Microwave International New Media Arts Festival 2017 – the Crowd and Selfies

“Microwave International New Media Arts Festival (Microwave) was in its 21st year in 2017, the theme being “Cyberia.” Festival programs included exhibition, symposium and talks, video showcase and screenings. Microwave was established in 1996 by “Videotage.” Over two decades it gradually establishes itself as the presentation platform of experimental new media art. Ellen Pau, one of the founders, said in 2016 that Microwave positioned itself as suitable for people of all ages with the objective of popularizing the public’s knowledge in new media arts. Yet, after two decades, she believed “the depth of the Festival’s content needs to be deepened.”
The main exhibition of 2017 iteration took place at Exhibition Gallery of Hong Kong City Hall between October 10 and 22. Exhibits included Perfumery Organ by TASKO Inc., NARROW V.2 by NONOTAK Studio, DzDz by Yao Chunghan, Daily Sketches by Zach Lieberman, and Electrostatic Bell Choir by Darsha Hewitt. By the beginning of October, Microwave’s press effort began in newspapers, online news portals and cultural magazines. While the content was about curatorial approach, information of participating artists and their works, some of the descriptions and vocabularies used in the coverage were reminiscent of those in popular consumer events, for example “officially kaisui” (meaning “opens” in Japanese, deployment of its Kanji in Chinese press is an implication of fashionable events) “recommendation for the weekend,” etc. In the meantime, more stories and posts were uploaded to trend-watch, hobbies, popular culture and commercial online platforms, content of which focused on visiting the exhibition as entertainment and put emphasis on the visual impact of the exhibits. Some described the visits as “punching-in” (meaning people flocked to popular events to take selfies so they could boast about it) and call the visitors “real/ make-shift literary youth.” Some of the stories and posts were in turn shared on Microwave facebook.
On October 20, crowds began to appear at the exhibition venue. On the 21st, the organizer put in place crowd-control procedures. The number of visitors was even higher on the 22nd. Visitors had to line up for forty-five minutes to gain access. Two hours before the end of the exhibition, the organizer rejects new-comers to join the queue. Over 9000 man-time visitors were recorded during the ten-day exhibition. Followers of Microwave facebook increased by 30%. Joel Kwong, Program Director of Microwave told the press that she could sympathize with the crowd flocking to “punch-in” and photography would not be forbidden inside the exhibition hall. She also said that the curatorial team would learn from experience and dedicate itself to arts promotion and education.”