Ongoing since 2014
Trade/Trace/Transit is a series of public interventions in and mobile ethnography of the trade route of cardboard waste in Hong Kong. The project started in 2014 and so far has generated various works: Wall Drawings (2015-16), Corpus (2015-16), Five Tonnes of Homes and Other Understories (2016), Proposal for a film: Within the Leaves, a Sight of the Forest (2016), 172 Kilograms of Homes for Ate Manang (2017).
Background
Cardboard boxes live long after they are disposed. In many places around the world including Hong Kong, they travel from hand to hand during this long life, changing shape and intersecting varied lives. Along routes in Hong Kong, they are sold by waste collectors via the recycling collection points to the port. Their lifetime reaches its end at paper mills in China.
Around Central, Hong Kong, this cardboard route is extraordinary. Filipino domestic workers gather in Central for their day off, and re-use the cardboard waste to build temporary shelters. In this decadesold tradition, a complex informal economy is born. The monetary value of the cardboard waste is multiplied through covert, hand-to-hand transactions. Meanwhile, the cyclical re-collecting and reselling amplifies the social meaning of the “waste” as it becomes inhabited by the lived experiences of the human agents of its journey, who come from various socio-cultural backgrounds.
Central is the focal point of the artist in Trade/Trace/Transit, a series of public interventions into this route of the cardboard waste trade, primarily spanning the Hong Kong island coastal strip from Sheung Wan to Heng Fa Chuen. The artist immerses herself in the route by making herself one of its stakeholder. After investigating and considering several entry points, she started spending time with the Filipino domestic workers in their temporary weekend shelters in Central, Hong Kong, in late 2014.
The project is supported by Australia Council for the Arts’ New Work – Mid Career grant, and is ongoing. The next instalment is a solo exhibition at Osage Gallery, July 2016.
Wulia’s presentation at Art Basel Hong Kong 2016, part of the interventions, is supported by Osage Gallery. Trade/Trace/Transit (2014-2016), a series of public interventions into the route of the cardboard waste trade spanning the Hong Kong island coastal strip, is supported by the Australia Council for the Arts’ New Work – Mid Career grant.
Follow the project at the artist’s facebook album: http://tinyurl.com/hjyp8zl
Credits • Trade/Trace/Transit (2014-2016) is supported by Australia Council for the Arts’ New Work – Mid Career grant • Tintin Wulia is a recipient of the Australia Council for the Arts’ Creative Australia Fellowship 2014-2016 • Presentation of Five Tonnes of Homes and Other Understories (2016) at Encounters section (curated by Alexie Glass-Kantor) and Proposal for a Film: Within the Leaves, a Sight of the Forest at Film sector (curated by Li Zhenhua) of Art Basel Hong Kong 2016 is co-supported by Osage Gallery • • Project Assistant and Translator: Wong Lik Wai 黃力瑋 • • Many thanks to: Precy Cabinian Rosil • Leticia Dafun • Racquel Agdeppa • Remy Ragosanpe • Michelle Cebrero • Mila Mercado • Vilma Berenio • Lourdes Mollanida • Editha Aquino • Chona Rizaldo • Florita Aquino • Riza Arnesto • Reizel Arnesto • Joyce Rubis • Dinah Teruel • Vangie Domingo • Ludilyn Viernes Navalta • Venia Anonuevo Ranchez • Uncle Reymel • Wong Siu Hung • Brian Tsoi • Chris Tsoi • Kurt • Bobby • Keung • • Jay Due • Rommel Banania • Kanny Kan • Leo Leung • Grace Lam • Chloe Chu • Pysche Ma • Lysander Leung • Resy Poncia • Sunny Huang • Zinnia Lin • Agnes Lin • • The Edge Brisbane • Hammad Nasar/Asia Art Archive • Andrew Stahl/Slade School of Fine Art • • Sonja Ng • Arianna Gellini • Janice Leung • Kingsley Ng • Sybil Kot • Royce Ng • Daisy Bisenieks • Qinyi Lim • • Zoe Butt • Isabel Ching • Patrick Flores • Alexie Glass-Kantor • Li Zhenhua • • Cara Satmoko-Ball • Zeno Wulia • Cecilia Indradjaja • Erich Round