11 August, 2014
(Press Release sent by Cultural Connections on behalf of kaitak, Centre for Research and Development, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University.)
Through Our Eyes Photography Education Programme:
In-between Photography Exhibition
Exhibition to Showcase Fruits of New Elements Injected to Programme by HKBU
Through Our Eyes Photography Education Programme was founded by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation in 2005, now in its 9th year, with an aim to encourage the youth to discover their inner selves and their connection with the outside world using lens-based media. Starting from this academic year, kaitak, Centre for Research and Development of the Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University, takes over the torch from the Foundation, and has developed a more diversified array of activities.
kaitak is housed in a colonial building on Kwun Tong Road, hidden in Kowloon East. Witnessing the changes in the neighbourhood community, the location of this building has become the starting point of this project, with the theme “In-between” to explore how traces of lives are caught in a state of transition and in-between-ness amidst the rapid changes in the external environment.
In the past year, the education team of the “Through Our Eyes” programme taught photography in ten secondary schools in Kowloon East, conducting creative workshops to inspire students to discover new perspectives when observing ordinary objects. The interaction in the teaching process stimulated both students’ and teachers’ creativity, conceiving the “In-between” Photography Exhibition that show works by the participating students and the Artist Educators.
The exhibition is by-and-large the result of participating students’ effort. They explored from where they were situated, and then captured the rapidly changing faces with images. In the lapse of time, they observed and held on to the disappearance and re-appearance in life. Ki Wong, Director of the Through Our Eyes Photography Education Programme, says, “the concept of “In-between” stresses on flow, shift, progression and disappearance, like the open quotation mark, putting into brackets a contained time and space dimension, allowing people to express their memories and emotions. “In-between” becomes inevitably linked to the fundamentals of photography, inducing the theme and direction of this photography education programme.”
Apart from school workshops, this year Through Our Eyes carried out community-based programmes, including photography workshops for special needs students, and workshops that examines issues like land policy, revitalisation of factory buildings, sustainable food production. Works by workshop participants will be exhibited at the “In-between” Photography Exhibition, alongside works by Artist Educators who are all veteran photographic artists.
Ever since the HKBU Academy of Visual Arts takes over this project from The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, new elements of research and publication are also added to the project. The first book From the Factories and the photographs therein will also be shown at this exhibition.
The exhibition will see over 100 pieces of photographic works to explore the multi-faceted nature of photography – as artistic medium, social documentation, educational tool, therapeutic process, or even as a mirror for self-reflection and a window that looks out to the world.
Date: 16 August to 14 September, 2014
Time: 10:00 – 19:00
Venue: Kaitak Campus, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University
51 Kwun Tong Road, Kowloon
(Exit A2, Choi Hung MTR Station)
Website: www.toe.org.hk
Facebook Event Page：In-between Photography Exhibition 漸漸攝影展
Events:
Three talks: “Artist Talk” (16/8), “Art as Therapy – A Seminar on Special Education” (30/8) and “Community Photography Practices” (6/9); three outdoor screenings: “Waste Land” (16/8), “Anton Corbijn Inside Out” (30/8) and “Side by Side” (6/9); two series of workshops (3 in each): “Pixel and Collage” and “From Real to Surreal”; and guided tours every Saturday and Sunday.
Media Preview
Date: 16 August, 2014 (Saturday)
Time: 14:00
(Opening ceremony will take place at 15:00, and media are welcome.)
For high-res images: http://goo.gl/tLM63l
About In-between Photography Exhibition
Student works
Photography is not just about the final image. It has to do with a process of learning how to use our eyes to observe and discovering of oneself. It is all about seeing ordinary things anew.
In the past year, a team of professional and experienced artist educators has connected with a diverse group of young people through various types of school workshops, all inspired by the notion of “In-between”, to help them think more critically about different aspects of photography. This part of the exhibition showcases outstanding works by secondary school students living and studying in Kowloon East, where urban regeneration is rapidly taking place and has had a drastic impact on the community.
Work by Chan Yan-Yan
Work by Joanne Kwong
(For more images: http://goo.gl/tLM63l)
Community-based programmes
Besides artistic and creative pursuits, the exhibition also focuses on the social functions of photography, extending the impacts of arts by community engagement. The second part of the exhibition features different community-based programmes that were held throughout the year.
