This is Wan Chai (Hong Kong - Urban Space on the Move Exhibition)
This is Wan Chai is an approximately 150-metre long photographic installation exhibit at MTR Wan Chai Station. Conceived by artist Jevan Chowdhury and performed by 40 principal, soloist, coryphée, corps de ballet dancers and members of the public, the artwork transforms the station into a living stage of choreographed street scenes that commuters play their part in as they pass through. It is an observation of the theatrical stage everyday life presents, via the lens of magical realism. Moreover, it aims to reimagine and reinvent the station as a public space at the heart of the community.
London based Wind & Foster was commissioned to make This is Wan Chai as part of the Moving Cities series, an on-going global inventory of film and photographic work in which cities are transcribed through dance. This award-winning global project has been staged in a number of charming cities like London, Barcelona, New York and Dallas.
Activity information
Commissioned by MTR Corporation and jointly initiated with Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC), “This is Wan Chai” was made in collaboration with Hong Kong Ballet, Treacle Media, the UK’s Department for International Trade and Conran + Partners.
HKDC aims at sparking new synergies and activating local creative communities by fostering collaborations with businesses, brands and partner countries. This collaboration is one of HKDC’s cultural placemaking strategies to turn Wan Chai a design and creative district. HKDC’s pitch to all is "Co-Designing a Livable Smart City for Hong Kong”. Through inspirational cultural projects to transform the future of the city, as arts-based placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to community building and urban planning. MTR Wan Chai Station, as an important public space of the neighbourhood, is definitely an important anchor point for HKDC’s city-wise placemaking efforts in Wan Chai to conjure up new imaginations and relationships in a community, and enhance city’s walkability and connectivity.
Artist Jevan Chowdhury
Born 1978 in London, Jevan is an award winning artist and one of the premiere filmmakers of dance film, and also the founder of Wind & Foster Films. His Moving Cities project has turned heads of performance art lovers and critics alike. His work pairs together dance and cities into striking pieces of art redefining urban space.
More excitement to come...
Hong Kong – Urban Space on the Move
Placemaking Exhibition, extension from the Moving Cities Project - This is Wan Chai
3-31.5.2020 @7 Mallory Street, Wan Chai
3.6.2020 – 5.7.2020 @H6 CONET, Central