16 November 2015, 6pm at The University of Hong Kong
Sign up at: www.eventhorizon.hk. Free admission
2 November 2015 (HONG KONG) – Hong Kongers are invited to hear British artist Antony Gormley discuss his practice at a free event being hosted to celebrate the launch of Event Horizon in Hong Kong. Register now at www.eventhorizon.hk or follow this link.
Event Horizon will be the most extensive public art installation ever seen in Hong Kong. Presented by British Council Hong Kong with support from lead partner the K11 Art Foundation (KAF), the installation will be complimented with a strong education and outreach programme which includes a talk on “Making Space” by Antony Gormley on 16 November 2015, 6pm at The University of Hong Kong (HKU).
During the talk, Antony Gormley will discuss Event Horizon in the context of his wider practice, and engage with Hong Kongers on their views about art in the city.
The talk will be introduced by Robert Ness, Director of British Council Hong Kong with opening speeches by Professor John P. Burns, The Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong and Adrian Cheng, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation.
Following presentations in London and New York, Hong Kong will be the first Asian city to stage the installation. Thirty one sculptures will be installed at both street level and building tops across a kilometre wide zone of Central and Western district.
Antony Gormley comments on the installation in Hong Kong: “Event Horizon makes you aware of the texture of the city. Each sculpture is like a tiny acupuncture needle, piercing the body of the city. Art is more of a process than a thing; these are not statues that uphold a given order but a way of interrogating the given topography of the city, looking at the city itself as if it were a representation of its values. I hope that through the work we will look at the city, its relationship to its natural surroundings and the language of the buildings themselves: colonial, corporate, institutional, public and their dialogue one with the other.”
Robert Ness, Director of British Council Hong Kong says: “Public installations encourage the community to interact with art, which I believe makes a city a better place to live in. This installation will provide the opportunity for debate, discussion, and evaluation of the impact that is created when the public encounters art on this expansive scale. The installation is particularly suited to Hong Kong and its fast paced urban lifestyle and forward-looking spirit of the city. When we look up at or pass by the sculptures, it encourages us to stop, engage, and perhaps re-assess our current position in the world by looking within ourselves.”
Adrian Cheng, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation and Lead partner added: “This programming is a nice complement to our workshop. I look forward to welcoming the audience at HKU and seeing how they engage and respond with Antony’s oeuvre. We are providing a chance for the people of Hong Kong to see, feel and now hear about the project, from the creator himself. As space is limited, we will be live screening the talk to our K11 Art Mall in Tsim Sha Tsui - everyone is welcome. The perfect preview prior to the launch later that week”
The extensive public programme which accompanies Event Horizon will include dedicated activities and support tools for students, teachers and the general public. The aim is to encourage discussion of art in the city and development of skills such as creative thinking, critical thinking and visual literacy. Following the public art talk during opening week, British Council will house the first teacher development workshop of six on 20 November, while KAF has organized “Making Sense”, a hands-on workshop with Antony Gormley in the K11 Art Mall on 21 November. For details of all Event Horizon education and outreach activities in Hong Kong, visit www.eventhorizon.hk.
Presenters
Event Horizon in Hong Kong is presented by British Council Hong Kong with support from lead partner K11 Art Foundation and sponsors GAW Capital Partners, Grosvenor, Christie's, Hogan Lovells, Howard Bilton of The Sovereign Art Foundation, Central Saint Martin /Kai-Yin Lo Cross Culture Lecture, Dynamic Network Alliances, Mazarine Asia Pacific, Icicle Group and Sinclair Communications.
Event Horizon education and outreach programme is supported by M+, West Kowloon Cultural District, Asia Arts Archive, the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Hong Kong, PMQ, Asia Society Hong Kong and Youth Arts Foundation.
Event Horizon supporting organisations include JIA Group, Perrier Jouët, The Financial Times, Time Out Hong Kong, Art Map and Art Plus.
Learn more about Event Horizon on the website at www.eventhorizon.hk, and join the conversation on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EventHorizonHK
#LookUpHK #EventHorizonHK #BritishCouncilHongKong #k11ArtFoundation
- Event Horizon will officially launch in Hong Kong on 19 November 2015.
