About the project

To celebrate le French May of 2006, the Arts Centre has invited Shanghai based French artist Virginie Lerouge Knight to use her imaginative creation to decorate and illuminate the once barren and desolate planter outside the Arts Centre. The appearance of this art piece also corroborates the romantic but capricious aura that permeates this summer in Hong Kong.

One often thinks of public art being permanent, as some monuments and outdoor sculptures almost become symbols of a city. However, even buildings supersede one another in speedy paces. In the midst of today’s rapid changes, art has become increasingly transient and is in a state of constant flux.

Exchange and Transform is thought-provoking. It is made of interlocking coat hangers that symbolize how our memories and feelings intertwine. Its creator Virginie describes, “most of us would claim with some confidence to know who we are, that our identity is fixed and stable. But can we be sure when so much else in life is in a constant state of flux? This project is not a representation of my identity, but is a visual reflection of how twelve years in Hong Kong slowly transformed my identity. Through our life journey we build up and accumulate memories as we move along. We store them, keep them deeply inside us, although we do not realize how much they influence the development of our own identities.”

Exchange and Transform is a programme of le French May.

About the artist

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