The Henderson, Henderson Land Development’s flagship commercial development designed by world-renowned architectural firm Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), today announced the exhibition ‘Collected Light: From Legacy to Future’.
Presented as part of the Henderson Arts @ Central programme, which runs through April 2024, the exhibition is supported by Women in Lighting and showcases a collective of eight multidisciplinary women artists from diverse cultures, who have each forged visionary paths in their use of light as an artistic medium. The exhibition will take place on the street level of H Queen’s, G/F, 80 Queen’s Road Central, previewing on International Women’s Day, Friday 8th March and open to the public Saturday 9th March – Saturday 6th April 2024.
As a prelude to the highly anticipated opening of The Henderson building in Fall 2024 the exhibition embraces the explosive, interplay of fluid form and light characteristic of Zaha Hadid’s artwork and space design, and found at the heart of ZHA’s design for The Henderson. Featuring innovative visual art, sculptures, moving image works, and digital installations by internationally celebrated and emerging light artists; Chila Kumari Singh Burman (British Indian), Carla Chan (Chinese), Jacqueline Hen (German), Sarah Lai (HK), Betty Ng / COLLECTIVE (HK), So Wing Po (HK), Raha Raissnia (b. Tehran) and Liz West (British). The exhibition takes as its starting point ZHA’s inspirational design for The Henderson and the legacy of Hadid’s visionary interdisciplinary practice, her challenge to conventional perceptions, and her multi-sensory exploration of light and spatial connectivity. Collectively the works inspire inclusion and push boundaries for women creatives across disciplines, transforming an empowering legacy into a vision for the future.
‘The exhibition is inspired by architect Zaha Hadid’s innovative legacy and imbued with the spirit of The Henderson, an iconic project for Henderson Land which celebrates both the company’s legacy, and its ambitious vision for transforming the future of Central Hong Kong’s cityscape”, said Kristine Li Keng Yan, General Manager of Portfolio Leasing (1) Department, Henderson Land and Founder of HART.
The exhibition focuses on ‘light’ as a medium with which to illuminate redefined perceptions of everyday life, memory and identity. Each work acts as a transporter for journeys of reimagining that reflect and refract courage and craftsmanship in artistic creativity. Visitor’s will enter the exhibition from Queens Road Central at the joyful invitation of two fluorescent neon pieces from Chila Kumari Singh Burman’s 2020 commission for the Tate Britain, London; ‘A Brave New World.’ Burman is celebrated internationally for her radical feminist practice that empowers women. In this body of work she drew on multiple cultural influences, from childhood memories of ‘Blackpool Illuminated’ to current pop cultural references, to create flamboyant visual exclamations and positive spiritual imagery that give way to serious contemplation about cultural and social stereotypes. Also presenting an unconventional approach to neon sign-making inspired by childhood memories of iconic nightscapes – in this case a Hong Kong now in the past – Betty Ng / COLLECTIVE fuses traditional craftsmanship and contemporary aesthetics in her site specific piece ‘Corner Relief 45o150o’ The work sits at an intersection of sculpture, architecture, and design, exploring new possibilities for how to embrace a sense of place in dialogue with its surroundings.
A desire to preserve heritage and cultural significance through reinvention and a dynamic interplay between elements of tradition and modernity can also be found in ‘Sword of Damocles’ (2024) by So Wing Po. Born into a Hong Kong family of Chinese medicine doctors, So grew up surrounded by medicinal ingredients,
transforming them into raw materials for playthings and eventually artworks. The sword of Damocles tree is a well-known medicinal tree which gains its name from the sword-like pods that hang down from bare branches when the tree is in fruit. When the pods split, round seeds with thin papery wings drift away with the wind like dancing butterflies. The work extends the artist’s earlier Flow series, and her multi-layered interpretation of the self-regulating systems found in nature. Carla Chan is similarly inspired by nature, creating multimedia installations that oscillate from real to imaginary while challenging the possibilities of media art. The artist has created a new work for the exhibition that immerses the audience in digitally manipulated representations of weather formations. Visualising an abstract dystopian future, ‘Fading Light in Space’ (2024) prompts viewers to contemplate the consequences of extreme weather conditions.
Artist and spatial designer Jacqueline Hen investigates the perception of body and space in both physical and digital habitats, using light as a medium to create experiences that highlight how light shapes our understanding of the world around us. In her installation work ‘Off the Grid’, Hen uses architectural form to invite exhibition visitors to contemplate the invisible and tangible aspects of their surroundings, demanding a reconsideration of their spatial perception of space and light. Similarly Raha Raissnia’s work, نور‘ ’ (Nour), draws inspiration from architectural, natural, and technological forms, employing video
installation with a 16mm projector to reveal invisible connections between time and space, and constructing multi-layered realms that traverse past and present, memory and imagination. Taking a very different approach to examining the experience of individuals within spatial environments, artist Sarah Lai presents a painting ‘Spotting the Light onto a Light and video work ‘Pretending to be the painting (for 3 minutes).’ The set of works suggest a simple detachment of the mundane through depicting a banal desk lamp transformed into an ethereal human silhouette, blurring the boundaries between the object and the self, and evoking a reimagination of the familiar.
At 3 x 5 meters Liz West’s playful and immersive largescale site specific installation ‘Our Colour Reflection’ instantly captivates by evoking a sense of wonder. Engaging audiences in a multisensory experience, numerous mirrored disks reflect light to create a spectrum of hues, bathing the space in vibrant colours and imaginatively bringing the urban vernacular indoors. As visitors explore the installation they encounter their own reflections, establishing a dialogue between participant and architecture, and heightening sensory awareness of the power of light and colour to transform individual experience of space.
The exhibition is curated by Vera Lam – Director of HART, presented with generous support from Women in Lighting and Light Collective, and lighting sponsorship from Forma Lighting.
Press release from The Henderson
Image: Liz West. Her warm reflections. 2023. Photography by Gavriil Papadiotis. Image courtesy of Women in Lighting
