Galerie du Monde is delighted to share our artists Tang Kwong San has been shortlisted for The Sovereign Asian Art Prize (SAAP). Formed in 2003 when the Sovereign Art Foundation was established as a nonprofit organization in Hong Kong, the Sovereign Asian Art Prize which has over 2000 artists from the region submit entries over its existence. As well as providing artists with international recognition and generous financial prizes, The Prize is an important charitable endeavour, raising substantial funds to support disadvantaged children by auctioning finalists’ artworks.
This year’s finalists were selected from 165 entrants nominated by over 60 independent professionals and hail from 16 countries and regions across Asia-Pacific. Hong Kong has the strongest representation with 6 artists shortlisted.
The 30 finalists’ artworks will be shown and can be voted on in a free public exhibition at 9/F, H Queen's, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong from 10-18 May 2023.
Feature Artwork
Tang Kwong San
Night Birds IV (2021)
Graphite on Paper, Cyanotype on Cotton Cloth
150 x 157 cm
As part of the “Night Birds” series, Tang Kwong San rearranges and transforms pre-existing texts and images centring around nonfiction work “Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea”. The artist extracted excerpts from the book about six North Korean defectors living under the Communist regime and how they crossed the border on moonless nights.
“I think history is really a never-ending loop,” says Tang. “It just happens that the big moment in history [is] in Hong Kong, right now.” He says the North Korean defectors and the children buried under London Bridge both made him think of the situation here. “Especially the city’s youths,” he says. “How their futures are being sacrificed.”
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