FLAME HK – Asia’s first video art fair

Patrick Hough, And If In a Thousand Years, 2017 (courtesy of the artist)

Set in the stunning surroundings of Aberdeen, Hong Kong, Ovolo Southside Hotel is the host of Asia’s very first video art fair, FLAME HK – set up and delivered by Formosa Art Fair (Taiwan). Established as a roving fair, taking place in cities across Asia, Hong Kong is the fair’s first stop.

FLAME HK took place over three floors of the hotel, with 30+ rooms showing work from galleries and representatives from across E Asia, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, S Korea, Japan and Singapore – with videoclub as the only non-Asian participant. Organisations were a mixture of commercial and non-profit, including Waley Art (Taiwan), Videotage (Hong Kong), Tang Feng Gallery (Taiwan) and Keumsan Gallery (S Korea).

FLAME invited videoclub to curate a show for the fair, and we decided to show works by five artists – two duos and one solo artist – which included And If In a Thousand Years by Patrick Hough, AfterGlow (Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, Recovered) by boredomresearch and Plasma Vista by Sarah Cockings & Harriet Fleuriot.

While there weren’t many visitors – due mainly to the protests taking place in Hong Kong and lack of visitors traveling (the MTR being shut down and people staying home) – we had some great feedback to the show. All three works were requested for a follow up show in S Korea. We also met with several galleries who wanted to develop future collaborations. So, it was worth taking the shot.

FLAME will take place again next year, either in Japan or S Korea; keep an eye out for the call for exhibitors on their website.

Some videoclub exhibition photos below.

Plasma Vista by Sarah Cockings & Harriet Fleuriot installed and watched at FLAME HK

AfterGlow by boredomresearch and And If In a Thousand Years by Patrick Hough installed at FLAME HK

AfterGlow by boredomresearch install shot
And If In a Thousand Years by Patrick Hough installation shot
Plasma Vista by Sarah Cockings and Harriet Fleuriot installation shot
View from Ovolo Southside Hotel where FLAME HK took place
G&Ts at Tang Feng Gallery with artists and staff