Community Turn: Social Practice in Hong Kong Art

Recently many exhibitions in Hong Kong are concerned with “socially-engaged art” / community art and it appears that some people are trying to be part of the trend. However, the discussion on the subject falls far short of its practice. The problematics of touching the community / practicing community art, such as “whose community is it?”, participation, ethics of practice, aesthetic forms, intervention effects, and the in-depth discussions of those questions are disproportionately scarce. Accordingly, this essay traces and focuses on the development of “community art” in Hong Kong since the 1990s, including the struggle between the Government’s policies and resources, the exploration and practices of various artists and groups, and changes in the social atmosphere, in the hope of a more advanced understanding of the practice of community art.