TeamLab at Hong Kong Art Week, and more: 6 pieces inviting audience participation at Art Central and beyond – from those giant ovoids floating in Victoria Harbour to HKMoA’s ‘Harbour Wonder’ installations

Mar 28 , 2024

Become part of the art: 6 pieces, at Art Central and beyond, inviting audience participation this Art Week – from TeamLab’s giant, colourful ovoids in the sea to a scarlet skirt you can crawl under. Photo: Eugene Lee

The city is alive with art! Don’t miss the public artworks around the harbour – including the Insta-viral TeamLab: Continuous and the ‘Harbour Wonder’ giant ‘swimming pool’ by the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront

At Central Harbourfront for the first time since 2019, Art Central has performance pieces inviting audience participation by artists Scarlet Yu, Norico Sunayama and Enoch Cheng

Despite its name, for the past few years Art Central has actually been held in Wan Chai – just a stone’s throw from the larger Art Basel flagship, on a neighbouring floor of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). It finally lives up to its moniker again in 2024, however, with a resounding return to the Central Harbourfront – where the event was last staged in 2019 – busting out of the confines of the HKCEC, and back firmly in the heart of Hong Kong’s big-city bustle.

Taking place from March 28 to 31, Art Central is showcasing debutant galleries, undiscovered artists, striking sculptures and installations, and avant-garde video art. There are also talks bringing together artists and curators, tours in English and Cantonese (including some for children), and three pieces of performance art.

The latter invite audience participation – as do a number of outdoor exhibitions running concurrently with, and beyond, Art Central. To celebrate being back in the centre of things, here are six happenings that let you become part of the art.

1. Art-is-Here Picnic – Enoch Cheng

Artist Enoch Cheng, Art Central 2024’s curatorial director, whose Art-is-Here is being performed at the fair. Photo: Handout

Created by Art Central’s curatorial director – who is also an artist in his own right – Art-is-Here invites the audience to join a “picnic” with local arts and culture practitioners, and engage in discussions that go to the heart of conceptual art. The interactive event takes the form of unannounced, “guerilla-style” performances held at irregular times in various locations over the four days of the fair.

2. A Sultry World – Norico Sunayama

Sunayama Norico’s A Sultry World blurs the boundaries between public and personal space. Photo: Handout

At this year’s Art Central, Japanese dance and cabaret veteran Norico Sunayama introduces her performance art piece, A Sultry World – a favourite of the global art circuit going back to the 90s. The work sees a woman sitting atop a three-metre platform in a velvet dress, her enormous scarlet skirt draped all over the ground beneath and around her.

The public is invited to literally crawl under the heavily draped fabric and enter a cocoon-like space, infused with the scent of lavender. In this way, Sunayama’s work challenges participants to ponder the blurring of boundaries between public and personal space.

3. Planting Tastes – Scarlet Yu

Scarlet Yu’s Planting Tastes combines experimental storytelling with culinary exploration. Photo: Handout