Art Criticism X Curatorship X Cultural Critique
Forty Years of Art Criticism: Grounded Cultural and Artistic Critiques
A Piercing Look into the Core Issues of Hong Kong’s Art Scene
The road of art criticism in Hong Kong remains long and winding, even after 40 years.
This book compiles Oscar Ho’s newspaper articles from the 1980s to 1998. As an art critic, cultural management professor, and curator, Ho began writing art criticism for various newspapers in the 1980s. Using accessible language, he provided insightful and straightforward evaluations of artworks, demystifying the often distant and unapproachable image of artists in the public imagination and connecting art with everyday life. As Vivian Ting notes in the Introduction, Ho’s aim in writing art criticism was to broaden the public’s understanding of art. He refused to accept shallow interpretations and never embraced any singular explanation for a work. Whether examining the most popular Western art theories, traditional aesthetic concepts, or the “masterpieces” celebrated by Western art circles and international galleries, Ho always maintained a critical perspective.
The concept of being “grounded” means staying rooted in the local context, with a deep focus on Hong Kong. During a time when Hong Kong lacked a curatorial consciousness in the arts, Ho offered insights into the city’s art policies, introducing the contemporary significance of curatorship. His writings addressed many cultural and artistic issues of the time—issues that remain relevant today. Grounded Art Criticism is an essential read for reflecting on the relationship between art and Hong Kong’s politics, society, and culture.
Author: Oscar Ho Hing Kay
Editor: Leung Po Shan
Organiser: Cheung Chui Yu
Assistant editor: Hailey Tsang Hoi-ling, Chan Shu Zi
Executive editor: Ho Hang-yuen
Chinese proofreading: Tsang Hiu Lam
Translator: Wong Yat Chor, Mary Lee
Assistant: Chong Yan Suen, Yea Bak, Wong Tak Yin
English proofreading: Yoyo Chan
Desigh: ck Cheang Chiwai@SomethingMoon
Edition: First edition, 15 June 2020
ISBN: 978-988-74161-2-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70783/artcriticism
Page: 197
Price: HKD98
Content
Preface by Oscar Ho
Foreword by Leung Po-shan
Introduction
To Art Practitioners of 2097: How Art Criticism and Exhibitions Can Uncover the Essence of “Locality” by Vivian Ting
Chapter One: Out with the Old, In with the New – The Intervention of Art Criticism
Heaven-Sent Moore
Between Inner and Outer Worlds
Women and Art
Nuclear Power, Anti-Education, and Art Criticism
On “Merging East and West”
One-Tonne Anti-Environmental Sculpture Approved – Reflecting Policy Loopholes in District Councils
No Space – The Dilemma of Art Criticism
Chapter Two: China Before and After 1989 – Observing From Hong Kong
Three Ironies
Reflections on the Chinese Contemporary Art Exhibition
Forgotten Atrocities
On the “Goddess” of Democracy
Another Society, Another Art – Yu Ben, Li Tiefu, and Early Hong Kong Western Painting
Mocking Desolation – Glimpses of Beijing’s New Art Scene
Dream of Flight (I): Wings
Dream of Flight (II): Machines
Dream of Flight (III): Hope
Chapter Three: Not a “Musemum Director” – The Meaning of Professional Curatorship
Art. Life. Art.
Self-Exile in the Name of Internationalisation
Exhibition Preparation as a Professional Skill
The Direction of Art Centre Exhibitions
Cultural Struggle or Cultural Brokerage? “Museum Director” or “Exhibition Organiser”?
Chapter Four: 1997 – Cultural Politics
Stability and Prosperity
The Dignity Art Institutions Deserve
A Sense of Crisis in the Cultural Sector
The Limitations and Possibilities of the 1997 Transition
Why is the Arts Development Council Silent?
Hong Kong: A Curatorial Journey for an Identity
Chapter Five: Building the Future – The Necessity of Cultural Policy
Museums Without Walls
On Art Policy
Vague Suggestions Lacking Review – On the Arts Policy Review Report
Urgent Issues for the Arts Development Council
Chasing Away Lazy Pigs, Only to Invite Wolves? – On Restructuring Cultural Development Mechanisms
Afterword
The Long Road of Art Criticism
Appendix
A Brief Note on Newspaper Arts Pages and Publications in the 1980s and 1990s by Leung Po-shan
Conclusion
Glossary of Names
Bibliography
About the author
Ocar Ho Hing Kay
Former Exhibition Director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai. Since the late 1980s, Ho has curated over 100 local and international exhibitions, including serving as Guest Curator for the 2nd and 3rd Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Australia and as the Asia Regional Curator for Containers 96 in Copenhagen. He has also been a member of the advisory group for the museum in the West Kowloon Cultural District, contributing to the conceptualisation of the M+ Museum. Additionally, he was a founding board member of the Asia Art Archive and served as a member of the International Committee for the 13th Documenta, responsible for selecting the exhibition’s Artistic Director.
Ho has been engaged in cultural criticism for many years, writing for both local and international publications such as Art Forum, Art Journal, The Art Newspaper, Hong Kong Economic Journal, and Apple Daily. He is the founder of the Hong Kong chapter of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA) and Chairman of the Board of Cultural Present magazine. Currently, he is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Director of the Master’s Programme in Cultural Management, actively pursuing work in art criticism and curatorship.
Praises and Reviews
Ho Hing-kee’s art criticism derives its power not purely from artistic critique but from the author’s emotions, memories, and broader social observations.
Oscar Ho writes with genuine sincerity, adhering to the principle that art criticism should be fully comprehensible to the general public. He avoids flaunting technical jargon or complex theories and remains closely connected to various social issues. Summing up his work as “grounded” could not be more accurate.
Oscar Ho believes that Hong Kong’s cultural rootlessness—shaped by its identity as a trading port and refugee hub—has endowed it with remarkable openness and adaptability. However, whether this dynamism and uniqueness can be preserved is a matter of life and death for Hong Kong culture.
Art criticism has never been about providing answers, but about offering new ways of seeing—making the often-hidden bridge between a work and the world more tangible. Oscar Ho’s approach to critique is not about being merciless for the sake of it but stems purely from honesty.
Art criticism often degenerates into cultural studies-style theoretical posturing, where artworks serve merely as excuses to validate authoritative theories of cultural studies. The use of obscure jargon and convoluted ideas alienates readers from the outset. Instead of complaining about public indifference to art criticism, critics should reflect on how much genuine effort they have made to communicate with their audience.
On one hand, he values the examination and form of artwork; on the other, he pays close attention to the social, cultural, and political meanings embedded in it. Notably, in both the preface and the afterword (The Long Road of Art Criticism), Oscar Ho criticised the impoverished state of art criticism in the early 1980s. At the time, his writing embodied the spirit of a pioneer, clearing new ground and cutting through obstacles.
Activities
撩是鬥非，毫不畀面──何慶基《不離地藝評》新書發佈會
書會邀請到三位不同年代、性別和背景的藝評人，他們也將會對何慶「毫不畀面」的藝評「毫不畀面」，從他們不同年代的藝評實踐經驗，回應何慶基四十年來的所作所為。
2020年10月10日
An online conversation: Art Criticism for the People
On this occasion, AAA brings together Anthony Leung Po Shan and two cultural critics: Howard Yuen Fung Choy and Grace Gut. They ask: How has the role of the art writer as a public intellectual changed over the decades? What type of community of writers and readers are they building?
2020年9月17日