In this part, there is a special emphasis on supporting students with mental disabilities and learning disorders, promoting the use of photography as a form of self-expression, communication and even an emotion-releasing channel. Other exhibiting works involve investigations on a range of topics including land policy, revitalization of industrial buildings and sustainable food production, showing how people from different communities use photography to record the transformation of our hometown and capture all its complexities.
Work by Lai Ho Ying, participant of Kwun Tong Community-based Photography Workshop
Work by participant of “Planting and Living” Agricultural Art & Photography Workshop
(For more images: http://goo.gl/tLM63l)
Works from professional artists
Over a long period of time, our artist educators have been researching in different photographic practices, processes and techniques. Through exhibiting their creative work, the exhibition demonstrates how their artistic pursuits connect to their education philosophy and contribute to a continuing cycle of learning and development.
The participating artist educators include Enoch Cheung, Stephen Cheung, John Fung, Ho Man Kee, Lai Lon Hin, Vik Lai, Leung Yiu Hong, Jenny Li, Thomas Lin, Chris Wong, Ki Wong and Ellis Yip.
Work by Chris Wong
Work by Vik Lai & Ho Man Kei
(For more images: http://goo.gl/tLM63l)
About Through Our Eyes Photography Education Programme
Through Our Eyes (TOE) is a non-profit photography education programme, aiming to open up new perspectives for the youth. It provides them with a way of seeing the world, and at the same time reflecting their own experiences. By introducing different photographic techniques, it also helps them develop creative ideas and articulate social and cultural issues using imagery.
Founded by The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation in 2005, the TOE has gradually become the most extensive school-based photography education programme in Hong Kong. In 2013, in continued efforts to promote and support local arts education, the Foundation transferred the TOE to kaitak, Centre for Research and Development in Visual Arts, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University.
With the generous funding from the foundation, the TOE has continuously expanded and diversified in the following areas:
School workshops
To build on the success and to further enhance the previous efforts, the TOE has collaborated with secondary schools of various types in different part of the city to conduct workshops, introducing lens-based media to young people and encouraged them to take it as a tool to observe and reflect on their surroundings.
Community-based programmes
The TOE partners with different arts and cultural organisations to carry out community programmes to help youngsters develop the ability to analyse social issues. The community programmes focus on three main areas – minority groups, current societal issues and public arts projects, promoting the use of photographs as forms of communication to bring the social situations of the community to a broader audience and facilitate discussions among various sectors.
Research and publication
Through a team of academics from HKBU and experienced artist educators, the TOE takes on various image-based research and curriculum development for the wider benefits of the arts, cultural and education sectors. The TOE has also begun to develop online teaching resources based on the curriculum and documentation of the school-based workshops. It is hoped that through such efforts, a clear, rich and diversified pool of resources will be made available for the schoolteachers in the future.
About kaitak, Centre for Research and Development
kaitak, Centre for Research and Development was established by the Academy of Visual Arts in 2013 to enhance the visual arts development in Hong Kong and neighbouring regions. Housed in a Grade I historic building (the former Royal Air Force Officers’ Mess), it promotes visual arts research, creative arts education and community engagement through a vibrant programme of artist-in-residence, exhibitions, workshops, talks and publications.
About The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation
A private philanthropic organisation based in Hong Kong, The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation is committed to promoting Chinese art and culture around the world and advocating the practice of Buddhist teachings in everyday life. The Foundation also actively contributes to Hong Kong society through a host of creative arts education platforms that serve to inspire our youth and local art communities.
The Foundation supports efforts that make traditional Chinese arts accessible and relevant to audiences worldwide. The Foundation also supports the creation of new works that bring innovative perspectives to the history of Chinese art, and that improve the quality and accessibility of scholarship on Chinese art.
Since 2005, the Foundation has funded numerous innovative projects, including exhibitions, publishing, filmmaking and educational activities that promote cross-cultural understanding. The Foundation is dedicated to promoting creative arts education for the children and youth of Hong Kong. Through a variety of initiatives such as Through Our Eyes photography education programme and Leap! body education programme, it encourages the younger generation to appreciate art and to nurture their creativity, explore their own community, culture and environment to establish a connection with society.