Peer to Peer: UK/HK | Inspiring arts exchange between UK and Hong Kong

Castlefield Gallery announces its participation in Peer to Peer: UK/HK, 11–14 Nov 2020.

Peer to Peer: UK/HK is a programme and festival designed to encourage meaningful cultural exchange and forge enduring partnerships between the UK and Hong Kong’s visual arts sectors. The programme seeks to put artists based in the UK and Hong Kong at its centre, and to facilitate international collaboration whilst interrogating topical themes including art and activism, art in the digital realm and the climate emergency. 

Alongside a digital exhibition of newly commissioned and existing work the festival programme includes panel discussions, a digital sharing platform and artist social media residencies taking place on the accounts of the participating UK and Hong Kong based partner organisations.

Castlefield Gallery participation in Peer to Peer: UK/HK includes:

November

Castlefield Gallery has nominated artist collective Shy Bairns @shybairnsgetnowt to participate in an HK hosted social media residency with the organisation 1983 @one_nine_eight_three

Castlefield Gallery will also host HK/New York-based artist Wong Kit Yi @wong_kit_yi, nominated by Blindspot, HK @blindspotgallery. During her social media residency Wong Kit Yi will develop research-based work around issues of ownership of natural elements. The work will make connections between large building projects in Manchester and elsewhere in the world, looking at how humans attempt to intervene in or control abiotic components; such as water, air, sunlight, temperature, acidity, soil etc… Posts will be released on days designated by the Chinese Lunar Calendar as auspicious for land breaking: 14, 17, 23 Nov 2, 13 Dec. 

From 11 November 2020

Iranian-born, Manchester-based artist Parham Ghalamdar’s animation Birds or Borders (2020), commissioned during the initial COVID-19 lockdown by the University of Salford Art Collection and Castlefield Gallery, has been selected for the online Peer to Peer: UK/HK exhibition programme. You can read more about the work here 

12 November 2020

A panel event ‘Isn’t all art activism?’, will be chaired by Skinder Hundal, CEO of New Art Exchange, and consider the philosophy and principle of activism in art. Panel members include: Chantal Wong (Eaton HK, Hong Kong), Yang Yeung (1983, Hong Kong), and Castlefield Gallery’s Director / Artistic Director, Helen Wewiora. The panel event takes place 12 – 1pm GMT and you can book your FREE ticket for the event here

The festival and programme will take place at peertopeerexchange.org from 11 – 14 November 2020 and is now open for registration. The festival is FREE to attend.

Peer to Peer: UK/HK is led by University of Salford Art Collection, Open Eye Gallery and Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) and consists of a network of contemporary visual arts organisations across the UK and Hong Kong.

The project has been generously supported by funding from Arts Council England and the GREAT campaign.