We [breathe] in the Space Between
James Bryant, Kathryn Graham, Chan Ka Kiu, Muyau Li, Queenie Li, Flavio Mancini, Bonnie Wong & Jun Wang, Wu Jiaru, Ben Yau, Camille Yvert
CURATORS: Rosa Abbott, Krishna Balakrishnan, Isabel Casey, Kateřina Čuprová, Nina Lissone, Clara Wong, Siyan Zhang
1st November – 17th November 2019
︎MIR Project Space, London
What does it mean to occupy the present moment, when the present is always changing? What does it mean to be forced to the peripheries, to always inhabit the in-between space? How can we operate within this position? Can we act? Can we dance? Can we laugh? Can we rise? Can we shout? Can we breathe in the space between?
Presenting new work by 12 London- and Hong Kong-based contemporary artists, we [ breathe ] in the space between is an exhibition responding to issues of in-betweenness, modernity, and urbanity. Traversing multiple disciplines, it includes artists working in sculpture, audio/visual and digital installation, performance and product design.
we [ breathe ] in the space between is housed in a former police station in Rotherhithe, a South London docking area poised for major redevelopment as part of the Canada Water Masterplan. The space is currently occupied by Artists Studio Company, our hosts for this exhibition, who have custody of the building until its demolition. The temporary nature of this site, and the uncomfortable position occupied by artists in the face of rapid gentrification, provide the loaded institutional context and impetus for this exhibition.
Artworks are placed throughout the police station and its environs. They include a new outdoor concrete sculpture by Kathryn Graham, and an environmental intervention by James Bryant, developed in response to the curatorial team’s research. Other artworks use a variety of traditional and digital media to respond to urban redevelopment projects, scarcity of housing, escalating political demonstrations on the streets of Hong Kong, urban alienation, and the need for care and the human touch. we [ breathe ] in the space between seeks to question our state of constant flux.
