Where is My Home? My Home, Is It Still Here?

What is “Home” to you? “Home” has always been intimately linked with our personal memories and emotions, but as migration becomes more frequent, and we no longer live in our birthplaces, “Home” has also changed its meaning. Cultures, the idea of family... all kinds of subtle and complex discussions find way to the concept of “home”. 

GayBird believes that our constant need for home principally comes from our architectural space, instead of a wish to cultural supremacy by monuments, or a historical landmark for the influx of tourists. Thus to the Hong Kong edition of his outdoor exhibition at the OzAsia Festival 2017 Home he adds a question mark: Home? Inviting audience to interact with the sound installation in various space, and to question the idea of home. 

Home? is inspired by the Chinese hieroglyphics “家 (home)”. 家 is composed of two parts, representing a roof and a pig respectively. In ancient China, pig rearing was a part of daily life, and a sign of a prosperous house. In modern Chinese, 家, when combined with other characters, refers to identity, careers, schools of thought, and even a formal address. The primitive connotation of 家 has since led to complex relations, just as the nature of life itself. 

First edition of the exhibition, Home, was presented and premiered at the OzAsia Festival 2017 in collaboration with The Confucius Institute at the University of Adelaide and Art Gallery of South Australia. HOME was an initiative to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of The Confucius Institute at the University of Adelaide。