{"id":2982,"date":"2025-04-02T16:41:22","date_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/observer-arts-interviews-para-site-director-billy-tang\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T16:41:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T16:41:25","slug":"observer-arts-interviews-para-site-director-billy-tang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/04\/02\/observer-arts-interviews-para-site-director-billy-tang\/","title":{"rendered":"Observer Arts Interviews: Para Site Director Billy Tang"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cHow to be Happy Together?\u201d is a testament to Para Site\u2019s commitment to probing contemporary social, political and cultural issues. Photo: Felix SC Wong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Founded in 1996 as Hong Kong\u2019s first self-organized and artist-run space and initially managed by a group of the city\u2019s artists and curators, Para Site today plays a vital role in fostering and catalyzing the local art scene. Its role has evolved over time\u2014particularly during the pandemic\u2014into something more akin to a think tank and curatorial platform. It now probes the artistic expressions emerging not only from Hong Kong but from across the broader Asia Pacific region while threading these conversations into a global context.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe shifted from artist-founded to curator-driven,\u201d Para Site director Billy Tang<\/a> told Observer as we walked through the show ahead of Hong Kong Art Week<\/a>. \u201cI believe curators have to act as custodians, Para Site is a platform for curators to help define the city\u2019s fast-shifting art scene.\u201d Still, Tang was quick to emphasize that the organization resists binary labels or divisions as it\u2019s driven by a dynamic and dialectical exchange between different roles\u2014sometimes, that central figure is the artist. \u201cThe goal is to provide new readings of the curatorial practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Para Site first opened in a modest space in Kennedy Town. It later moved to a 150-square-meter venue in Sheung Wan before settling into its current home on the 11th and 22nd floors of a multidestination industrial building in Quarry Bay. The organization\u2019s name, Tang pointed out, invites multiple interpretations. \u201cIt can be read as the organism that inhabits, infiltrates, adapts and, more importantly, is resilient. Or it can refer to an alternative art space\u2014one that rejects grandiose architecture.\u201d Para Site has always responded to shifts in its physical context, continuously adapting and embracing fluidity, and this capacity for shapeshifting is what has enabled it to survive as one of the oldest independent art spaces not only in Hong Kong but anywhere in Asia. \u201cI think that it\u2019s really interesting to consider how creativity in Hong Kong is not limited by size or to ordinary art spaces.\u201d Eschewing the traditional white cube, the windows on the 22nd floor were specifically preserved to cultivate a sense of proximity and propinquity, allowing for dialogue between the art space and the surrounding urban and natural landscape.<\/p>\n

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However, the fact that the exhibition space lacks a prominent street-level presence and is somewhat tucked away in a non-traditional setting does create challenges for accessibility and curation. But this spatial ambiguity also invites experimentation\u2014encouraging alternative exhibition practices and fresh ways of engaging with audiences and patrons. \u201cWe have to constantly think about how to get people here,\u201d Tang said. \u201cBut this allows us a flexibility that maybe other places lack that can really lead to a broader impact, whether by giving people the first chances as curators or artists or by thinking more closely about audience engagement and creating a real community around the space.\u201d Education, he pointed out, is central to Para Site\u2019s mission: the organization functions not only as a site for artistic production but as a platform for sharing innovative practices among cultural professionals, artists and new audiences. \u201cA key part of our program is to invite facilitators, experts who represent particular approaches, to share their knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Billy Tang sees Hong Kong\u2019s art ecosystem flourishing. Photo: Shuwei Liu<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Though it was among the city\u2019s first arts organizations to receive public funding, its primary financial support now comes from a network of generous local and international patrons. A glance at a long list posted at the entrance reveals the depth of this backing, which includes some of the most prominent international artists and major galleries across the globe. At the same time, patronage from within Hong Kong has expanded, driven by a new generation of art enthusiasts eager to contribute. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing and quite unique because we are not the most luxurious or iconic building or museum,\u201d said Tang. \u201cIt also speaks a lot of the philanthropy, generosity and this legacy of support that has just grown, and as it has grown, we have been able to grow with it.\u201d Para Site is now putting focused effort into cultivating awareness on the patronage side. \u201cThis is tied to our fellowship program,\u201d he clarified; the initiative encourages patrons to support a fellow\u2014be it a curator, an artist-in-residence or, more broadly, a cultural worker and producer.<\/p>\n

