Andy Patton
Dissent, 2011 69" × 39" oil on canvas 
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. Photo credit (right): Brian Glucroft
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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) ___ 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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Installation view:
All photo and video documentation courtesy of Anahí González.
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Anonymous artist
Nobody knows what the red lines are, 2021 Dimensions variable Sewing thread and video Authorities refused to admit that censorship of certain movies and creation was a "crackdown" on civil society. They asserted the rights and freedoms stated in Basic Law remained and practiced as promised. National security, however, is the "red line". The Foreign Correspondents’ Club has conducted a membership survey. One interesting response suggested that “nobody knows what the red lines are”. My work referenced his/her response. The video was an introduction on how the National Security Law was enacted and applied across the globe. Being installed subtly at the entrance facilitates the discussion of significance / importance of the red line. On one hand it inevitably interfered with people getting in and out of the space; on the other hand it was hardly visible only when the audience were looking close enough. It also suggested the ambiguity and uncertainty nature of National Security Law. As the audience noticed, questioned, and discussed the red line, the work was also the subject of experiment about what should be done to it and how that might work out. My work was allowed stepping onto, breaking it intentionally or by accident, and to be dismantled at the end of the exhibition. |
Installation instructions:
A common red sewing thread, the one for sewing buttons, so particularly maybe around 0.2mm thin, was running around the indoor perimeter of the entrance. The red colour is similar to the Chinese national flag. If being particular, it is Pantone 186/ RGB: R238,G28,B37/ CMYK: C0,M88,Y84,K7. Length therefore varied according to the exhibition venue. At this venue the length might be around 10m-15m. |
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The rigours of dissent
discarded without shame like a fan. Outside the implements of war creak and clatter. Countries are passed like pots across a table that groans with plates of hummingbird tongue. Day and night, heaven and earth are split. But in this rushing stream, I hear a spinning wheel.
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Chun Hua Catherine Dong
I Have Been There - Beijing, 2018 13.3” x 20” Performance photograph |
Chun Hua Catherine Dong
I Have Been There - Beijing, 2018 13.3” x 20” Performance photograph |
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Petrina Ng
Five t-shirts from the project Distant water will not quench a nearby fire, 2020 Dimensions variable Commissioned by the Textile Museum of Canada 
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A day is vast,
Until noon,
Then it renews itself like a roaming god--
broken in half, bewildering and
a new
日月無邊
一天的時間是廣闊的
直到中午。
然後，他就像一個遊蕩的神一樣更新自己 --
四分五裂
新的
Until noon,
Then it renews itself like a roaming god--
broken in half, bewildering and
a new
日月無邊
一天的時間是廣闊的
直到中午。
然後，他就像一個遊蕩的神一樣更新自己 --
四分五裂
新的
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Jamelie Hassan Seek Knowledge Even Onto China, 1993-2013 Dimensions variable Chinese calligraphy box, colour Xerox, mouse pad souvenir from Xian Art Museum, Chinese folding book (miniature), original Persian hairpin in coin envelope, souvenir hairpin in coin envelope & collection of old Chinese coins (Left) Seek Knowledge Even Onto China, 1993 Installed at the New Museum of Contemporary Art in New York. The New Museum originally commissioned the coin souvenir and this work was a format for exchange with the public. 
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Jamelie Hassan
Seek Knowledge Even Onto China, 1993/2009
Dimensions variable
Chinese folding book, photography & text in pencil
Seek Knowledge Even Onto China, 1993/2009
Dimensions variable
Chinese folding book, photography & text in pencil
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Anonymous artist
What is the Shape of Solidarity?, 2021 Dimensions variable Lennon wall with post-it notes 
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Reading List:
Hong Kong 2019 by Takehiko Nakafuji Tiananmen 1989 - Our Shattered Hopes by Lun Zhang and Adrien Gombeaud A Portrait of Hong Kong by Fan Ho Foodscapes by Lee Ka-sing and Leung Ping-kwan West Coast Line - Transporting the Emporium: Hong Kong Art & Writing Through the Ends of Time (Volume 30.3) City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong by Anthony Dapiran Crashing the Party by Scott Savitt Renditions: A Chinese-English Translation Magazine (Number 38) City at the End of Time: Hong Kong 1997 hong kong, 2019-2020 by Hotam Press Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance by Ackbar Abbas |
Photo credit: Jamelie Hassan
alas, poor country! almost afraid to know itself. it cannot be called our mother, but our grave, where nothing, but who knows nothing, is once seen to smile; where sighs & groans & shrieks that rend the air are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems a modern ecstasy. 4.3. macbeth |
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 supported this curatorial initiative.
A special thanks to angel investors Ron Benner, Jamelie Hassan and Franca Mossuto who supported this curatorial initiative.
