Ellen Pau: What about Home Affairs? — A Retrospective
Visual Arts
Description
Description
Para Site is honored to present Ellen Pau’s first retrospective in Hong Kong, curated by Freya Chou. One of Hong Kong’s most influential and pioneering artists, the exhibition features Pau’s multi-faceted artistic practice stemming from the late-1980s to the present, including a selection of video works, archives, and a series of unpublished photographs. Three major video installations—two series of Bik Lai Chu, and Recycling Cinema – are presented in their original formats to illustrate the artist’s unique approach to the medium, within the technological limits of their time of production. In this exhibition, eighteen of Pau’s most representative works are displayed from a media archaeology perspective – through the development of technology, rather than following the traditional chronological order. The exhibition hopes to examine and interpret Pau’s life and politics through this evolution of technological media.
Its title begins with the concept of “home.” There is a statement in the “Great Learning” chapter in the Book of Rites by Confucius that reads: “Cultivate oneself, put the family in order, govern the state, and pacify the world.” To pacify the world, one needs to go through different stages, with the cultivation of one’s personal life as the most basic practice. The Chinese title is a wordplay between donggaa (house master) and gaadong (family possession) covering themes such as household chores, the status of housewives, and the identity of masters of the house. The corresponding English title—What about Home Affairs?—alludes to the Hong Kong government’s Home Affairs Bureau, thus opening up a discussion about the relationship between civil political affairs and personal well-being.
Note：This event record is compiled from "Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 2018" published by Department of Fine Arts, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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