City-O-Rama: MAP Office

[16 Oct, 2010, Hong Kong] - As Hong Kong is becoming the stage for a fast growing art scene and attracting the curiosity of the local and international communities, the Katie De Tilly Foundation and MAP Office are thrilled to announce a creative collaboration via the first edition of the exciting project - City-O-Rama.

 

CITY-O-RAMA - THE CONCEPT:

 

A non-commercial in situ Video Art exhibition involving 10 artistic interventions in the urban landscape of Hong Kong during two weeks in November. City-O-Rama aims to intervene in private spaces with public access in Central Hong Kong to introduce multi-media art, create a dialogue and build up new audiences among the local community for contemporary forms of visual arts.

 

City-O-Rama is about letting art go beyond galleries spaces and allowing it to reach out to a larger public as well as enhancing the cultural atmosphere of the area.

 

Each video will resonate with its location in a playful manner to best engage with the local audience. One will find renowned Chinese artist Wang Qingsong’s 123456 CHOP showing in a butcher shop – showing both the artist and the real butcher chopping under the same roof.

 

The community is invited to explore the long-standing uniqueness and charm of Central through locating and experiencing each video installed in Soho’s most authentic and traditional outlets, carefully laid out on the map by curators Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix of the MAP Office between November 4th to 18th. The “art treasure hunt” will also lead the visitors to the curators’ exhibitionRunscape, which runs in parallel withCity-O-Rama, at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery. On November 20th 10 Chancery Lane Gallery will show in a loop the ten videos for those who were not able to complete the circuit.

 

10 ESTABLISHED INTERNATIONAL VIDEO ARTISTS

 

Daniel Crooks
Didier Faustino
Ali Kazma
Erkka Nissinen
Dennis Oppenheim
Shahzia Sikander
Satoru Tamura
Bill Viola
Wang Gongxin
Wang Qingsong

 

+1 CURATOR COLLECTIVE: MAP OFFICE

 

Artist duo Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix - known as MAP OFFICE – run CITY-O-RAMA HK, a video exhibition in Hong Kong private spaces on public view. Continuing “Hong Kong Is Our Museum” from their rooftop to the streets around Central market, they invite the public to freely interact with the open structures of the city.

 

9 + 1 VIDEO AND INSTALLATION

 

9 venues have been selected inside which the video installations interestingly mingle and interact with. All are located in the heart of lively Soho around its wet market and include: a butcher shop, flower shop, beauty salon, fruit and vegetable stand.

 

In addition a special video installation by internationally acclaimed Wang Gong Xin will be presented by KEE club throughout the duration of CITY-O-RAMA with a daily public access from 10am-12pm.

 

OPENING

 

10 Chancery Lane Gallery invites you to the opening reception on November 4th (Thurs), 6:30-8:30pm at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Central.  To schedule interview or for more information please contact Geraldine Cosnuau on (852) 2810-0161 or email geraldine@10chancerylanegallery.com. The exhibition runs from Nov 4 - 18, 2010 with in situ installations around SoHo Central; Special viewing of all 10 videos in loop at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery on Nov 19 and 20. (Opening hours 10am to 6pm.)

 

ABOUT the Katie De Tilly FOUNDATION

 

The Katie De Tilly Foundation is a newly established non-profit arts foundation in Hong Kong founded by Katie and Georges de Tilly that acts to network with other arts foundations across the Asia-Pacific. To partner in exhibition organization, hosting of exhibitions, promotions and touring of projects advancing the awareness of both artists and arts foundations from around the Asia Pacific region to the rest of the world. The Katie De Tilly Foundation aims to act as an important contributor to Hong Kong’s art community by organizing and promoting non-commercial exhibitions.The Katie De Tilly Foundation will also work to promote the training experience of young curators in Hong Kong in providing space and partnership with established international curators who will provide guidance in their curatorial projects.

 

ABOUT MAP OFFICE

 

MAP OFFICE is a multidisciplinary platform devised by Laurent Gutierrez (born 1966, Casablanca) and Valérie Portefaix (born 1969, Saint-Etienne). This duo of artists/architects has been based in Hong Kong since 1996, working on physical and imaginary territories using varied means of expression including drawing, photographs, video, installations, performance and literary and theoretical texts. Their entire project forms a critique of spatio-temporal anomalies and documents how human beings subvert and appropriate space. Humour, games and fiction are also part of their approach, in the form of small publications providing a further format for disseminating their work.

 

Laurent Gutierrez is an Associate Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University where he leads the Environment and Interior Design discipline and the Master of Strategic Design as well as Innovation Design Management (IDM/MBA). He is also the co-director of SD SPACE LAB.  He is currently doing a PhD on the “Processes of Modernization and Urbanization in China focusing on the Pearl River Delta region”.

 

Valérie Portefaix is the principal of MAP OFFICE. She received her Master of Architecture degree from School of Architecture Paris-Belleville and a PhD in Urbanism from University Pierre Mendes France. She is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. 

 

MAP OFFICE projects have participated in major international art and architecture events including; EVENTO 2009 - 1st Bordeaux Biennale (2009); 4th Tirana International Contemporary Art Biannual (2009); 2nd Canary Island Biennale (2009); 7th, 11th and 12th Venice Architecture Biennale (2000, 2008, 2010); Prospect.1 – New Orleans (2008); 7th Gwangju Biennale (2008); 10th Istanbul Biennale (2007); 52nd Venice Art Biennale (2007); 15th Sydney Biennale (2006); 1st Paris Triennial (2006); 2nd Guangzhou Triennial (2005); 1st Rotterdam Architecture Biennale (2003).

 

Their publications includes: Unreal Estates of China (2007); The Parrot’s Tale (2007); My PRD Stories(2005), HK LAB 2 (2005); HK LAB (2002); Mapping HK (2000); among many others publications on the « Made in China » phenomenon and other, related issues.

 

Their film “The City of Production” has been selected for the official competition at: 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam 2009, 33rd Cinema du Réel Paris 2009, 1st Migrating Forms New York 2009.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

 

CITY-O-RAMA would like to thank all the artists and the shop owners for their participation and enthusiasm for this project.
Special thanks to supporting artists, galleries and institutions.
Venue sponsor for the installation of The Dinner Table: KEE CLUB
TV sponsor: Smart Pixels Tech. Ltd