Explore 'Form and Spirit' at Foshan's Ink Art Exhibition, Showcasing GBA Artists' Innovative Creations

"Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area - "Debate on Form and Spirit" staged in Foshan

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) is on display until March 28 in Foshan. The exhibition focuses on exploring the dialectical relationship between "form" and "spirit" in traditional Chinese philosophy and aesthetics. Hong Kong artist Tony Ng's ever-changing ink stone landscapes, together with Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu's refined lacquer art sculptures, showcase creativity and interaction of tradition and innovation among GBA artists.

Ng's artwork at the exhibition integrates different media, including contemporary ink painting, acrylics, and photography. His ink art "A Stone's Dream" series narrates the dreams of a stone, and unfolds the artist's reflections on each stage of life. In the "Transcending Nature" series, Ng breaks from the tradition of using ink and paper in Chinese landscape painting, instead employing acrylics and canvas to capture the forms and spirit of mountains and rivers. The photography series "Transcend" shows the artist juxtaposing paintings and photographic artworks from different periods, with one part featuring cement blocks collected from construction sites to create dynamic photographs, while another part reveals their inherent vitality through flowing brushwork.

Ou's lacquer art creation explores the relationship between presence and disappearance, and between form and spirit. In the "Shanshui" series, the artist continues the emotional connection to mountains and water of the literati in the Tang and Song dynasties. Using elements such as mountains, water, pools and light as a starting point, he extracts the spirituality of the landscape from paper, embedding it into the fragmented visual experience of contemporary life. The "Monument" series was created using the traditional dry lacquer technique. The trace of each step is gradually covered and softened by the following layer, making it nearly invisible in the finished work.

The exhibition also displays an art installation, "Ontology", collaboratively created by the two artists. Using chess as a metaphor, each artist designed half of the chessboard and chess pieces, ultimately merging them into a cohesive whole. The chess pieces Ng created are the items collected from urban construction cement blocks, leftover glass from a glass workshop, and so on. Ou's chess pieces take the form of a series of lacquered bamboosegment vessels in varying sizes, which are rounded, warm and tactile. This collaborative chess game showcases their individual artistic identities while harmoniously blending both styles.

The exhibition is running at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum), No. 10 Jinhu Avenue, Xiqiao Town, Nanhai District, Foshan. Admission is free. For details of the exhibition, please visit the website of the Art Promotion Office www.apo.hk/en/web/apo/there_ink_art_ensembles_debate_on_form_and_spirit.html, and follow the "apothere" page on Facebook www.facebook.com/apo.there, Instagram www.instagram.com/apo.there and Weibo weibo.com/apothere.

The exhibition is also one of the activities in the Chinese Culture Promotion Series. The LCSD has long been promoting Chinese history and culture through organising an array of programmes and activities to enable the public to learn more about the broad and profound Chinese culture. For more information, please visit ccpo.gov.hk/en.

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu's lacquer art sculpture "Wrinkled Screen" from the "Shanshui" series. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu's lacquer art sculpture "Waning Moon" from the "Shanshui" series. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu's lacquer art sculpture "Quadripartite Tower" from the "Monument" series. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Hong Kong artist Tony Ng's ink artwork "Mutter III". Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu and his lacquer art sculptures. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Hong Kong artist Tony Ng's photography artwork "Transcend II". Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows on the right side Hong Kong artist Tony Ng's acrylics artwork "Transcending Nature II" (partial) and on the left side Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu's lacquer art sculpture "Wrinkled Screen". Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Hong Kong artist Tony Ng (right) and Jiangmen artist Ou Tingzhu (left), and their co-created installation artwork "Ontology". Source: HKSAR Government Press Release

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Photo shows Hong Kong artist Tony Ng and his ink artwork series "Whisper". Source: HKSAR Government Press Release

Jointly organised by the Art Promotion Office and the Shenzhen Fringe Art Center, the fourth exhibition "Debate on Form and Spirit" of the "Ink Art Ensembles" Exhibition Series in the Greater Bay Area is on display until March 28 at Xiqiao Mountain Art Museum (Youwei Art Museum) in Foshan. Source: HKSAR Government Press Release

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport

Hong Kong Customs detected a drug trafficking case involving an incoming air passenger at Hong Kong International Airport today (February 27) and seized about 12 kilograms of suspected ketamine with an estimated market value of about $4.8 million.

A 65-year-old female passenger arrived in Hong Kong from Amsterdam, Netherlands, today. During customs clearance, Customs officers found the batch of suspected ketamine from her check-in suitcase. The woman was subsequently arrested.

An investigation is ongoing.

Customs will continue to step up enforcement against drug trafficking activities through intelligence analysis. The department also reminds members of the public to stay alert and not to participate in drug trafficking activities for monetary return. They must not accept hiring or delegation from another party to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong. They are also reminded not to carry unknown items for other people.

Customs will continue to apply a risk assessment approach and focus on selecting passengers from high-risk regions for clearance to combat transnational drug trafficking activities.

Under the Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, trafficking in a dangerous drug is a serious offence. The maximum penalty upon conviction is a fine of $5 million and life imprisonment.

Members of the public may report any suspected drug trafficking activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Hong Kong Customs detects drug trafficking case involving incoming passenger at airport Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases