Tidbits from my daily-life

The Creative Media Society of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) is co-hosting an art exhibition at Delay No Mall in Causeway Bay from 22 November to 5 December. The exhibition aims to extend Hong Kong’s assistance to Sichuan earthquake survivors through art.

To organise the event, the Society has joined hands with non-profit arts organisation Art Fête Brings Hope, Oxfam Hong Kong and Retumu, the last being a voluntary organisation devoted to reconstruction in Sichuan. The exhibition will raise funds for relief work in the quake-devastated area.

The exhibition will display over 100 artworks in various mediums, including photos, paintings and installations created by 60-odd authors including CityU students and artists from Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas. One of the artworks on show is an interactive blue-tooth messaging system designed by Morgan Aasdam, a Year 3 student from CityU’s School of Creative Media (SCM). Visitors could send their own photos and videos that will be displayed on the system screen.

This is the Creative Media Society’s first charity event of the year. The society is encouraging fellow students to contribute to the community through creative arts and multi-media technology.

The Society started preparing for the exhibition in August. They had to search for a venue and sponsors, invite artists, develop the website, make promotional video, and take care of publicity work. Students said they learned a lot during the organising process.

Cassie Chan Wing-man, a Year 2 student at SCM, is a member of the organising committee. “There were many firsts for us throughout the process. We had never sourced a venue or organised publicity,” Cassie said. “Thanks to the help from our partner organisations and through our own efforts, we managed to complete all the tasks.”

Another organising committee member Rubie Lee Chui-chun, a Year 3 student at SCM, said the students were under stress when they had to provide regular reports to Art Fête Brings Hope at weekly meetings while dealing with a heavy load of schoolwork. Although there were difficulties and rejections along the way, they upheld their beliefs and ultimately got the job done.

“It has been one of SCM’s traditions to encourage and support students doing charity work,” Professor (Chair) Horace Ip Ho-shing, Acting Dean of SCM, said. “This time our students have made use of their expertise in art to extend their care to Sichuan earthquake survivors. They took the initiative to contact charity groups to make this exhibition a reality, and took care of many aspects of the exhibition. Their hard work deserves our applause.”

A pamphlet will be produced that contains photos and explanations of the artworks on display, information about the artists, along with a documentary that records the whole process of the activity. Copies of the pamphlet and documentary will be presented through Oxfam to government bodies and quake survivors in Sichuan.