ART & CULTURE

Motherhood is a long-term process full of a myriad of complex feelings.This complexity cannot be expressed solely by saccharine images of Mother and Child, nor by the image of the Mother Incarnate willingly sacrificing herself for the sake of her children. Annie Wang Motherhood: Sacrifice or Creation? Motherhood bestows life upon children, yet from the moment they depart the womb, a mother's identity grapples with personal sacrifices: her time, spirit, social life, and the trajectory of her pre-motherhood existence. Bearing a child for nine months is universally revered, and those who've journeyed through pregnancy may attest to its profound significance. Professor Chiang Chen-Yin of the Department of Hakka Language and Social Sciences at National Central University has obse...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh6WuUOeJT4 Pink October, a colour traditionally associated with romance and tenderness, also symbolises Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Late in September, Breast Cancer Now, a UK-based charity and research organisation, launched a poignant campaign called “If I Had More Time”. The initiative features interviews with nine women from diverse backgrounds, all of whom are battling Secondary Breast Cancer*. They open up about life after their diagnosis and explore what the concept of “more time” means to each of them. As Breast Cancer Awareness Month comes to a close, the organisation released a five-minute documentary, Stories of Secondary, which includes previously unseen interview footage. The film captures intimate conversations with these wom...

Between June and October of this year, the NordArt 2023, currently Europe's largest annual contemporary art exhibition, took place in Büdelsdorf, Germany. One name that stood out amidst this creative extravaganza was that of Kayee C., a Hong Kong photographer. Kayee is a portrait photographer renowned for a distinctive approach – she often casts herself as the central figure in her work. While the expectation might be profound revelations like “my art is a reflection of self” or “I meld personal emotions with characters”, her journey started with a simple yet practical reason. She began her photographic voyage in 2015, falling deeply in love with portrait photography. Yet inspiration doesn't always align with model availability. Learning the ropes through self-study, she avoided wa...

In 2004, Sylvia Chang achieved a cinematic milestone with her directorial masterpiece, 20 30 40. This remarkable romantic comedy stands as the singular Chinese-language film selected for competition at the 2004 Berlin International Film Festival. The film masterfully weaves together the distinct yet interconnected stories of three women, each at a different stage of life: Li Hsin-chieh in her twenties, Sylvia Chang herself in her forties, and Renée Liu in her thirties. Through these characters, 20 30 40 eloquently portrays the various struggles and transformations experienced by women across different generations. Now, nearly two decades after its release, 20 30 40 retains its status as a cinematic classic, especially within the realm of women’s cinema. Sylvia Chang’s dual role as dire...

When reminiscing about the opulent years of old Shanghai, you might conjure images of the swinging jazz tunes wafting through nightclubs, Chinese classic songs enriched with Western musical arrangements, the lively Charleston dance, and poignant melodies like “When Will You Return” and “Waiting for You to Come Back”. In a serendipitous convergence of seasons, M+ presented an exhibition Madame Song: Pioneering Art and Fashion in China, CHAT (Centre for Heritage, Arts, and Textile) posed an intriguing question: Who is Rebecca Pan? These two Chinese women, both born in the 1930s, had remarkable life stories, one revered as “Madame Song” and the other affectionately referred to as “Sister Pan”. They each held numerous titles: Song Huai Gui was celebrated as the “pioneer of the arts”, a...

When it comes to creative work in Hong Kong, some people give up easily, while others soldier on despite the challenges. And then there are people like Shadow Chan, a Hong Kong-based illustrator who remains steadfast in her pursuit of new ideas and inspirations. As a freelancer, Shadow focuses on illustration design, animation, art direction, and more. After working as an in-house designer for three years, she decided to move to Taiwan to experience a different way of life and gain more inspiration for her work. She is now a full-time student in Taiwan. Shadow started her illustration Instagram account during her university days, with a "carefree" attitude of "just draw what you like." But after becoming a full-time worker, she became more serious and dedicated to her craft. "For th...

Is there always a woman behind a man's success? George Orwell, even if you haven't perused his literary works, you've likely heard of 1984 and Animal Farm, two revered prophetic books celebrated for their satirical critique of totalitarian regimes. This British writer is renowned for his razor-sharp and incisive prose. His unwavering political convictions subjected him to stringent government surveillance during his lifetime, and his writings were even banned in socialist countries. Nevertheless, there's no denying that he remains the towering figure of 20th-century British literature, commanding an enduring legacy. In academia, Orwell's works are essential reading material in British and American universities, and his ideologies have spawned concepts like Orwellism. The terminology he...

Once upon a time, there lived a girl who was born into a family deeply entrenched in traditional gender biases. Her father's lineage hailed from the mainland, where the desire for a male heir was ingrained in Chinese family culture. During her formative years, she often heard relatives chastising her mother for not producing a son. They'd criticise her mother, saying, “What's the point of earning money if you can't bear a son?” “Why couldn't you have been a son?” Her mother's reproach was cutting. Right from birth, her worth seemed measured by her gender, relegating her to an inferior status. A simmering resentment grew within her. “Why should having a son automatically make someone better? Are boys inherently more capable? Can't I excel just as well as a boy?” Many things pe...