Thousands of art lovers are due to make their way to a shabby industrial block in a rarely visited part of Hong Kong over the next two weekends, as the artists of Fo Tan slide open the heavy metal gates that guard their studios for this year’s Fotanian Open Studios.
The event (www.fotanian.com), which runs on Jan. 16, 17, 23 and 24, offers a rare glimpse of one of the few artist colonies in Hong Kong, a city often criticized for favoring commerce over art.
Fo Tan is a heavily industrial neighborhood next to suburban Sha Tin, and close to the Chinese University of Hong Kong, which for many years offered the city’s only higher education classes in fine arts; most of the so-called Fotanian artists studied at the university. The heart of the scene is the Wah Luen Industrial Center, where artists have gravitated in search of studios. The first organized open day took place in 2003, and the event has grown each year. This year, 59 studios will open to the public, out of around 80 in the two blocks around the Wah Luen Industrial Center.
“I have to live with my work — this is not a 9-to-5 job,” said the 29-year-old artist Chow Chun Fai, 29. He bought a studio in the building two years back after sharing a rented space with ex-classmates for five years. “What I have found in the past few years is that many ideas and concepts were developed during nights when we were drinking with friends in the studio.”
At his gallery (1023, Block A, Wah Luen Industrial Center, 15-21 Wong Chuk Yeung Street; www.chowchunfai.com), Mr. Chow’s current series of paintings are enamel images on canvas depicting scenes from Chinese movies, both modern gangster films like “Infernal Affairs” and older kung fu classics. The paintings have a grainy feel and transpose Chinese and English subtitles, with cryptic lines like “Your promotion should be okay” and “Chestnuts in Shanghai taste better?”
Sarah Van Ingelgom, a Belgian transplant, opened the Blue Lotus Gallery (Unit 24, 5/F, Wah Luen Industrial Center Block A, 15-21 Wong Chuk Yeung Street, Fo Tan; 852-6100-1295; www.bluelotus-gallery.com) two years ago, with the intention of representing local artists.
“I like to discover the bohemian area in each city I live in, but in Hong Kong you’re struggling because it’s all so commercial,” Ms. Van Ingelgom, 35, said. “I was looking to discover that subculture, and when I discovered Fo Tan, I said ‘Uh huh, this is it!’ ”
Each day of the two-weekend event offers four public tours, on the hour from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. It’s best to call ahead to reserve a tour, or you can show yourself around. Either way, arrive early: Last year, 8,000 people attended, leading to waiting lines outside the more popular studios.
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