒‧音緣‭: ‬跨越情感邊界的數字藝術”及“四季——第三屆中國媒體藝術節”，分別於北京緣分新媒體藝術空間及杭州中國美術學院舉行。至於故宮博物院與香港大學合辦的“陶鑄古今——饒宗頤學術‧藝術展”，則是故宮博物院舉辦的第一個香港藝術家的個展。
雖然以上列舉的例子當中，不少香港藝術家是第一次參與內地的藝術展覽，但總體來說，他們在內地參與展覽的活躍程度恐怕是十多二十年前所不敢想像的。2007年在上海當代藝術館舉行的“地軸轉移——藝術家對香港回歸十周年的回想”，集合了三十多位香港藝術家北上展覽，便是近年內地少見的大型展示香港藝術的活動（圖2）。
當談及中港兩地藝術的關係與影響時，不同範疇的視覺藝術家在經驗上有著很大的差別，尤其在香港視覺藝術中傳統中國書畫藝術和當代視覺藝術創作（包括行為、概念、裝置、多媒體、雕塑、繪畫等）這兩方面。基於這兩個範疇之間的交往較少，且各有不同的傳統源流、觀眾及展覽空間（亦有部份藝術家運用中國傳統書畫藝術的元素或作當代轉化，如繪畫工筆人物的石家豪、製作錄像裝置的黃琮瑜、前輩藝術家梁巨廷等），本文僅根據筆者接觸較多的當代視覺藝術創作範疇，以個人和朋輩北上創作與展覽的經驗，作為下文的討論基礎。
筆者於2006年回港後，2007年初應邀到北京，參觀香港藝術家白雙全和梁志和於798藝術區內台灣藝術家黃銘哲的空間所舉行的展覽，並順道考察這個中國當代藝術家聚集的城市。當時，筆者在參觀了環鐵附近的藝術家工作室後，便於其中一個中國藝術家的工作室住了下來。那寬敞如貨倉般的工作室，其租金是筆者在香港火炭設立的工作室的三份之一，且鄰近聚集了近三十位藝術家，形成了一個藝術部落。整個北京城有多個這樣自發生成的藝術部落，除了798藝術區之外，還有草場地、酒廠、宋莊、費家村、索家村。另外，獲官方批准並由私人發展商興建的，有位於何各庄的北京一號地國際藝術園區及318國際藝術營。這些藝術家工作及展覽的空間，與香港的情況形成非常強烈的對比。香港當代藝術的發展，跟其寸金尺土的空間經常形成一股張力，藝評人梁展峰就曾引述策展人何慶基寫道：“過往評論認為九十年代香港裝置藝術熱潮既催生於這樣的空間條件下，亦因而局限了其發展”。空間條件不單局限了裝置藝術的發展，亦令香港藝術家鮮有從事大型創作（香港藝術家張韻雯屬於異數），例如岳敏君於2008年上海藝術雙年展展出的《五彩龍騰》，其體積之大能產生即時性的視覺效果，在香港藝術的創作中實屬罕見（對於北京成熟的藝術家來說，在二三百平方米的地方創作是很普遍的事，但在香港能有一百平方米工作室的藝術家可說是寥寥可數）。當然有人會質疑藝術創作是否有必要如此大型，但就空間而言，內地大型的展覽場地與工作環境，確實對香港當代藝術提出了不一樣的問題，亦為習慣在細小空間創作與展示的香港藝術家帶來挑戰。這種對空間概念的差別，會否令香港藝術拓展另一種創作形式？
其實，在內地藝術家寬敞的工作室群之間更可貴的，是每位藝術家在保持獨立的同時，又能有一個分享訊息和創作的地方。在這些工作室群形成的藝術創作與批評的氣氛，是內地尤其北京吸引年青藝術工作者的魅力所在（圖3）。由於藝術家集中，因此很多不同類型的材料及技術，只要問問鄰居便可得知，這比在香港解決同類問題來得方便。再者，由於工作室屬於私人發展或藝術家自發生成，地點通常比較偏僻，所以藝術家在創作時多隔絕於群眾之外。藝術家是否要走入群眾，只依據藝術家的意願及創作方向。對於筆者來說，這比較像科學家與實驗室的關係。科學家的實驗能如何實質地轉化成對大眾帶來益處的產品，更多的是科學界其他崗位的工作，甚至是與其他界別合作時的問題。如果社會經常要求科學家以開放實驗室及跟公眾直接交流的形式，作為其教育公眾或向社會負責的手段，科學家可能會因此疲於奔命，這可不是一個本末倒置的玩笑嗎？我想在香港活得久了的藝術家，該深深體會到一刻安靜的難求。與其說筆者是到北京發展，不如說有時這是藝術家逃脫自身的社會來得貼切。
另外，由於北京、上海及重慶等城市從事藝術創作的人特別多，加上中國內地的物料與工人的供應充足，工業及工藝技術普及，各地的美術學院培訓出不少技巧卓越的學生，這些學生畢業後有部份會當藝術家的助手，這些條件均促使創作媒介多元化的當代藝術作品，能較容易借助工業或密集的勞動力去完成。這點對於習慣以個人手作之力去完成作品的大部份香港藝術家來說，也許是一個衝擊。香港當代雕刻家中，例如林嵐早年已將部份的雕刻工序移到廣州完成，而不時以攝影作為創作媒介的梁志和及譚偉平等，亦借助內地的攝影單位進行相片製作。香港藝術家陳麗雲於2008年在北京藝門畫廊舉行的個展“編織對話──北京”，正是這種新體驗的一個例證（圖4）。陳氏的作品是以撕成條狀的雜誌編織成立體的人形，她一向強調由藝術家去完成編織作品的工作。筆者曾就此到訪她在賽馬會創意藝術中心的工作室。她表示，一年只可以完成幾件編織作品，但負責該次展覽的畫廊負責人曾經表示可以為她聘用助手，應該幾天就可以完成她在香港一年的作品數目，而且費用不高。當然，編織的技巧與過程還得藝術家從旁指導。但最後由於時間關係，工人未能掌握好編織的技巧，藝術家只得將她歷年的作品全部帶到北京展覽。不過從這次北京展覽的經驗可見，香港藝術家因為社會環境的限制（例如昂貴的人工及技術）所作出的抵抗或批判，如果在這種重複的工序中不能提出藝術家介入的理由，又或者當藝術家的介入與任何人都沒有分別的時候，作品所強調的手作部份會否輕易被中國內地廉價的勞動力消解？另一個現象則是當強調的手作可以被大部份工業化的程序或人手代替時，藝術家的創作習慣會否轉向更純粹的概念與內容的發掘？在這方面，內地與香港的藝術家的確各走極端。
