The Collector | Hong Kong artist’s homage to his selfless amah
She came from poor farming stock in Zhongshan, and chose chastity and the sisterhood of the ‘combed up’ women over arranged marriage. Artist Kurt Tong honours Mak Ngan-yuk’s sacrifice and a dying tradition
Hong Kong-born, England-educated Kurt Tong King-fung has been exploring themes of identity, this city and life among the diaspora. His large-scale exhibition, “The Queen, the Chairman and I” (2009-12), developed as a reminder to his young daughters to appreciate their cultural heritage and identity, has been shown around the world.
As it expanded into a book project, it also, according to the artist, “spoke to the millions of Chinese who have escaped war, famine and communism – or anyone in the world who has gone through migration and displacement”.
One small part of that exhibition featured Mak Ngan-yuk, Tong’s amah, who worked for his family for nearly 40 years. In “Threads of Sisterhood”, his latest solo show, at Lumenvisum, in Shek Kip Mei, Mak takes centre stage and we get to glimpse a little more of her life.
Tong has skillfully created an installation of photographs, drawings and objects that subtly reflects Mak’s quiet and conscientious work for her adopted family and her central role as the main breadwinner for her relatives on the mainland. The dual role of being a “secondary” employee but “pivotal” absent family member continues to exist in Hong Kong, with the city’s legions of female domestic workers.
