Media
UMAG presents "Interruptions: with photographs by David Clarke and essays by Xu Xi"
13 Sep 2016
UMAG Associate Curator Mr Cris Mattison, Jazz Pianist Mr Ted Lo, HKU Department of Fine Arts Professor David Clarke, Mongrel International Inc. & Authors at Large Author & Partner Ms Xu Xi, UMAG Director Dr Florian Knothe and HKU Dean of Faculty of Arts Professor Derek Collins toast to the exhibition opening of Interruptions.
The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will present Interruptions: with photographs by David Clarke and essays by Xu Xi from September 14 (tomorrow) to October 16, 2016. This exhibition displays a dialogue between photography and the written word. David Clarke is a photographer and a professor in the Department of Fine Arts and Xu Xi is an award-winning author and educator.
An opening ceremony of the exhibition was held at UMAG today (September 13). Officiating guests included HKU Dean of Faculty of Arts Professor Derek Collins, Jazz Pianist Mr Ted Lo, HKU Department of Fine Arts Professor David Clarke, Author & Partner, Mongrel International Inc. & Authors at Large Ms Xu Xi and UMAG Director Dr Florian Knothe.
The spine of this current project is a series of interlocking images and texts that began with a single photograph selected from David Clarke’s archive. Xu Xi then wrote an essay triggered by—but not necessarily in response to—the photograph, which led to David’s choice of a second work. The 12 images and essays construct a fascinating palimpsest of memoir and artistic expression. By “interrupting” each other’s live with a piece of art from a duelling medium, the artists were compelled to re-evaluate their own histories and creative output. What is ultimately created is a form of linked poem or renga, though without the strict stanzaic limitation of that particular form.
David Clarke is Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Hong Kong, where he has taught since 1986. He has written extensively on both Chinese and Western art and culture, with a primary focus on the twentieth century, and is also active as a photographer and visual artist.
Xu Xi, a transnational “third culture” writer and Chinese-Indonesian native of Hong Kong, is author of nine books of fiction & essays, most recently Access: Thirteen Tales (Signal 8 Press, Hong Kong 2011), the novel Habit of a Foreign Sky (Haven Books, Hong Kong 2010), which was shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize.
Media preview and group interview session
Date: September 13, 2016 (Tuesday)
Media registration: Starts at 17:00
Time: 17:15 – 17:45
Venue: 1/F Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Language: English
Speaker:
Professor David Clarke, Department of Fine Arts, HKU
Ms Xu Xi, Author & Partner, Mongrel International Inc. & Authors at Large
Media RSVP: elenac@hku.hk / Tel: 2241 5512
Details of the Exhibition
Period: September 14 (Wednesday) to October 16, 2016 (Sunday)
Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays
Venue: 1/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk
Admission: Free
Website: www.umag.hku.hk/en/
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umag.hku
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMAG_HKU
Instagram: #Interruptions, #Essay, #Photographs, #Dual, #HKUMAG
Weibo: @香港大學美術博物館UMAG
About University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (UMAG)
UMAG was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. It was originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library in 1932 in honour of its benefactor. For more information on UMAG, please click here.
Media enquiries
UMAG Communications Officer Miss Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk
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