儘管內地城市與香港的生活文化及處事方式的距離正在縮減，但差距仍然存在。以筆者租用工作室的經驗為例，來自任何地區的藝術家來找香港火炭的地產代理，只要經過一定程序，就可租用一個工廠用作藝術創作，而北京那些寬敞的工作室則大多屬於缺乏管理的建築。由於有市場需求，藝術家工作室一下子就在田野郊區建立起來。筆者要不是透過國內藝術家朋友介紹，相信單是租用工作室一項就已面對困難重重。香港藝術家郭孟浩（蛙王）曾多次向筆者憶述他在內地因工作室的事情鬧上法庭（圖5）。香港有對外的經濟組織，例如駐北京辦事處及駐上海經濟貿易辦事處，但缺乏關注文化及藝術的駐外組織或機構，這對於香港跟境外的文化交流造成一定的障礙。筆者以往在外地展覽時，總會遇上“香港有藝術家嗎？”之類的問題。對於創作者來說，這個問題可說是沒甚麼關係，畢竟藝術就是藝術。但作為一個城市的形象，這可是一個大問題。
就空間和創作條件而言，內地一些大城市，例如上海和北京，因擁有香港當代藝術界從缺的創作資源與條件，確實會吸引某些類型的藝術家。此外毫無疑問的是，藝術家會從這些地方找尋發展的機會，並試圖從蓬勃的當代藝術資源中吸收養份，這包括當代藝術相關的展覽、出版、討論等。然而，同時擁有熱鬧的創作氣氛、尊重創意的社會制度、表達的自由及不同文化薈萃的城市，才能稱得上是名符其實的世界藝術中心。而內地城市在後三項的表現，皆令香港藝術家存疑。再加上大部份成熟的香港藝術家多有副業、教席或家庭在港，對於單純以藝術作為其終身事業並沒有抱太大期望，故此，北上成立工作室未必會成為香港藝壇當下的普遍趨勢。但對於年青的本土藝術家，國內大城市的生活及流行文化與香港將愈來愈接近，香港以北深圳河的心理邊界會否日漸消退，則有待觀察。
隨著香港藝術家參與國內或由國內藝術空間組織的展覽漸多，香港藝術家的發展將不再局限於考慮本土地域及本土問題，又或一刀切地脫離香港往外國發展。中國內地提供了一個介乎兩者之間的灰色地帶，為擴大香港藝術的光譜（包括藝術組織及行政、創作媒介及藝術批評等）提供了一個機遇。《潮爆中國》（天窗出版社，2008）的作者、香港傳媒人李照興曾言：“以往，香港就是我們的全部。現在，香港人都像一粒方糖般放進更大的中國茶中去融化。”融化的過程中，香港能否以自己本身的特質對中國文化這個大熔爐作出貢獻，既是這個城市回歸以來的定位問題，亦是香港藝術家面臨的一個有趣的挑戰。中國自“八五新潮”產生了舉世關注的第一浪當代藝術以後，不同生活及教育背景的中國藝術家接連創作出多元化的中國當代藝術，也許這是香港藝術發展的一個出路。
過往香港在中國當代藝術缺席的問題將漸漸淡化（圖6）。如果在香港設立工作室是本土藝術家邁向專業化的第一步，在內地展出或創立工作室，則是正面感受中國內地對香港藝術的衝擊致使本土藝術轉變的第二步。下一步，也許是香港藝術家面對以往不敢、不想，甚至曾逃避的自身問題，同時面向內地與世界的廣闊天地而創作。

本文作者為香港藝術家

Hong Kong, China, Hong Kong—China as a mirror on Hong Kong
Lam Tung-pang

Translated by Chan Lai-kuen

The year 2008 saw the 11th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with China.
Under Deng Xiaoping’s promise of “One Country, Two Systems” for fifty years, Hong Kong as a “Special Administrative Region” (SAR) preserves its China-Hong Kong border control for its citizens who travel either way across the border, distinguishing the territory from other cities in China. During these five decades of transition from a colony into a Chinese city among others, the nuanced relationship between the territory and its motherland has brought conflicts, controversies as well as changes and opportunities. While one-fifth of this transition period has already gone, what are the changes that have taken place regarding arts and culture on both sides of the border? What influences and ideas were generated in the process? From the perspective of the shifting relationship between art and society, this unique period of fifty years deserves in-depth study for both Hong Kong and China.
