Preparing Press Release

Hi Cesar,

We have just a slight delay in the schedule—our English press release is ready (please see attached) and we plan to blast it out on August 16th instead. Altogether we will have two releases, this current one (going out on Aug 16) will focus on the Forum on August 30 and a brief summary of all artworks. The next one (going out on Sep 1) will be about Festival community programmes throughout September, with a little executive summary from the Forum keynote speeches.

About your mini website: fantastic, please do update us anytime—so we can extract info and images from there about your work.

Via North Point gets the entire city involved to imagine a dynamic way forward

for the historic district

12 August 2021, Hong Kong – Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC) announces the launch of the highly anticipated Via North Point Festival on 30 August 2021. Sponsored by the Urban Renewal Fund, Via North Point began in 2019 as a public art initiative merging creativity with daily life in a vibrant corner of Hong Kong. The festival kicks activities into high gear by merging professional input with insights from kaifong. Both meet in a sweet spot for sustainable and fun solutions that celebrate heritage and cultural diversity.

On 30th August, Via North Point Festival will engage the neighbourhood with a Forum starting 14:00 at K11 ATELIER King’s Road. Bryant Lu, JP, Deputy Chairman, Board of Governors, HKAC, will join Ian Leung, HKAC Via North Point’s Programme Manager, to welcome the audience and introduce the Forum’s theme The Urban Mastermind: The Myth of Co-Living. Three dialogue sessions will decode the role of art, design and architecture as agents to public space intervention while exploring the possibilities of co-living. The sessions include concepts by leading architects, planners and stakeholders including Connie Lam, Executive Director, HKAC; Winnie Ho, JP, Director, Architectural Services Department; Ricky Yu, Founder and CEO, Light Be; Andrew Mead, Director, Asia, MTRC; Vincent Ng, Chairman, Harbourfront Commission; and Eric Li, Director, Bjarke Ingels Group. The day is capped with an Opening Ceremony officiated by the Honourable Michael Wong Wai-lun, JP, Secretary for Development, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; Simon Chan, JP, District Officer (Eastern), Home Affairs Department; Professor Steven Ngai Sek-yum, Chairman of the Board, Urban Renewal Fund, and Bryant Lu. The ceremony will start at 18:00 at North Point East Ferry Pier.  

Six land and two water-sited community space art works will be unveiled on 30th August, with related tours, workshops and activities throughout the month of September. Each of the land installations was chosen from an open call for entries; together, they address the complexities of North Point with sensitivity and respond to the design charter consolidated by the community. The art works are scattered from Chun Yeung Street to the sea east of North Point Public Pier, and advocate sustainability through biodiversity and up-cycling. MLKK Studio’s A Cycle of Life in Chun Yeung responds to the beautiful chaos of the market street by transforming produce waste into fertiliser and energy to benefit the community. ARTA Architects’ The Symphony of North Point amplifies the sounds of North Point while encouraging youth to make music. AaaM Architects’ Hangout Islands in North Point envisions a relaxed beach vibe where people of all ages can mix. O&O Studio x Rehyphenation’s North Pointer captures memories imbued in heritage furnishings by repurposing them for the neighbourhood. Jason Lee Lok-sun’s Sugar Factory encourages street fitness in enjoying the waterfront with a nod towards sugar refineries of the past. #TackTeam’s #TackPoint hacks used plastic bottles and multipurpose anchors for flexible ways to utilise outdoor spaces. In addition, two floating installations provide pause for reflection of bygone days and ways towards a greener future. yU+co[lab}’s Re-imagining Collective Swimming in North Point revisits the area’s past swimming shed with a bamboo structure to evoke a longing for the neighbourhood’s aquatic heritage. Cesar Jung-Harada’s Ocean Imagineer examines how oyster farming can increase aquatic biodiversity while producing energy to sustain the practise.

Further, a series of art works that recall the neighbourhood’s former shoreline while raising awareness of current sustainability issues can be experienced beginning 30th August. Onion Peterman’s Under the Sea on the lift tower to the footbridge at the King’s Road and Pak King Street junction is a lively illustration of land and marine life that increase knowledge of rising sea levels. Sim Chan, Stanley Siu and North Point participants created North Point . Coastline along the south expanse of the footbridge at the Java Road and Tong Shui Road junction. The painted stained glass depicts the area’s collective memory of the waterfront, changing daily as sunlight fades and fluorescents glow. Art Napping and North Point participants’ Wandering in Chun Yeung: Here & Past is on the north expanse of the same footbridge. The surrealistic mural combines a collage of creatures with vernacular elements to showcase the district’s myriad of livelihoods. Within North Point West Ferry Pier, three local artists transform the entry flanked by popular seafood vendors. Ink artist Carmen Or’s A Corner of North Point is a traditional and digital ink banner painting depicting North Point’s birds in their natural habitats. Benjamin Hao Lap-yan enlivens fish stall signage with In This Pier, a series of watercolour images to capture the essence of each seafood vendor. And Lam Kin-choi tells his story along the columns by wrapping his landscape painting Pacing in North Point around them to showcase the community’s old and new cultural landscape.

As a community festival, Via North Point will offer a number of workshops and activities for the community to understand more about the district, all at North Point East Ferry Pier.

For those whose businesses have grown with the community, Via North Point introduced a Community Art Hacking initiative to enhance their premises. Various artisans took up residence in select shops to produce furnishings in response to user needs. Roy Ng Ting-ho worked with Tin Yin Coconut Grocery Store to create an organised shelving solution while preserving the shop’s unique DNA. Carpenters ChiChoiMao and Caphis Chan designed a smooth and durable wooden display cabinet for Sam Kee Book Company’s inventory of volumes and numerous feline friends. Coutou Woodworking Studio and interior designer Dio helped Fei Tat News Stand with a mobile retractable cabinet to facilitate improved experiences for customers at the Fort Street newsstand. And artist Dylan Kwok Tat-lun designed interactive furniture for Chan’s Creative School for its pupils to learn, play and grow better.

Via North Point Festival is the culmination of HKACs vision to engage the community through public art and spatial place-making. It seeks to increase people’s 15-minute circle of living with art that inspires them to venture further. It encourages the area’s walkability and invites new contemplation of old spaces viewed through a more artistic lens. Through its top down meets bottom up approach, it facilitates cultural citizenship as people take ownership and pride in their district. Community ownership can be a catalyst for art in public spaces to bind disparate segments of the neighbourhood. The team at Via North Point endeavours that everyone will discover for themselves how to Be An Imagineer in this corner of Hong Kong.

For more information and the latest updates, please visit www.via-northpoint.hk