Curator Statement

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The first exhibition raises our attention toward the threat of cultural'stereotyping under globalization. Curated by Isabella Tam, The Eye are the Objects presents new works by renowned Hong Kong artist - Wai Kit Lam and the Italian Artgroup - AMAE, as part of their on-going and thought-provoking culture re-assessment project. Filled with wit and humour, "The Eye are the Objects" is the first exhibition aims at raising our attention towards the cultural phenomenon of overgeneralization and standardization of a nation's unique cultural qualities through the powerful portrayal by modern communication technologies. The exhibition, most likely, is one of the widely-discussed exhibitions at the beginning of 2005.

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The speedy progress of technology and the increasing significance of communication technologies do not only facilitate intense communication across borders, but it has also accelerated globalization in the past couple of years. More importantly, we witness not only the ability of technology in breaking down communication barriers of different parts of the world but also through which it enables the culture of different nations to be better recognized, especially the lesser-knowns. What globalisation offers us is not only an opportunity to foster contacts with foreign nations but also significant chances to interact with their culture. And yet, if we could have a closer look at this cultural phenomenon, we could probably discover that there actually a double meaning lies within this scenario. For this reason, this exhibition intends to open the door for our audiences to see the other side of the story – that some culture might indeed have fallen into the trap of a particular 'mental cookie cutters' under this circumstances.

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What is Eyes are the Objects?

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"The Eyes are the Objects" takes the above notion as the starting point and to develop it further, to interrogate how far the unique cultural qualities of a nation can be forwarded truly without biases or manipulations. In a classroom-like space and a video installation by Lam Wai Kit and AMAE, "The Eyes are the Objects" intends to provoke our audiences to rethink how do we actually see foreign cultures: through personal experiences? or through media portrayal? It is hoped that the exhibition would become the instigation which would allow our audiences to scrutinize how far that globalisation has enabled cultural understanding effectively and successfully.

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Isabella Tam

Hong Kong

26.1.2005

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