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Eaton HK, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Human Rights Art Prize 2018, is proud to announce Ophelia Jacarini as the winner of the inaugural Eaton HK Award which offers one artist the opportunity to exhibit their work at Eaton HK.

Ophelia Jacarini’s BLOOMING 2 was awarded the prize for its brilliant combination of poeticism and resilience. The piece depicts strength and hope in the face of violence, particularly towards women, with the seemingly delicate work showcasing robustness through repetitive knitting, knotting and threading.

“The absence of anger captivated us,” says Eaton HK’s Managing Director Dirk Dalichau. “The piece is beautiful and feminine yet reminds the viewer of torn clothes, illustrating the brutality of such violence. BLOOMING 2 is a powerful statement which highlights a global issue and human rights violations.”

“We are honored to provide the winner of the HKHRAP Eaton HK Award with a home for their exhibition. Eaton Workshop is committed to providing a platform for artists and creators, helping them to maximize their dreams and ambitions,” says Katherine Lo. “I created Eaton as a gathering place for those interested in creating progressive social change through their art and projects. Guests can find a copy of the UN Declaration of Human Rights in every room and our Eaton House members include prominent human rights organizations like the Justice Centre — I have no doubt that Ophelia’s meaningful art will support and complement the meaningful work taking place at Eaton HK.”

The winning artist was selected from five finalists by Katherine Lo, Founder and President, Eaton Workshop; Chantal Wong, Director of Culture and Image, Eaton HK; Dirk Dalichau, Managing Director, Eaton HK; and Royce Ng, former artist in residence at Eaton HK. Jacarini will receive a 28-day artist’s residency at Eaton HK, as part of the brand’s mission to bring together the city’s activists, creatives and social entrepreneurs. She will also receive a one-time cash award of HK$5000 and a contribution of HK$25,000 towards the production of artwork for a dedicated exhibition at Tomorrow Maybe, Eaton HK’s independent art gallery for emerging artists with a distinct point of view.

The purpose-driven company will host an exhibition of the 2018 finalists, Cathleen Ching Yee Lau, Mong Sum Leung, Gemma Abad and P H Yang’s, as well as the prize winner’s works, from 14 January to 3 February at Eaton HK’s Tomorrow Maybe at Eaton House, as well as other areas of the property.

Eaton HK also granted an honorary mention to The Art Women X Aanya, a group of members of the refugee community who are unable to work due to Hong Kong not being a signatory of the Refugee Convention, for their work aligns strongly with Eaton’s thematic priority of “migration” for its art and cultural programming. It is Eaton HK’s intent that Ophelia and Art Women will work together for the program and exhibition at the property in mid-late 2019.

“It is our great honor to be able to present this award to Ophelia. We look forward to creating new projects together and providing a platform for her to share her work with the public. The practice of both Ophelia and Art Women are examples that although life presents its challenges, faced with strength and resilience, beauty is found on the other side. The team at Eaton looks forward to working with both closely over the next year and in having their creative vision inspire us. We are also grateful to the Human Rights Arts Prize for enabling us to discover the work of a wide range of artists and look forward to a continued partnership together to nurture talent in Hong Kong,” says Chantal Wong.

“I am thrilled to have been awarded with the Eaton HK Award as I hope I can raise awareness for women’s rights through my work with them. My piece is not merely an object for aesthetic admiration, as it incites the viewer to question the social and political landscape,” says Jacarini.

The HKHRAP exhibition is just one of the many examples that showcase Eaton’s commitment to social issues through art and culture, including a revolutionary new billboard campaign titled “What Does Your Revolution Look Like?” that poses five thought-provoking questions to the local and global community about equality, environmentalism, and love. Eaton HK is also currently hosting an LGBT+ photography exhibition, Narrow Distances by Tse Kaman, which, address a desire to negotiate multiple and diasporic identities and are made within the intersection of Asian and Pacific Islander (API) and LGBTQ communities, through a queer lens. In January 2019, the portraits will be gifted to the subjects by the artist at a talk which will mark the exhibition’s conclusion.