- Sculpture locations are being finalised, and will be released shortly.
- All education activities are free of charge
“Making Space” talk by highly acclaimed British artist Antony Gormley
Date: Monday, 16 November 2015
Time: 6pm-8pm
Venue: Grand Hall, Lee Shau Lee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Dress code: Business casual
Free Admission. Entry by registration at www.eventhorizon.hk. Ticketing lines open now.
Media Contact:
Sinclair Communications
Tell: (852) 2915 1234:
Sai Roshini Daswani I sairoshini@sinclairasia.com I (852) 9750 3229
Holly Chan I holly@sinclairasia.com I (852) 6246 7734
About Antony Gormley
Antony Gormley’s work has been widely exhibited throughout the UK and internationally with exhibitions at Forte di Belvedere, Florence (2015); Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (2014); Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia (2012); Deichtorhallen, Hamburg (2012); The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (2011); Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2010); Hayward Gallery, London (2007); Malmö Konsthall, Sweden (1993) and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebæk, Denmark (1989). Permanent public works include the Angel of the North (Gateshead, England), Another Place (Crosby Beach, England), Inside Australia (Lake Ballard, Western Australia) and Exposure (Lelystad, The Netherlands).
Gormley was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999, the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture in 2007, the Obayashi Prize in 2012 and the Praemium Imperiale in 2013. In 1997 he was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) and was made a knight in the New Year’s Honours list in 2014. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, an Honorary Doctor of the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of Trinity and Jesus Colleges, Cambridge. Gormley has been a Royal Academician since 2003.
Antony Gormley was born in London in 1950.
About the K11 Art Foundation
Adrian Cheng established the K11 Art Foundation (KAF) in 2010. The K11 Art Foundation is a registered non-profit organisation that advances the development of Chinese contemporary art by providing a creative incubation platform to nurture artistic talent in Greater China and showcase the work of young emerging artists to a broader audience around the world. The K11 Art Foundation has embarked on cross-region, creative collaborations to introduce Chinese talents in Asia and globally and to showcase their full potential. Through researches, initiatives and partnerships, as well as harnessing the passion and energy of participants, KAF makes available to the public a diverse array of programs and exhibitions to educate and raise collective appreciation of art and culture. The K11 art village (artist-in-residence program) in Wuhan offers a space and platform for young artists to create and present their works.
Following on from previous UK partnerships with the British Council, Central Saint Martins, Cornerhouse HOME and Performing Arts Group, Brighter Sound the Foundation has collaborated with the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London to present Chinese artist Zhang Ding, with the exhibition of Enter the Dragon, opening October 2015. The K11 Art Foundation is also delighted to continue its partnership with Palais de Tokyo in Paris by co-producing a second exhibition, the solo exhibition of Tianzhuo Chen. Also, in July 2015 the foundation announced a major research partnership with Centre Pompidou in Paris.
Finally, KAF in partnership with Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation will co-curate the Surrealist exhibition Media— Dalí held at Shanghai's chi K11 art museum, in dialogue with established and emerging contemporary Chinese artists to open in from 5 November 2015 to 15 February 2016.
Please join the conversation with K11 Art Foundation on Instagram (@K11ArtFoundation), Facebook, Weibo via the hashtag #k11ArtFoundation and follow Adrian Cheng on Instagram (@ac_kaf) #kafchinaartist
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide. We work in more than 100 countries and our 8,000 staff – including 2,000 teachers – work with thousands of professionals and policy makers and millions of young people every year by teaching English, sharing the arts and delivering education and society programmes. In Hong Kong, we have been doing this since 1948, giving people opportunities to learn, share and connect worldwide.
We are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter. A core publicly-funded grant provides 20 per cent of our turnover which last year was £864 million. The rest of our revenues are earned from services which customers around the world pay for, such as English classes and taking UK examinations, and also through education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. All our work is in pursuit of our charitable purpose and supports prosperity and security for the UK and globally.
For more information, please visit: http://www.britishcouncil.org. You can also keep in touch with the British Council through http://blog.britishcouncil.org/. To learn more about British Council in Hong Kong, please visit www.britishcouncil.hk and www.facebook.com/BritishCouncilHK.