Artistic endeavour appears personal and unimportant compared to the above lofty discussion on society and the nation. An artist is only a practitioner confined in his or her own point of view. When I began working and exhibiting in both Hong Kong and Beijing after setting up a studio in Beijing in 2007, I did not anticipate that this would gradually turn into a political statement more than anything else. From 2007 to 2008, Hong Kong artist Chow Chun-fai and I were often interviewed by the local press; and we spoke about our experience of setting up a studio in Beijing, the identity crisis of Hong Kong artists and how Hong Kong art was received by the art world in China in a public dialogue titled “Hong Kong—Beijing Return” in the Hong Kong International Art Fair 2008, at the invitation of the Asia Art Archive (Plate 1).
Obviously this China-mania should be attributed much more to the media coverage on the Beijing Olympics. A great number of Olympic-themed exhibitions sprung up in Hong Kong, some featured Mainland artists, such as “Arts Times Square—Exhibition of Works by Sui Jianguo”; some comprised Olympic-themed artworks by local artists such as “Play Stadium in 2008” held in Artist Commune in Cattle Depot; while City Art Square established by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Sun Hung Kai Properties Charitable Fund Limited is a public art scheme born under the Olympic fervour. On the official side, there was “Meet in Beijing Arts Festival”—2008 Olympic Cultural Activities‧Hong Kong and Macau Arts Festival and “2008 Hong Kong and Macau Visual Art Exhibition” which took place in Beijing. Part of the programme was an exhibition titled “Made in Hong Kong”, curated by Eve Tam, Curator of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, which featured works by seven Hong Kong artists. It was first exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of Art and then the Beijing World Art Museum. Hong Kong based art unit C & G Apartment presented “Under the Bird’s Nest” Art Exhibition, showing works by a selection of Hong Kong artists who have established their studios in Beijing in recent years, namely Hyunjae Cho, Chow Chun-fai, Kwok Mang-ho (Frog King), Li Pang, Gary Mok, Bobby Sham and myself, with a purpose to examine the career development of Hong Kong artists in China, taking the Olympic fervour as a point of departure.
