Open Space is a section of the Cologne Art Fair that provides space for young upcoming galleries as well as selected art institutions and one selected exhibition.

This year Para/Site Art Space was invited to curate an exhibition about art spaces in Asia.

Asia Art Knots will bring together 12 key “independent” spaces that has a significant impact within their country or region in the previous years not only through staging important local and international exhibitions as well as being the principal facilitator of information and knowledge. Due to the limited amount of state founded museums outside of Japan and Korea, it is mainly the non-profit or independent spaces that take up the important role to produce, exhibit and communicate the most challenging contemporary art. Since the turn of the century, supported by several conferences in Hong Kong, Seoul and Shanghai as well as the 2002 Gwangju Biennial, an informal network was established that connects these places and the associated artists, curators and administrators. The 12 participating institutions are chosen from our subjective point of view here in Hong Kong not to outline a definitive list, but to bring together some examples of differences and similarities of these spaces.

Hong Kong artist and founding member of Para/Site Art Space, Leung Chi Wo is given the task to visit the participating institutions, take two documentary photographs, gather inside information in form of an interview as well as bring back a video selected by the art space to be shown in Cologne. For more information on Leung Chi Wo’s artistic practice please visit his website - www.leungchiwo.net.

The participating institutions are
Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong; Arts Initiative Tokyo (AIT), Tokyo; A little bla bla (albb), Ho Chi Minh City; Long March Project, Beijing; BizArt, Shanghai; Cemeti Art House, Yogyakarta; ITPARK Gallery, Taipei; LOOP Alternative Space, Seoul; ruangrupa, Jakarta; Ssamzie Space, Seoul; Vitamin Creative Space, Guangzhou and Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong.

Curated by Tobias Berger, executive director Para/Site Art Space, Hong Kong.

For more information, please contact Christina Li at 2517-4620 or info@para-site.org.hk.

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