Dream, dream – how I would like to dream of being home again.

Excerpted from Songs of Golden Mountain, 1911

“梦未清,再梦仍美境,

每梦尚诬心火盛,几时梦得到家庭。”

节选自《金山歌集》,1911年

Flowers Gallery is pleased to present Luka Yuanyuan Yang’s first solo exhibition, Time Capsule, in Hong Kong, featuring five short films created between 2019 – 2022.

These short films derive from her multifaceted research-based project Dance in Herland, encom- passing five short films, photographic documentation, a collection of archives and feature-length documentary Chinatown Cha-Cha slated for release in Chinese cinemas in 2024.

弗劳尔斯画廊荣幸呈献杨圆圆在香港的首个展《时间胶囊》,展出她于2019年至2022年间创作的五部短片。

这些短片是杨圆圆多媒介研究项目《她乡之舞》的一部分,研究项目包括五部短片、摄影文献、档案、出版物及纪录长片《女人世界》,该影片预计2024年底在中国大陆院线公映。

Year: 2024

Curator:

Location:Flowers Gallery, Hong Kong

Yang’s interest in the Chinese diaspora stems from her time in the UK observing visitors frequent- ing Chinese restaurants serving as time capsules that reflect the cultural limbo of immigrants – a state frequently overlooked both in China and their adopted countries. Fascinated by immigrants and their transnational experiences,Yang has extensively researched their sounds and visual cultures in the 20th century, with a particular focus on Chinese women and LGBTQ+ figures. Yang’s visual language and documentarian approach to storytelling projects the different spatial, emotional and historical dimensions of the Chinese diaspora in film, discussing the complexity of identities and challenges posed to immigrants.

While Tales of Chinatown (2019) traces back the history of Cantonese opera among overseas Chi- nese community, Cantonese Tunes on Mott Street (2022) conveys an older generation’s appreciation of Cantonese opera and seeks a sense of belonging through this art form. For Chinese immigrants separated from familiar land and culture, these theatres link them to a faraway home and help fos- ter the strong bonds within a community.Yang brings to life the memories and trauma of those who directly experienced the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943) as well as the subsequent generations in the 20th century.

杨圆圆对华人的兴趣源于她早年在英国读书时,留意到经常光顾中餐馆的客人,这些中餐馆就像时间胶囊一样,反映了移民的生存和文化状态,但这些人的状态在中国及移民国都常被忽视。杨圆圆对移民及他们的跨国经历非常着迷,她广泛研究20世纪移民的声音和视觉文化,尤其关注华人女性和LGBTQ+群体。杨圆圆通过视觉语言和纪实的叙事手法展现华人散居的不同空间、情感和历史维度,讨论移民身份的复杂性及面临的挑战。

长片《女人世界》(2024)关于一群七旬至九旬的美国亚裔舞者再度走上巡演之路,她们从美国、古巴最终来到中国,谱写出一曲海内外华人世界交汇的动人乐章。本次展览中的短片《相爱的柯比与史蒂芬》(2019)则是关于长片主角柯比和她的“年下恋”男友史蒂芬的爱情故事。

《中国城轶事》(2019)追溯粤剧在海外华人社区的历史,《勿街粤曲》(2022)传达老一辈华人对粤剧的欣赏,并通过这一艺术形式寻求归属感。对与熟悉的土地和文化分离的中国移民来说, 这些剧院将他们与遥远的家再次连在一起,同时建立起强大的情感纽带和社区。杨圆圆将20世纪经历《排华法案》(1882-1943)的中国移民及其后代的记忆和创伤生动地呈现出来。

By crafting stories where fact and fiction coexist, Yang challenges conventional historical interpre- tations and amplifies the voices of the forgotten, silenced, or misinterpreted.Years of research and focus on Chinese migration has sharpened Yang’s ability to uncover their narratives and voices. What began as a ‘time capsule’ concept has evolved into a documentation where Yang preserves the fragmented memories of these communities in our time. As Yang explains; I weave narratives based on real oral histories, aiming to transcend national and temporal boundaries to uncover con- nections among people with transnational experiences in our era. 

通过创作真实与虚构并存的故事,杨圆圆挑战传统的历史解读,放大那些被遗忘、被消音或被误解的声音。通过多年的研究和对海外华人的关注,让杨圆圆发现他们的故事和声音。最初杨圆圆所认识的“时间胶囊”已经演变成一种文档形式,通过这个“时间胶囊”,她保存我们这个时代海外华人社区的碎片记忆。正如她解释的那样: “我以真实的口述历史为基础,编织叙事,旨在超越国家和时间的界限,呈现我们这个时代具有跨国经历的人们之间的联系。”