K11 Art Foundation is thrilled to partner with Q Contemporary to co-present Tracing the Fragments, a collaborative collection of prominent works of Central Eastern European and Chinese contemporary art. This showcase lays the cornerstone for our first-ever comprehensive programme that introduces Central Eastern European art in Hong Kong and fosters cultural exchange among different regions.
The second half of the 20th century has nurtured many important artists. When artists were confronted by a world of constant flux, art became a means of recording their personal experience and understanding the wider geopolitical context in Central and Eastern Europe. Examples were shown in the rapid and varied development of the abstract form, conceptual art and geometry tradition. Later these avant-garde and underground artists became the mainstream. They initiated artistic discourse with younger artists and encouraged them to search for their own visual language. Under such circumstances, a group of emerging artists were responding to the inheritance of the socialist era.
The works selected in Tracing the Fragments explore the idea of timescape, as well as document, discuss and trace the formation and interpretation of memories. Each work represents a piece of personal experiences that can be interpreted as part of a broader collective memory with historical significance, forming dialogues and enriching each other’s accounts. Some of them record the artists’ personal journey of experimentation in the age of new media, digitalisation and creative technology, drawing audiences to travel between reality and fantasy, as well as allowing them to create their own stories through interactive videos and installations. At the same time, some artists used fragmentary images and sounds to express concepts of time and space through the collection of memories and histories.
It is only through examining and piecing together scattered fragments that one is able to fill the void of multiple and layered perspectives and narratives – the process of mapping the hidden landscape of art. In this ever-changing global environment that we live in, the stability and accountability of memory and history are often challenged. Perhaps art offers an alternative and grounded perspective to understand our past, and opens the window to an answer to the future.
To further explore the meaning of the future, the showcase extends with a standalone interactive work Demain est la question (“tomorrow is the question”) by Rirkrit Tiravanija at Gold Ball in K11 MUSEA. Tiravanija emphasises interactions between people and their surroundings. The back-and-forth motion of ping-pong ball alludes to mutual communication between individuals, societies and cultures. By combining elements of visual art, culinary traditions, sports, performances and social interaction, the public is encouraged to be part of the art-making process, generating reciprocal conversations.
To accompany the showcase, K11 Art Foundation and Q Contemporary will present a series of events, including guided tours and workshops. It is honoured to have invited renowned curator Wang Wei Wei to conduct an online panel to share and discuss about the stunning Central Eastern European art later in February.
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