British Council is delighted to announce that the book Antony Gormley: Event Horizon Hong Kong, with a specially commissioned text by Ackbar Abbas is now in bookshops. The book gives an in-depth look into Event Horizon in Hong Kong with stunning photographs of British artist Antony Gormley’s 31 sculptures installed across the city’s Central and Western district.
‘Congratulations on producing such a wonderful book to mark and commemorate Event Horizon in Hong Kong. I particularly love the concluding statement that “Event Horizon feels most at home in Hong Kong,” said Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBS, JP, Chief Secretary for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
Author Ackbar Abbas describes how Antony Gormley’s project resonates with Hong Kong people and how it can change the perception of public art in the city. As Abbas puts it, ‘Gormley’s work is critical and reflexive, but it is not judgmental. It does not take the form of a critique that argues that something is true or false, but the form of a demonstration that like an experiment, shows us that the way things are is not the only way; it can be otherwise. Is that what these silent figures installed on Hong Kong’s roof tops with their gaze fixed on distant horizons are demonstrating, the possibility that things can be otherwise?’
Antony Gormley: Event Horizon Hong Kong is the most extensive public art installation ever seen in the city. The project launched on 19 November 2015 and will continue to be a part of the Hong Kong cityscape until 18 May 2016. Event Horizon offers people in Hong Kong a chance to see and interact with a world-renowned art project and to delight in the compliment paid to Hong Kong as ‘the Asian city of choice for the arts’ – changing the face of contemporary art in the city and paving the way for more public art.
‘One of the aims of Event Horizon Hong Kong has been to encourage dialogue about the role of public art in the city through the example of Antony Gormley’s extraordinary work presented in public spaces’, said Robert Ness, Director of British Council Hong Kong. ‘We have seen many people appreciating the art, taking pictures phone-in-hand. We have also observed citizens creating their own videos as they and others reacted to and with the sculptures. We’re delighted that the installation has generated such interesting discussion and debate, and relieved that it has been so overwhelmingly positively received’.
Adrian Cheng, Founder and Honorary Chairman of the K11 Art Foundation and lead partner of Event Horizon added: ‘Amidst the transformations of art in Hong Kong over the past few years, public art remains an arena to be energised. We are extremely proud to have the opportunity of partnering with Antony Gormley and the British Council Hong Kong to facilitate and indeed initiate a fundamental shift in the way the public perceives public art, transforming the ecosystem with tremendous positive impact’.
Antony Gormley concludes, ‘I am thrilled to be doing this project with the vibrant community of Hong Kong and am delighted with the support it has received, and hope that it will be a positive contribution to the cultural and artistic life of Hong Kong’.
Learn more about Antony Gormley: Event Horizon Hong Kong on the website at www.eventhorizon.hk, and join the conversation on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EventHorizonHK
Instagram: https://instagram.com/eventhorizonhk/
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