Future of The Past – Past of The Future: Creating Time in Public Space Through Performance
Visual Arts
Description
Description
“What is the future in the past? And what is the past in the future?” – to addess these two questions, Isaac Chong Wai applies performance as the medium to deal with history and memory in public space. His research started from the history of Weimarplatz, which was formerly the Gauforum, built as one of the most important structures for the National Socialist Party in Weimar. In 1937, the foundation stone was laid for the “Hall of the People’s Community,” which was housed in the site, and the square was named “Adolf Hitler Square”. During the Allied Occupation of Germany, it was renamed “Karl-Marx Platz,” which was then kept under the reign of the German Democratic Republic. After the regime’s fall it remained nameless until 1999. Now, in its current incarnation as Weimarplatz, the absence of people has become the present view of the square, which has been blocked from public access. Looking at the past and the present of the Weimarplatz, one is led to address the function and dysfunction of its architectural structure: what kind of events, symbols and social activities could and can take place there? For this, an imaginary past is created through art in the hope of shaping possible fragments of utopia.
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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