October 05, 2016

Both Sides Now III: Final Frontiers

BOTH SIDES NOW III: FINAL FRONTIERS

Image courtesy of Videotage
CURATORS
Isaac LEUNG (HK) and Jamie WYLD (UK)

ARTISTS (in alphabetical order)
FENG Mengbo (CN), Doreen CHAN (HK), Jennifer CHAN (HK), Dorotea ETZLER (HK), Tiffany FUNG (HK), HK Urbex (HK), Art JONES (HK), Clare Chun-yu LIU (HK), susan pui san LOK (HK), Zoran POPOSKI (HK), Ka-Man TSE (HK), WANG Yue (HK), Chi Jang YIN (HK), Larry ACHIAMPONG and David BLANDY (UK), Megan BROADMEADOW (UK), Upanishad Kanad CHAKRABARTI (UK), Adam CHODZKO (UK), Ben RIVERS (UK), Semiconductor (UK), Alia SYED (UK), Chooc Ly TAN (UK), Charlie TWEED (UK), Iris ZAKI (UK)

At the end of the 20th century, the conclusion of the Cold War led to a desired economic and political integration. Globally it was widely believed that nations had no choice but to adopt the new model of democratic capitalism, almost every government demonstrated optimism towards a new era of global convergence. In reality the world is far more connected than in the 21st century. Many Human Rights have gone from the unthinkable to realisation. Moments of triumph have led to a belief that democratic capitalism could create a more cultured and pro-liberal world, a new way of idealistic living for the future; a liberal utopia. 
But now we ask: has liberal capitalist democracy triumphed? Has the economic and ideological determinism of the post-Cold War time guaranteed democracy? As global nations we are always in flux; our ancestors endured two world wars in the 20th century where many came together to combat a foe. Indeed, we are now in the midst of a strange time, with many people displaced and dispossessed, a disturbing similarity emerges to what happened in those two great wars of the 20th century. 
Refugees desperately search for new homes beyond bombing zones, while other countries ban the wearing of religious clothing. The UK government continues to participate in imperialistic action in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, and pushes its global agenda onto nations that are not interested or have very different values, which are as equal in their worth.
Both Sides Now 3: Final Frontiers endeavours to explore these divides, these boundaries and spaces between us, which exist as cultural legacies and hand-me-downs, like broken family heirlooms, with attached blame. Through this collection of films we aim to investigate personal experiences, global themes and fractures that need healing through cultural sharing and exchange. Both Sides Now is a tactical programme, which uses film and video to explore culture and society between different nations, the UK, China and Hong Kong, and beyond. 
The UK programme contains work by artists who live in the UK, but who were not necessarily born there; artists who have experiences of the bordered UK, and have an understanding of its cultural frontiers. The artists in the programme who were born in the UK explore global cultures and are passionate about cultural communication. The Hong Kong programme includes work by diasporic Chinese and expatriates in Hong Kong and China, it aims to make visible fragments of experience and disrupt time, space and continuity. Final Frontiers attempts, through artists’ film and video, to redefine and close the spaces between us.

SCHEDULE - HK PROGRAMME
Screening - British Council Hong Kong
Date: 3:00pm, 22 October 2016
Screening and Talk - Boom Art Gallery Bar
Date: 7:00pm, 24 October 2016
Speakers: CHOI Sai-ho (HK), Isaac LEUNG (HK), Jamie Wyld (UK)

Screening - Oi!
Date: 12 - 18 December 2016

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMES

United Kingdom

Residency - Phoenix Brighton (UK)
Date: 12 July - 12 August 2016
Artist: CHOI Sai-ho (HK)

Screening and Live Performance - Fabrica Brighton (UK)
Date: 4 August 2016
Live Performance Artist: Feng Mengbo

Screening - Fabrica Brighton (UK)
Date: 6 October 2016

Exhibition - Brighton Museum and Art Gallery (UK)
Date: 20 October 2016 - 3 June 2017
Exhibition: Brighton is My Playground, Choi Sai Ho
Screening - Exeter Phoenix (UK)
Date: 3 December 2016
Screening - ICA London (UK)
3 December 2016
Screening - Phoenix Leicester (UK)
7 December 2016

Taiwan
Screening and Talk - OSMOSIS Taipei (TW)
Date: 19 August 2016
Speaker: Lois WANG (TW)
Screening and Talk - OSMOSIS Kaohsiung (TW)
Date: 27 August 2016
Speaker: Lois WANG (TW)
Screening - Taipei Intl Video Art Exhibiton (TIVA) (TW)
Date: 9 December 2016

South Korea
Screening and Talk - SongEun ArtSpace Seoul (KR)
Date: 26 September 2016
Speaker: Jamie WYLD (UK)

China
Screening - Ray Art Center Shanghai (CN)
Date: 30 October 2016
Screening - Minsheng Art Museum Beijing (CN)
Date: 3 November 2016

(Curatorial text and schedule courtesy of Videotage)