Parasite is invited by Jogja Biennale Foundation to curate the Hong Kong pavilion at Jogja Biennale 2019, to provide a closer study on Hong Kong’s historical and present connections with South East Asia in the issue of migrant domestic workers, and other socio-historical events.
For the Hong Kong pavilion, Para Site invites artists from two of its past exhibition projects, Afterwork (2016) and From Whence the Waves Came (2018), to re-iterate or reinterpret these current situation.
Domestic workers are Hong Kong’s largest minority group and one of the most visible components of the city’s society, and their legal and symbolic status are matters of constant negotiation, reflecting the shifting position of Hong Kong citizenship. The group’s invisibility in the various narratives of what constitutes Hong Kong society is countered by the hyper visible weekly occupation of Hong Kong’s public spaces for the Sunday picnic gathering of the community. Meanwhile, the exhibition also looks into the history of Hong Kong and its large population formed by refugees and migrants from Mainland China and other regions throughout the past century. With these intersecting stories on leaving home, sea travels, the encounter and amalgamations of different culture, the exhibition reflects on the idea of “local”, and offer a more fluid read on the Hong Kong identity.