Para Site\u2019s reputation on the international stage has been steadily bolstered by its consistently cutting-edge exhibitions. These often probe social, political and cultural issues specific to Hong Kong while also offering visibility to artists and curators at pivotal moments\u2014frequently providing a first platform to those who go on to hold positions in major institutions or organize some of the art world\u2019s most important biennials<\/a>. A testament to that ambition was the exhibition on view during Art Basel Hong Kong<\/a>, \u201cHow to be Happy Together?<\/a>\u201c, a striking reflection of the resilience of Hong Kong\u2019s artistic community as it moves through and beyond the city\u2019s layered historical challenges.<\/p>\n

The exhibition, on through April 13, grounds itself in both present-day urgencies and collective memory, bringing together a remarkably diverse group of artists whose personal histories and practices connect to diasporic narratives. Over twenty artists from Hong Kong, neighboring regions and Latin America are featured, their works inspired in part by Wong Kar Wai\u2019s film Happy Together<\/i>. Set in Buenos Aires\u2014on the opposite side of the world from Hong Kong\u2014the film explores imagined and real encounters across geographies, echoing the city\u2019s layered identity as a place \u201cbetween east and west\u201d and \u201cbetween tradition and modernity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tang joined Para Site after the pandemic, relocating from London, where he was raised. In a personal sense, the move was also a return\u2014his parents first arrived in Hong Kong as refugees from Vietnam in the late 1960s, and that diasporic lineage deepens his connection to the themes explored in the exhibition. \u201cWhen we think about Chinese and Hong Kongese migration and diaspora, it happens in so many different directions,\u201d he reflected. \u201cI think that\u2019s very poetic. That generation before, like my parents, were here as refugees, then went to the U.K. And now I\u2019m the one coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Featuring more than twenty artists from Hong Kong, neighboring localities and Latin America, the exhibition alludes to Hong Kong\u2019s clich\u00e9d status as a place \u201cbetween east and west\u201d and \u201cbetween tradition and modernity.\u201d Photo: Felix SC Wong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIn a polarized world, I think it\u2019s our role to facilitate more of these changes and also blur the boundary between outside and inside,\u201d Tang continued. Many artists in the show engage in unconventional forms of art making, often working collaboratively\u2014whether as duos or collectives\u2014and across geographies, particularly when technology comes into play. Since Tang\u2019s arrival, Para Site has leaned into more conventional group shows while simultaneously probing what it means to be together, moving beyond simplistic labels like solo show or group show. \u201cZoom made these collaborative practices possible, particularly between people far from each other,\u201d he said, noting that artists in Hong Kong and across Asia are increasingly challenging the traditional notion of authorship by embracing collective approaches. \u201cWhen we think about resilience, coming together and supporting one another becomes fundamental. As a collective of artists and curators founded Para Site, I think it\u2019s important to focus on these practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow to be Happy Together?\u201d takes on an intergenerational investigation across geographies, ultimately inviting the viewer to consider Hong Kong from the vantage point of multiple global perspectives. While Para Site has continued its commitment to showcasing emerging practices since Tang joined, it has also become a space to rediscover and elevate a generation of mid-career and overlooked historical talents\u2014artists whose stories remain largely untold or have yet to receive wider institutional recognition.<\/p>\n

Among them is the self-taught Chinese artist Xiyadie<\/a>, whose work boldly introduces homoerotic themes into the tradition of papercutting. Born near the Siberian border and relocating to Beijing as a migrant worker in the early 2000s, this visionary\u2014who renamed himself \u201cSiberian Butterfly\u201d\u2014has recently experienced a surge in international interest following his inclusion in the last Venice Biennale<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the show features a work by Luis Chan<\/a>, one of the foundational figures of Hong Kong modernism. Born in Panama to Cantonese parents and resettled in Hong Kong in 1910, Chan played a key role in bridging East and West through his writing as a critic and journalist, as well as in his paintings, which fused modernist styles with traditional Chinese techniques. Known locally as the \u201cKing of watercolor\u201d and celebrated as a catalytic figure in the city\u2019s art history, Chan has recently been brought back into the spotlight thanks to the blockbuster Picasso show at the M+ museum, which included several of his works.<\/p>\n

