Tai Kwun 101 | Hong Kong

Tai Kwun 101

  • Category: Art & Culture, Interior & Product, Story-telling & Communications

    Type: Indoor | Outdoor | Exhibition

    Location: Tai Kwun, Central, Hong Kong

    Client: Tai Kwun

    Completion: 2019

    Area: 500 sqm

To mark the first anniversary of the opening of Tai Kwun, onebite is privileged to be the curator of this unique exhibition, Tai Kwun 101. It was created to link Tai Kwun’s century-long history to the present day, using 101 objects to represent the history and memories of the police station, courthouse, and prison. Held from 25 May to 22 September 2019, the exhibition combined artefacts rich in history with an interactive route through the Duplex Studio and six installations in different locations throughout Tai Kwun that inspired visitors to gain insights into the story behind Tai Kwun.

Tai Kwun 101 embodied the relationship between people and objects, using the latter to connect between buildings, people and their memories within them. From the historic Victoria Prison to the Central and Western Police Station, the interactive journey took visitors through time and space, in the hopes that visitors would not only experience and reenact the various scenes from the past but also understand the importance of objects and architecture as vessels for memories, emotions, and events. Entering the exhibition held in the Duplex Studio, visitors were transported back in time.

The first section “Objects through Time”, traced the development of the Central and Western Police Station compound over 165 years through a variety of documents, artefacts, and photographs dated between 1841 and 2005. The second section, “Lost and Found” focused on the daily lives of five different stakeholders, including police officers, justices of the peace, prisoners, jailers, and members of the public who had lived, worked, or passed through the Tai Kwun compound in the past. It offered a glimpse into the little-known stories of the police, justice, prison, and immigration systems in the past.

  • Walking down to the LG2 exhibition space which housed the exhibition section "Objects That Speak to Us" section, we wanted to not only display a wide range of documents, newspaper cuttings, photographs, and various artefacts, but also experiment with an innovative curatorial approach that did not imitate or recreate the past. Instead, the exhibition design sought to emphasise the most representative elements and essence of Tai Kwun and categorised these spaces and artefacts according to a colour-coded scenographic system representing different users and roles in the past. The visual interweaving of different colors signified the intersections between users in the past, as well as the intertwining of history and adaptive reuse of the complex presently.

    As part of the exhibition, onebite produced a booklet with beautiful illustrations of iconic artefacts associated with different exhibition zones. To encourage exploration in a variety of ways, visitors could use the booklet to explore the exhibition in different ways, whether through role-playing with friends and family or through the recommended route in the booklet. This exhibition demonstrated how history exhibitions are not as boring as we might think, and could be fun and interactive. In addition to the duplex rooms, there were six interactive installations found between various buildings in Tai Kuwn. This extended the exhibition not only beyond the confines of the duplex room, but also hoped to invite visitors to take a moment to appreciate different buildings in the complex and learn more about the stories behind them.

    Through the exhibition, onebite hopes to connect the old and the new, and create a platform to make Tai Kwun’s history relevant and interesting. More importantly, we hope to highlight the past, present, and future of the former police station and revitalise it, not just in its building form, but also in its intangible significance to the city.

Additional Resources:

Tai Kwun 101 Virtual Tour

Objects are the wellspring of stories

  • Through Tai Kwun 101, onebite wanted to create a new curatorial direction, with playful and interactive installations that allow visitors to experience the past of Central Police Station more deeply. Supported by a trove of documents and photographs, the exhibition design aimed to be both educational and interesting, presenting history not as boring narratives but scenarios and experiences that resonated with the audience.

    Some documents featured in the exhibition came from the Hong Kong Police Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Correctional Services, while others are contributed by Tai Kwun itself. The rich exhibition made rare, seldom seen artefacts accessible to the public and highlighted their social and historical value as part of the former Central Police Station.

    The aim of the exhibition is to emphasise the history of Hong Kong's governance, judicial system, and policing legacy, and to showcase it to local and overseas visitors.

    We also hope it can showcase the profound historical value and social significance of Tai Kwun as the former site of Hong Kong’s first police station and prison in the colonial era and aptly represent its vitality as a revitalised destination for culture and arts.

    Design for Good Values

    • Positive Impact

    ESG/ Sustainability Factors

    • Governance
      - Mission & Engagement

    • Community
      - Designed to give

    • Customers
      - Education, Arts Media & Culture

  • Visual Identity Designer: &dear

    Photographer: Tai Ngai Lung & Leon Xu Liang

    One Biters: Alan Cheung, Luana Kwok, Tony Lai, Sarah Mui, Sherene Ng, Serena Poon, Suet Yan

  • #TaiKwun101 #TaiKwunHeritage #exhibition #centralpolicestationcompound #objects #story

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