Myriad artists under one big roof
It’s not easy being an artist in Hong Kong, especially if you’re someone who does large-scale work that needs a lot of space. After being sidelined for ages, contemporary artists in the city now attract increasing attention. In cooperation with the Hong Kong Jockey Club - which operates the race track in Happy Valley and is not only the city’s largest taxpayer, but also the largest private charity donor - they set up the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, or JCCAC, in 2008. After renovating an old nine-storey factory building in Shek Kip Mei, the space was divided into studios and rented out to artists working in different media. Right from the start the feedback from the public was enthusiastic and the place was packed at weekends. Meanwhile, some 150 more or less full-time artists have their studios at the JCCAC, for which they pay considerably less than the local rent.
Unlike the PMQ in SoHo, where mostly small manufacturers and designers sell their goods, the JCCAC mainly houses artists going about their daily work. A wide array of art forms is represented: visual arts (painting, sculpture, photography, multimedia installations), but also performing arts (dance, music, theatre) and applied arts (design, film, communication design).
Info
Address 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei, www.jccac.org.hk | Public Transport Kwun Tong Line to Shek Kip Mei Station, Exit C | Hours Daily: 10am-10pm| Tip At Shek Kip Mei you’ll find an old housing complex from the 1950s that has been given a second life as a youth hostel, and now includes a café and a museum.
While the principle of the open studios applies in theory, you need to contact the artists to visit a studio or ask for an appointment. The other possibility is to join one of the guided tours that the JCCAC offers at regular intervals.
Once every three months, the JCCAC Handicraft Fair is held over a weekend. It takes place in the atrium courtyard, with over 100 artisans offering their work, accompanied by many different art performances and a rooftop cinema programme.
On the ground floor there is a tea house and a café, as well as an exhibition space where the works of various artists are shown.
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