It All Begins with a Word

For internationally renowned Hong Kong media artist Hung Keung, reading and the world of literature have been constant companions from an early age, and his love of words has inspired many of his cross-disciplinary creations to date.

This year, Hung and his creative partners have joined forces to present a multifaceted reading experience online. Drawing from famous local authors from the 1960s to 1990s, this novel take on Hong Kong writing intrepidly adds in moving image and dance to explore the essence of literary perception.

And unlike most works of art, which are published, performed, or go on show when completed, It All Begins with a Word is set to unfold in phases on social media and a bespoke project website. The virtual events also serve as fascinating lead-ins to a real-world installation next year.

Yet our relationship with text and the arts involves more than looking. It encompasses creating. Hung has thus formulated several interactive online games where you can reassemble words and physical movements the way you want them to be, providing a dynamic taste of what it is like to be a writer and a choreographer.

An extraordinary literary journey that will truly renew your vision.

Creative Theme

The theme and concept are derived from the words "read" and "travel" in "Reading thousands of books is not as good as travelling thousands of miles", which are developed further into four groups of video art elements – objects, animals, people and space. The content is based on the poems, proses and novels of famous Hong Kong writers such as Liu Yichang (劉以鬯), Leung Ping-kwan [Ye Si] (也斯), Xi Xi (西西), Lee Ka-sing (李家昇), Holly Lee (黃楚喬), Wu Xubin (吳煦斌), Shu Hong-sing (舒巷城), He Di (禾迪), Ah Lam (阿藍), Chan Wai (陳慧) and Cheng Wai-pang (小西). The creative team extracts bits and pieces from the writings and transforms them into works of different artistic media. The four groups of elements bring the audience back to 1960s–80s Hong Kong, where they will follow the writers’ footprints to revisit the various stages of their lives.