Keep-fit arts trail
What kind of place is far from beautiful most of the time? What is often neglected, cleaned reluctantly and sometimes littered with rubbish? Since Hong Kong is an expensive place to live in, is there still anything like empty space to be found there at all?
The idea is as brilliant as it is simple: a stairwell.
Info
Address 13-G / F Asia One Tower, 8 Fung Yip Street, Chai Wan, Tel +852 2976 0913, www.aovertical.com | Public Transport MTR Island Line (blue), Wan Chai station, from there by minibus 47M to Sheung On Street gas station and walk 100 metres to Asia One Tower | Hours Mon–Sat 10am–6pm| Tip Just a few hundred metres away on Siu Sai Wan Road there is the Island Resort Mall. The promenade in front of the shopping centre offers a completely new and quite unusual view of Hong Kong.
Towards the end of 2011, book publisher Asia One had the idea of hanging originals from their art books in the stairwell of their company headquarters to create a vertical exhibition: you travel by lift to the top of the building and then walk down floor by floor past the works of art. This way, international and local art becomes accessible to the public. This also became a whole new way of publicising the release of a new book.
In May 2012, the moment had come. AO: Vertical Art Space presented its first exhibition, “A Portrait of China,” as seen by Chinese photographers. It was put together in close collaboration with the Pulitzer Prize-winning press photographer Liu Heung Shing. This portrait of China gives a fascinating overview of the country’s history during the last 60 years.
A second collection complemented the first, the images of celebrated photographer Ho Fan, also known as a “poet with a camera,” who enjoyed a reputation as a true master of black-and-white photography. Since 1956 he has been awarded more than 260 prizes.
Following the initial launch, the images were left mounted in the stairwell to form the foundation of a large private exhibition of contemporary art. Altogether it now consists of more than 100 works of art – with a focus on photography – by some 28 artists mainly from Hong Kong and China. The exhibition spans 10 flights of stairs. Admission is free, but you should check in with the doorman when there. Since the office building is located in an industrial area, it’s advisable to ask the bus driver or taxi driver to stop at Asia One Tower.
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