Watershed in Modern Hong Kong Art History
Painting | Photography | Sculpture | Architecture | Installation | Graffiti | Window Displays | Fashion
Formation and Transformation of Hong Kong Art, 1984 ～ 2000
David Clarke, Honorary Professor in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Hong Kong and founder and academic director of the “Hong Kong Art Archive”, authored Hong Kong Art: Culture and Decolonization during the millennium—a pioneering study of modern Hong Kong art history, approached from a “Hong Kong perspective” and intertwined with significant historical events.
As the countdown to the handover ticked away, Hong Kong artists “pre-emptively” sketched visions of post-handover Hong Kong, while reflecting on how traces of the past might vanish. Corporations and institutions used architecture and public sculptures to project an optimistic outlook of modernity and progress. Meanwhile, graphic design and fashion design sought lightweight yet distinctly local imagery to capture the emotional rhythm of the era.
Through poetic interpretation, meticulous analysis, and photographic documentation, Clarke preserves the historical concerns, spirit of decolonisation, and expressions of local identity that emerged in Hong Kong art and other visual cultural artefacts between 1984 and 2000.
* Includes 47 images and 18 QR codes, offering a vivid depiction of the art scene in Hong Kong before and after 1997.
Original title: Hong Kong Art: Culture and Decolonization
Author: David Clarke
Translator: Siu Heng
Editor: Lina Xie, Enoch Yee-lok Tam
Research Assistant: Dominica Yung
Art & Design: Kathy Wong@Young and Toxic
Edition: First edition, November 2024
ISBN: 978-988-70723-0-0
DOI: https://doi.org/10.70783/hongkongart
Page: 278
Price: HK$138
About the author
David Clarke
An art historian and visual artist, David Clarke taught in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Hong Kong from 1986 to 2017 and is now an Honorary Professor in the department. As an art historian, he has published research on American, European, and Chinese art from the 18th century onwards. His major works include Water and Art (2010) and China—Art—Modernity (2019). For more information on his academic research, artistic activities, and public service, refer to a series of interviews conducted as part of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council’s Oral History and Archive Project: https://artsoralhistory.hk/tc/intervieweedetails/r0548807D2I/interview-video/r0548807D2I
About the translator
Siu Heng
Born in Hong Kong in the 1970s, Siu graduated from the Commercial Radio DJ Training Programme in his early years. He later obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Translation and Comparative Literature and a Master of Arts in Literary and Cultural Studies from the University of Hong Kong. He has held various roles in arts, culture, creative industries, and higher education institutions, including Arts Promotion Manager at the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Executive Director of the Hong Kong International Photo Festival, and Acting Executive Director of Videotage. Over the years, he has also worked in editing and translation, winning the championship in the Translation Category of the Hong Kong Youth Literary Awards.
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