BYOBiennale [2009 Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-city Biennale of Urbanism Architecture]

The Hong Kong component of the 2009 Hong Kong & Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism and Architecture marks the first cultural event of international scale to take place in the future West Kowloon Cultural District from 4 December 2009 to 27 February 2010. The site of the West Kowloon currently hosts 46,000 square metres of exhibitions and events, showcasing an open platform composed of inventive works and thought-provoking installations, experiments, workshops and performances that aim to engage the public in rethinking the society that they are integral of. Hong Kong’s role in this novel Bi-City Biennale is guided by the theme of “BYOB” (Bring Your Own Biennale), a catchphrase and framework designed to inspire individual participation and networked collaboration among the citizens of Hong Kong and China. This year’s Hong Kong curatorial team is led by Marisa Yiu (Chief Curator), and composed of Alan Lo (Curator for Arts, City Integration and Events), Eric Schuldenfrei (Curator for Exhibitions, Education, Film and Media), and Frank Yu (Curator for Architecture, Urbanism and Landscape). This is a cooperative cultural event that is shared by the two cities under a Bi-City thematic. The selection process of the HK Curator and SZ Curator are independent processes governed by different procedures and organizations. This year the HK Biennale’s principal sponsor is the Home Affairs Bureau, HKSAR Government, and organized by HKIA, HKIP and HKDA. The Bi-City Biennale for Hong Kong asks all architects, designers and the local community to help envision a new model metropolis that uses social capital as the main driving force. A series of final events and forums are scheduled and ongoing for the last month of the Biennale exhibition at the West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade. The exhibition has started and will close on 4 27 February 2010. http://hkszbiennale.org for more details.