Hong Kong artists have taken part in the following Mainland art events: Guangzhou Triennial (Amy Cheung, Zheng Bo, Tozer Pak, Liu Heung-shing, Zhou Yi, Tobias Berger, Michael Honghwee Lee, Lee Kit, Leung Chi-wo and Wong Wai-yin Doris), The Sixth International Ink Painting Biennial of Shenzhen (Fung Ming-chip, Wilson Shieh, Hsu Yujen, Chai Bu-kuk, Huang Lixian, Wong Hau-kwei, Shen Ping, Wucius Wong, Hung Hoi, Zhang Minjun), “Everloving Shuimo—the Second Invite Exhibition of the Shuimo Union of Songzhuang China” (Leung Kui-ting), “Shanghai MoCA Envisage II—Butterfly Dream” (Movana Chen and Wilson Shieh), “Departure: Contemporary Art Exhibition of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao”(Tozer Pak, Luke Ching, Leung Mee-ping, Lam Tung-pang, Su Sai-kee), and “The Shop”, an exhibition project located in Jianwai SOHO in Beijing, organized by Vitamin Creative Space of Guangzhou (Tozer Pak and Lee Kit). Besides, Hong Kong artists participated in art fairs including “Mapping Asia” of “China International Gallery Exposition 2008” (Lam Tung-pang and Chow Chun-fai) and “Shanghai Art Fair International Contemporary Art Exhibition” by ShContemporary” (Wilson Shieh, Anothermountainman, Simon Birch, Chan Yu). For media art, “Yuanfen New Media Art Space—Mind + Soul / Sensibility x Sensation” and “Artseason: The Third China New Media Art Festival ” which featured seasoned Hong Kong media artist Hung Keung took place at Yuanfen New Media Art Space in Beijing and China Academy of Art in Hangzhou respectively. While　Jao Tsung-I Exhibition “Taozhu gujin: Jao Tsung-I xueshu‧yishu zhan” jointly presented by Hong Kong University and The Palace Museum in Beijing was the museum’s first solo exhibition dedicated to a Hong Kong artist.
Although it was only their debut in China for many of the Hong Kong artists mentioned in the above examples, the overall level of involvement is beyond imagination ten or twenty years ago. “Reversing Horizons: Artists Reflections of The Hong Kong Handover 10th Anniversary” (2007) held in MoCA Shanghai, which put together works by over thirty Hong Kong artists, was a rare occasion where Hong Kong art was displayed in the Mainland on a large scale (Plate 2).
In terms of the relationship and crosscurrents in art between China and Hong Kong, there is a big disparity in artists’ experience depending on the field in which they belong, especially between traditional Chinese media (ink painting and calligraphy) and contemporary art (including action art, conceptual art, installation, multi-media, sculpture and painting). As there is little contact between the two artist communities which have distinct traditions, audience and exhibition spaces (though some artists employ and transform traditional media in contemporary approaches, such as Wilson Shieh who specializes in fine-line figure paintings, Wong Chung-yu who produces video installation, and the veteran artist Leung Kui-ting), I can only focus my discussion on the contemporary visual art community with which I come into closer contact, based on my own and fellow Hong Kong artists’ experience in working and exhibiting north of the border.