Para Site\u2019s exhibition also traces lesser-known cultural links between Hong Kong and South America through the stories and practices of other featured artists. For instance, it introduces the pioneering design work of Chinese-Brazilian architect and designer Chu Ming Silveira<\/a>, who created the now-iconic, organically shaped telephone booth orelh\u00e3o<\/i>. Inspired by nature, the design offered not only a practical acoustic solution but also seamlessly blended into Brazil\u2019s urban landscape.<\/p>\n

Another standout is Costa Rica-born, Taiwanese-descendant artist Mimian Hsu<\/a>, whose practice combines traditional Costa Rican textile techniques with Taiwanese visual language. Weaving together personal and familial narratives, Hsu\u2019s work speaks to broader diasporic sentiments and enduring questions of belonging.<\/p>\n

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An installation view of \u201cWing Po So: Take Turns,\u201d on view through May 25. Photo: Felix SC Wong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Also on view during the art week was \u201cTake Turns<\/a>,\u201d a one-room installation by Hong Kong artist Wing Po So. Drawing from ancient traditions of Chinese medicine, Po So explores shifting dynamics in nature, the body, materiality and their fluid interconnectedness. Made of salvaged drawers from the apothecary cabinets once used by now-defunct traditional Chinese pharmacies in Hong Kong, the installation investigates the cyclical interplay of birth, healing, renewal and decay. Their worn surfaces bear witness to the life cycles of all things while functioning as containers for an elaborated orchestration of Chinese herbs, rocks, kinetic sculptures, 3D-printed objects, sonic rhythms and more. Taken together, these elements create an ecosystem where the boundaries between the organic and inorganic, the animate and inanimate, dissolve. The entire installation is a powerful symbolic and alchemical site for the artist to test the indeterminate essence of matter in continual motion, revealing everything as part of a system of interdependent energies and forces.<\/p>\n

In addition to its exhibition work, Para Site partnered with Art Basel Hong Kong in 2025 to curate the fair\u2019s film program. Featuring a curated selection of six screenings featuring twenty-nine films by and about artists from Asia and beyond, \u201cIn Space, It\u2019s Always Night\u201d aimed to provide a global perspective that would transcend geographical boundaries to showcase the diverse and evolving field of video art. \u201cI think the moving image is really such a vital field in which the language is immediate. There\u2019s a fluency that can transcend differences of language,\u201d Tang said, explaining how films are an accessible art form that can help introduce contemporary art to new audiences. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the most immersive mediums, but also one of the most challenging ones to present in an institution.\u201d The program, curated by Isadora Neves Marquez, a trans artist and filmmaker from Portugal who moved to Hong Kong, also served as an emotional counterweight to the fair\u2014it offered opportunities for slow contemplation in a fast-paced and market-driven transactional environment. \u201cHere, you can just allow yourself another experience of time and space.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tang sees Hong Kong\u2019s art ecosystem flourishing, with new places and players entering the scene all the time. While some people may have left, others are returning. \u201cI think now we realize how difficult things are outside, and actually, people are coming back, as Hong Kong feels relatively stable now compared to elsewhere,\u201d he said. Hong Kong has experienced a lot in its history, and its people have developed a resilience and an openness to other cultures. \u201cI think that\u2019s what speaks of the best of this kind of spirit of the city\u2014of how to reinvent and imagine and how to deal and adapt with all these kinds of changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

People outside always think Hong Kong has an expiration date, according to Tang. This happened in 1997 with the handover\u2014just after Para Site was founded\u2014and it repeated with the pandemic, the protests and the new security laws that further tied the country to China. While Hong Kong has often been treated as not having its own identity, the entirety of Para Site\u2019s program aims to prove the opposite, showing the city\u2019s dynamism and the variety of expressions emerging from its continuous evolution.<\/p>\n

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Para Site is Hong Kong\u2019s leading contemporary art center and one of the oldest and most active independent art spaces in Asia. Photo: Felix SC Wong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Billy<\/p><\/div>\n