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Swire Properties Dialogue Series

In 2018 Swire Properties collaborated with Art-partners to organise and host its Art Basel Hong Kong Dialogue Series. Leading figures in the art world, including renowned artists Jim Lambie and Daan Roosegaarde, shared their insights and exchanged ideas about the latest thinking in the worlds of art, design and architecture.

Talk 1 : Does Art Have the Power to Change Our Environment?
Moderator: Angela Mackay, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Financial Times
Speaker: Iwan Wirth, President, Hauser & Wirth;
Daan Roosegaarde, Dutch Artist and Innovator;
Kingsley Ng, Artist, Assistant Professor, Academy of Visual Arts, Hong Kong Baptist University.

Many artists are concerned with an art of ideas and the ability of art to convey meaning and offer a commentary on social, political and economic concerns. Art can help spark debate and galvanise a community into action that leads to change - not just in the built environment but the whole social fabric.

Talk 2 : In Dialogue with Jim Lambie
Moderator: Tim Marlow, Artistic Director, Royal Academy of Arts
Speaker: Jim Lambie, Artist

Jim Lambie’s new installation Spiral Scratch transformed Pacific Place’s Garden Court. This site-specific work juxtaposed intricate rhythmic floor patterns with vertical ladders in vivid hues, creating a bold interaction of colour, shape and form. Lambie, Turner Prize Nominee in 2005 and Scotland’s representative at the 50th Venice Biennale in 2003 discussed how the psychology of space influenced his art? Join Lambie for more insights into his creative ideas.

Talk 3 : How can Art and Culture Enhance a Community's Sense of Self?
Moderator: Jessica Klingelfuss, Digital Associate Editor, Wallpaper Magazine
Speaker: Nicholas Baume, Director and Chief Curator, Public Art Fund;
Magnus Renfrew, author, cultural entrepreneur and Founder of ARTHQ/Group;
Michael Xufu Huang, Co-Founder, M WOODS Museum

Art can be integrated into the life of a community by placing an artwork into a public area or integrating art into every aspect of the built environment. But whose community is it? How might its best qualities be reflected back onto itself? How can art be brought into closer contact with the community and contribute to a new vision for life and culture?

Talk 4 : How can Public Art, Architecture, Design and Institutions Make a Place?
Moderator: Philip Tinari, Director, Ullens Center for Conetmporary Art, Beijing
Speaker: Suhanya Raffel, Executive Director, M+;
Conrad Shawcross, artist;
Ole Scheeren, Architect OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture) and Principal, Buro Ole Scheeren

Collaboration can take many different forms, from simple division of labour to forms that blur traditional boundaries and call into question established values, customs and conventions. The collaboration of artists in teams of professionals from architecture, 3D design, landscaping, product design and engineering, to research ideas, experiment with materials and find innovative and elegant solutions to design problems can help make a place special.

Talk 5 : Can Graffiti Art Be a Positive Force in Communities?
Moderator: Sean Lee-Davies, Multimedia artist and CEO/Founder, Awethentic Studio
Speaker: Jonathan Thomson, artist, art historian and curator;
Remi Rough, artist;
Maria Wong, Managing Director, HKwalls

Before graffiti became marketable it was considered as vandalism or an urban blight. A sub-culture has since grown around graffiti’s association with illegality, danger and daring. Some street art may share stylistic similarities with graffiti but if it is sanctioned or commissioned by an authority, it is not graffiti. Is graffiti still vandalism, even when it strikes a chord with the community?