After coming back to Hong Kong in 2006, I was invited to visit Tozer Pak and Leung Chi-wo’s exhibition in a space run by Taiwan artist Michell Hwang located in 798 Art District in Beijing, and I took this opportunity to take a closer look at the city where many Chinese contemporary artists congregate. After taking a tour around some artists’ studios near Huan Tie, I decided to stay in one of them. It was the size of a warehouse while the rent was only one-third of what I used to pay for my studio in Fo Tan, while a community of nearly thirty artists was formed in the neighbourhood. Apart from 798 Art District, numerous artist-initiated communities emerged in Beijing, such as Caochangdi, Jiuchang, Songzhuang, Feijiacun and Suojiacun. On the other hand, Beijing Yihaodi International Artbase and 318 International Arts Camp located in Hegezhuang were built by commercial developers with endorsement from government authority. The sheer size of these artists’ working and exhibition space stands in stark contrast to that in Hong Kong. The development of contemporary art in Hong Kong is often closely tied to the scarcity of space. As quoted by art critic Jeff Leung, Hong Kong based curator Oscar Ho wrote: “Critics have commented that space constraint in Hong Kong had catalysed the boom of installation art during the 1990s, but it also curbed its further development”. Space constraint not only inhibits the development of installation art in Hong Kong, but also makes it almost impossible to create artworks of considerable size for Hong Kong artists (Amy Cheung is an exception). For instance, Yue Minjun’s Colorful Running Dinosaurs in the 2008 Shanghai Biennale made an instant visual impact on viewers owing to its enormous size, but in Hong Kong art this rarely happens (it is not uncommon for a mature artist in Beijing to work in a space measuring 200 to 300 square metres, while in Hong Kong, only a few could enjoy a 100 square metre studio). Certainly it is arguable whether big is beautiful in terms of artistic creation; nonetheless, the ample working and exhibition space in the Mainland does pose challenges to Hong Kong artists who have grown used to working and exhibiting in tiny spaces. Would this discrepancy in spatial perception open up a new form of art practices for Hong Kong artists?
The most treasurable thing these spacious studio communities offer is a platform for sharing information and creative ideas, while each artist maintains his or her own independence. The ambience for creation and artistic criticism is the main attraction of the Mainland, especially Beijing, for young artists (Plate 3). With the close proximity of a whole community of artists, all you need to do is to ask your neighbour whenever you have any question about material or technique; in this respect it is much more convenient than in Hong Kong. Furthermore, as these studios were built by private developers or initiated by artists themselves, their location is usually remote; hence artists can work in seclusion from mainstream society. It is entirely up to the artists whether they wish to come out from their hermitage, depending on artistic need. For me it is rather similar to the relationship between a scientist and the laboratory. Whether a scientist’s experiments could generate products beneficial to the community actually depends more on the rest of the science world or even cooperation with other sectors. If scientists are often required to open their laboratories and to interact with the public for the purpose of public education and social responsibility, the most likely result would be complete exhaustion of the scientists, while at the same time losing the initial objective. I think most Hong Kong artists will share the same yearning for just a minute of solitude. Instead of developing my career in Beijing, I would rather say my stay in the capital was an artist’s retreat from the society.
In addition, the following factors enable Chinese contemporary art in various media to employ industrial equipment or intensive labour for production: large population of artists living in metropolises such as Beijing, Shanghai and Chongqing; thriving manufacture and craft industry due to huge supply of raw material and labour; and, generous supply of highly skilled graduates from art academies across the country, providing candidates for artists’ assistants. This probably has a profound impact on the majority of Hong Kong artists who are accustomed to manually producing most of their works. Among Hong Kong contemporary sculptors, Jaffa Lam had already transferred part of sculpture production to Guangzhou; while Leung Chi-wo and Lukas Tam whose works are often photographic, have some of their works printed in photo studios in China. Hong Kong artist Movana Chen’s solo exhibition “Two-Way Communication Beijing”, held in the gallery Pekin Fine Arts, is an illustration of such new experience (Plate 4). Chen produces figures knitted out of shredded magazines pages, and the artist have often emphasised the importance of completing the knitting process all by herself. I have talked to her about this in her studio located in the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre. She said she could only complete several knitted works in a year, while the gallery suggested that she hired assistants to finish in a few days what would otherwise take the artist a whole year, at an affordable cost. Of course it was necessary for the artist to provide instructions and supervision during the process. In the end, however, because of time constraint, the workers failed to grasp the required techniques, and the artist resorted to bring all her previous works to be exhibited in Beijing. This experience poses an alarming question: despite their critical and resistant stance against social and environmental constraints (such as expensive labour cost and technology), if Hong Kong artists are unable to provide reasons for their own involvement in such repetitive manual work, or if it makes no difference whether the job is done by the artist or just anybody, then would the craft that the artist so emphasised be taken over by cheap labour in mainland China? Alternatively, as the once treasured handicraft of the artist can be replaced by machinery or labour, would artistic creation be channelled towards exploration of pure concept and ideas? In this respect Hong Kong and mainland Chinese artists go opposite directions.
