TO DISSENT opens at ECH/Support Project Space!

The Embassy Cultural House is happy to announce the third installment of Sleepwalking: Embassy Cultural House stands with Hong Kong. The exhibition marks the first in-person event of the series. Please email [email protected] to book an appointment. 

不應有恨，何事長向別時圓?

Bearing no grudge,
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

Su Shi 蘇軾 / Dongpo 東坡(1037-1101)

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Dissent can be (and has been) expressed in the form of unlawful gatherings, attendance of banned vigils, smuggling of illicit literature, overt acts of sedition and encouraging subversion amongst youth. Dissent can be (and has been) expressed through the fight for political and cultural sovereignty, gathering and mourning for lives lost, selling books, exercising freedom of speech and the intentioned fight for democracy. 

In this group exhibition, objects and gestures seek to enact the possibility of alternatives - to differ in feeling and sentiment from powerful minorities and elites. The works interrogate a status quo that exists in environments bound by both red tape and white cubes. The works explore un-official currency and an end to capital, visual dissent within art and the art historical, quiet performances in place of national vigils and the rendering of identity by autonomous participation. Within the space, the public is invited to contribute to a Lennon Wall - once conceived in Prague, and adopted by Hong Kong as a way of anonymously sharing overt political messages. 

The idea for this physical exhibition began with Andy Patton’s 2011 painting entitled “Dissent”, which he emailed to me as a response to the event series Sleepwalking: Embassy Cultural House stands with Hong Kong in which the show To Dissent takes place. Through his act of solidarity, the support of recognized and anonymous artists in Canada and Hong Kong, and the support of the broader Embassy Cultural House community, this project would not have been possible. Exhibiting artists include Bob Black, Chun Hua Catherine Dong, Jamelie Hassan, Yam Lau, Petrina Ng, Andy Patton, and two very important, anonymous artists/organizers. Singer-songwriter Frank Ridsdale will also be performing his single “Hold on Hong Kong” live at Support Project Space on November 17, 2021. 

It is across boundary lines and fraught political spheres that we have all come together to reflect on Hong Kong - to consider its past, present and future. 

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The poster for the show acknowledges the great efforts of a few famous dissent-ers. The use of the sign is an homage to the Causeway Bay booksellers, who were arrested and disappeared for selling books. 



Thank you to all of the contributing artists and writers in this exhibition. A special thanks to angel investors Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan and Franca Mossuto who have supported this curatorial initiative.