Reconnect with nature this summer at a new exhibition in Tai Kwun, “Breathing with Trees.”
In a new summer exhibition from the 8th of July to the 4th of September, 2022, at Tai Kwun, “Breathing with Trees,” is a refreshing homage to one of nature’s most majestic beings, providing humans with food, shelter, and clean air. In conjunction with the Department of Heritage, the exhibition encourages visitors to rekindle their relationship with trees, uncovering their roots and symbiotic relationship with nature, which are often taken for granted.
“Breathing with Trees” ventures to explore the interdependent relationship between trees and people, laying bear humans’ environmental impact whilst highlighting our endeavours to preserve and protect this living heritage. Highlighting global consumerism that has led to the mass-destruction of countless forests and species, “Breathing with Trees” touches on the impact of pollution, deforestation, logging, urban expansion, climate change, and the harsh future we have made for trees. The exhibition at the same time offers innovations that work to protect, preserve, and ensure a future for coming generations and trees.
Bringing together many notable contemporary artists, artefacts, and documentaries, “Breathing with Trees” is a thoughtful curation of the actual and the imagined, our downfalls and our hopes.
Featured artists include Zheng Bo, Beijing-born Hong Kong-based artist who is committed to “more-than-human vibrancy,” creating weedy gardens, living slogans, eco-queer films, and wanwu workshops to cultivate ecological wisdom beyond Anthropocene extinction. During the Summer Solstice on the 21st of June, Zheng Bo celebrated this occasion with ten of Tai Kwun’s trees located inside Tai Kwun. Starting from sunrise to sunset, he continuously drew portraits of them, one tree at a time.
Lau Chi Chung With experience as an art director before becoming a full-time artist, Lau Chi Chung‘s passion for photography is inspired by the cinema, anonymous found photos, and historical images. His award-winning photography series, Landscaped Artifacts, captures ruins now taken over by nature, vividly demonstrating its regenerative power.
Marshmallow Laser Feast is a London-based art collective experimenting in the liminal space between art, technology, and the natural world. Through research conducted with bespoke software and hardware systems, they strive to produce sensory experiences that push boundaries, redefine expectations, and excite audiences. Their exhibited work, Treehugger, brings the breathtaking beauty of giant sequoias in a way many have experienced them.
Other featured artists include Ng Ka Chun, with a newly commissioned upcycled sculpture and landscape designer Anson Ting Fung Wong, sharing his research findings on Hong Kong’s unique geomorphology, urban density, and climate, in “Stone Wall Trees.”
In addition, unique tree-inspired workshops and activities will be held throughout the exhibition showing.
“Breathing with Trees” is open to visitors daily from 10am to 7pm at Duplex Studio, Block 01. Tai Kwun is open daily, from 8am to 11pm. More details can be found here.
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