Curated by the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice gently unveils the poetic patterns underlying everyday life through the works of Hong Kong-born artists Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui. Drawing from the city’s rich cultural heritage and distinct urban environment, the artists reinterpret the aesthetics of daily life through a range of media, creating an evocative series of installations specifically conceived for the Biennale Arte 2026 while documenting a metropolis in constant transformation.
Window for You (rendering), 2026
Engaging in dialogue with In Minor Keys, the theme of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia by the late curator Koyo Kouoh, the artists focus on traces of quotidian experiences that often pass unnoticed, creating new encounters that transform how we perceive the familiar and bridging Hong Kong and Venice by highlighting the shared energy and cadence that connect life in these two distant cities.
For Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice, Kingsley Ng presents site-specific installations that transform ordinary urban and household rituals into meditative encounters, offering poetic reflections on the fabric of the city. One of these installations, Laundry Nocturne (晾曬夜曲), responds to his visit to Venice, where he was struck by laundry hanging between buildings—a sight that resonated with his memories of Hong Kong, where such scenes were once ubiquitous.
The work evokes this fading urban landscape of Hong Kong, in which rows of clothes were once aired on bamboo poles attached to residential buildings. In the installation, a lone projection of laundry appears in silhouette, accompanied by a soundtrack played on a radio, subtly connecting the two cities across the distance.
Between Ng’s installations, visitors will encounter an imaginative scene directed by Angel Hui, in which she encourages attention to often-overlooked objects and beings—whether a neighbour’s sun-faded window frame or the utilitarian plastic bags embedded in the urban landscape. Hui’s works celebrate Hong Kong’s heritage craftsmanship while blending it with contemporary artistic practice. In I Would Like to Open a Window for You (我為你打開一扇窗), she presents a hand crafted iron window, created in collaboration with local traditional metalsmiths. By inviting visitors to notice fleeting details, Hui fosters intimate encounters that reveal the quiet, subliminal flow of urban life.
©Hong Kong Museum of Art and Angel Hui
Artist Kingsley Ng says, “The exhibition is a tribute to the serendipitous encounters within the surroundings we inhabit. My site-specific practice has always sought to cast light on the overlooked, often reconfiguring the familiar through the interplay of light. The set of works presented in the exhibition, evolving from earlier renditions, is a quiet exchange between my impressions of Hong Kong and Venice.”
Artist Angel Hui says, “The exhibition resonates with my ongoing exploration of overlooked utilitarian objects. Through material experimentation, I always reinterpret everyday objects in dialogue with traditional artistic language. The new works continue this trajectory in a more theatrical and contemplative register.”
Dr Maria Mok, Museum Director of HKMoA, explains, “Hong Kong and Venice are linked by more than the fact that they are both ports; they are bound by a shared breath. This exhibition traces the quiet pulse of daily life in these two great metropolises—the subtle alignment of light and shadow and the pause between sounds. It is an invitation to slow down, to observe, to listen and to rediscover the profound wonder hidden in the rhythms of the everyday.”
Like a fermata—a musical breath held at the performer’s discretion—the exhibition invites visitors to slow down and reflect on the subtle rhythms of everyday life, and encourages visitors to notice the small details that shape attention, care, and wonder in the urban environment.
The Collateral Event Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC), and jointly organised by the HKMoA and the HKADC. It will be held in Venice, Italy (Campo della Tana, Castello 2126, 30122) from May 9 to November 22, 2026.
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About the Artistic Team
Kingsley Ng (b.1980, Hong Kong)
Kingsley Ng completed his postgraduate training with the highest honours at Le Fresnoy– National Studio of Contemporary Arts in France, and received a MSc from the University of Edinburgh after graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University. He is currently an Associate Professor at The Academy of Visual Arts, The School of Creative Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University. Ng is a media artist, specialising in site-specific and experiential work. By orchestrating different senses, he creates contemplative experiences to cast light on the overlooked.
He has received numerous art awards, including the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards – Best Artist in Media Arts (2013) and Asia Cultural Council Altius Fellowship (2013). Known for turning atmospheric sites, from iconic Hong Kong trams to a gigantic underground water tank, a nighttime green house, a pier, etc., into artistic sanctuaries, he exhibited locally and internationally in venues and festivals such as Centre Pompidou, Paris (2023), the Echigo- Tsumari Art Triennale, Japan (2018, 2009), Milan Design Week (2017), OzAsia Festival, Australia (2016), among others. Ng currently lives and works in Hong Kong.
Angel Hui (b. 1990, Hong Kong)
Angel Hui received a BA in Visual Arts from Hong Kong Baptist University in 2014 and an MA in Experimental Art from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing in 2017. Skilled in gongbi (fine brushwork) ink painting, Hui often imbues her works with elements of traditional Chinese culture and contemporary artistic expression. She is fascinated by daily objects and often discovers new meanings in them by twisting traditional art forms and appropriating common materials to integrate them into her artworks.
Since her graduation, Hui has received numerous art awards, including the Société Générale “Call for Artists” Award (2022), and the Excellence Award, Art Next Expo International Artist Award (2019); and she was a finalist for The 2025 Sovereign Asian Art Prize. Her works have been widely exhibited in Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. She was commissioned by Lane Crawford to tour her installation project in 2016 and was invited by the Office of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Beijing to exhibit at the Rosewood in 2019. Hui currently lives and works in Hong Kong.
