In March 2019, Hong Kong-born and trained artist Annie Wan began her residency at the Hong Kong Pavilion on the rural Echigo-Tsumari Art Field in the mountains of the Niigata Prefecture in Japan, where she shared Hong Kong-style food using locally grown ingredients with the local people. They ate off custom made ceramics which were not only an art medium, but also utensils indispensable to their communal experience.

Snow greeted Wan when she arrived in southern Niigata, and the area’s bountiful fresh produce gave her new ideas about what to do and how to engage the public. She recontextualised the local food scene, teasing out art and meanings from everyday life and visiting local homes, kitchens and markets to exchange food-related stories and cultural knowledge. Wan chose six themes and made six white ceramic plates to serve meals on and create memories. Each piece features a motif that evokes the region’s food and cuisine, and the glaze contains materials from Hong Kong and Niigata, symbolising the bond forged between both peoples through participatory art.

Annie Wan is Assistant Professor at the Academy of Visual Arts of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and earned her Bachelor and Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She was the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Artist of the Year (Visual Arts) 2018 .

Category

Communication Design

Project name

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

Company

Wan Lai Kuen Annie

Origin of company

Hong Kong