The gap between Hong Kong and Mainland cities still exists, despite growing similarity in lifestyle and behaviour. Taking my experience in Fo Tan as an example, artists from anywhere can rent a factory unit as their studio via property agents in the area, after completing certain procedures. Whereas most of those spacious lofts in Beijing are located in buildings without any management. Due to high demand, those studios sprung up overnight in the countryside. If not for the connection of artist acquaintances in China, I would have encountered great difficulties just in renting a studio. Kwok Mang-ho (Frog King) has told me a few times his story of being caught in legal proceedings because of his studio in China (Plate 5). The Hong Kong government has various overseas offices in the Mainland, such as the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong SAR in Beijing and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai, but no such overseas office or organization exists for the arts and culture, making it difficult for inter-city or international cultural exchange. I have always been asked questions like “Are there any artists in Hong Kong?” when I took part in exhibitions outside home. For artists it does not really matter, since art is art, but it would be detrimental to the image of a city.
In terms of space and condition, major cities in China such as Beijing and Shanghai are endowed with resources and conditions beneficial to art creation which Hong Kong contemporary art is deprived of, thus drawing a certain type of artists to move there. It is beyond doubt that artists would seek opportunities and to benefit themselves through thriving contemporary art activities such as art exhibitions, publications and discussions in these attractive locations; however, a city must fulfil all necessary prerequisites before it could claim to be an international centre for the arts, namely: booming creativity, social institution that respects creativity, freedom of expression, and the conglomeration of different cultures. Mainland cities still have a long way to go in terms of the last three qualities. Also, most mid-career artists in Hong Kong have their own occupations, teaching posts or families that they are not so eager to part with for the sake of a life-long artistic career; hence it might not be the trend for the time being for Hong Kong artists to move their base northwards. But for artists of the younger generation, it is still too early to tell whether the boundary, as marked by the Shenzhen River, would dissolve in their minds as Hong Kong and its Mainland counterparts are growing increasingly similar in terms of lifestyle and popular culture.
As more and more Hong Kong artists are featured in exhibitions taking place in, or held by art spaces in mainland China, the development of Hong Kong art is no longer confined to the dichotomy of either focusing on issues of locality or to leave Hong Kong for an overseas career. Rather, China provides a middle ground between the two, thus enables Hong Kong art to broaden its spectrum (in terms of art organizations, art administration, creative media and art criticism etc.). Bono Lee, author of Chic China Chic (Enrich Publishing, 2008) once remarked: “In the past, Hong Kong is the entire world for us. Now Hong Kong people are like sugar cubes melted into a big pot of Chinese tea”. What matters is whether Hong Kong, with its own unique attributes, still has a role to play while it dissolves into this giant melting pot of Chinese culture. This is the city’s biggest identity crisis since the handover, as well as an intriguing challenge to Hong Kong artists. Ever since the “ ’85 New Wave” that gave birth to the first generation of Chinese contemporary art which gained international attention, Chinese artists with different personal histories and education backgrounds created a kaleidoscope of Chinese contemporary art; this might be the way out for Hong Kong art.
The absence of Hong Kong art from the Chinese scene will gradually come to an end (Plate 6). For Hong Kong artists, if setting up a local studio represents the beginning of a professional career, then exhibiting or founding a studio on the other side of the border means taking a further step to respond to challenges posed by China that would eventually change the face of Hong Kong art. The next step is perhaps to come face to face with personal issues that Hong Kong artists have always shunned and evaded, while breaking down our boundaries to see China or the entire world as the stage of our art.

Lam Tung-pang is Hong Kong Artist