Jaffa Lam
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Jaffa Lam (born 1973) is a
Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...
visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...
. She is known for her mixed-media sculptures and site-specific works that inquire into
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
culture and history. Lam often uses recycled materials such as found fabric or wood from construction sites. She began focusing on
community engagement Community engagement is involvement and participation in an organization for the welfare of the community. Defining characteristics Volunteering, which involves giving personal time to projects in humanitarian NGOs or religious groups, are ...
and socially responsible art at the time of the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong in 2003. And since then, she has created many community-driven projects in Hong Kong and abroad. In 2006, she received the
Asian Cultural Council The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing international cultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. and between the countries of Asia through the arts. Founded by John D. Rockefeller III in 1963, A ...
's Desiree and Hans Michael Jebsen Fellowship. Her works have been acquired by public institutions, including
Hong Kong Museum of Art The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first and one of the main art museums of Hong Kong, located in located in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, near the Victoria Harbour waterfront, providing a scenic view of Hong Kong’s skyline. It is a publ ...
,
Hong Kong Heritage Museum Hong Kong Heritage Museum is a public museum of history, art and culture in Sha Tin, Hong Kong, located beside the Shing Mun River. The museum opened on 16 December 2000. It is managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Ho ...
, and
Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
. Lam is also known as an educator. She is currently Academic Head at the
Hong Kong Art School Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...
.


Early life

She was born in 1973 in
Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...
,
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. She migrated to
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
in 1985 (at 12 years old) and continued her study there. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Master of Fine Arts, and postgraduate diploma in education from
The Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...
. She sculpted in wood, metals and glass, and created more expansive installations from items such as cough-drop tins, tree branches, and string. Some of her more avant-garde sculptures were object dialogues created at a residency in Hualien, Taiwan in 2003, or the ornate mosquito nets she sewed the following year on a cultural exchange with women in a Kenyan village.


Selected works

Lam's practice focuses on socially engaged art. She stated, "During SARS in 2003, I felt strongly the power of collective sadness and anxiety, and I decided to respond this feeling." Speaking about her projects that involve workers from different industries in Hong Kong, the artist says, "I'm neither a fighter nor a social activist. . . What I do is only raising attention . . forinvisible people." ''Micro Economy'' (2009-ongoing) is a community-driven project that involves garment and crate wood workers. The project features large-scale sculptural objects using discarded or recycled materials such as old fabric, leftover crate wood, and scrap metal. It questions the economy shaped around the idea of "use." ''Bleaching'' is another collaborative work, where Lam worked with members of th
Hong Kong Women Workers' Association
using pieces of fabric to create surfaces that act as tents and projection surfaces at the same time. ''Jaffa Lam Laam Collaborative: Weaver'' (2013) is a community art project that involves women from grassroots organizations as co-creators of artworks. Hosted at the
Hong Kong Arts Centre Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...
in 2013, the project includes seventeen works, including wood, fabric and found objects as well as her collaborative work with marginalized skilled laborers in Hong Kong. The project explores the relationship between traditional craft and traditional gender norms, as well as labor and class for women in Hong Kong. This project was shown to represent Hong Kong at the
Setouchi Triennale The Setouchi International Art Triennale is a contemporary art festival held every three years on several islands in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan and the coastal cities of Takamatsu and Tamano. The festival was inaugurated in 2010 with the aim of ...
in 2013. Lam's mixed-media installation work, ''Rocking in'' ''Mini Zen Garden'' (2020)'','' was part of th
disCONNECT HK
exhibition of pandemic-related artwork. Lam collected rocks by her home which is near a quarantine camp. The rocks remind her of mountains which she imagines summitting. She traces her path with thread and illuminates it with UV lights. By installing the artwork in a toilet in an historical tenement building, Lam attempts to create a safe space amidst uncertainty during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. Christina Yuen Zi Chung, a PhD scholar in Feminist Studies at the Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies Department of the University of Washington, discusses how Lam creates work with a feminist consciousness and uses her work to reimagine a language for feminism for Hong Kong-based artists.


Exhibitions

Lam's solo exhibitions include ''Chasing an Elusive Nature'', Axel Vervoordt Gallery (2022); ''Piu3,'
Shouson Theatre
Hong Kong Arts Centre Hong Kong Arts Centre (HKAC; ) is a non-profit arts institution and art museum established in 1977. It promotes contemporary performing arts, visual arts, film and video arts. It also provides arts education. Its rival is the government-managed ...
(2018); ''Jaffa Lam X Sam Tung Uk'', 
Sam Tung Uk Museum The Sam Tung Uk Museum is a museum restored from Sam Tung Uk (, which describes the original floorplan), a Hakka walled village in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong. History It was built by a Chan (, pronounced "''chin2 (or tshin2)''" in the Hakka dial ...
, Hong Kong (2017); ''Looking for my family story,'
Lumenvisum Gallery
Hong Kong (2015); ''Jaffa Lam Laam Collaborative: Weaver'', Pao Gallery, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong (2013); ''Micro Economy'', RMIT School of Art Gallery,
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
(2011); ''Travel with Rickshaw,''
Alliance Française (; "French Alliance", stylised as ''af'') is an international organization that aims to promote the French language and francophone culture around the world. Created in Paris on 21 July 1883 under the name ''Alliance française pour la propa ...
,
Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
(2005); and ''Murmur,'' Shatin Town Hall, Yuen Long Theatre, Hong Kong (2003). Her work has been part of numerous group exhibitions, including ''Rocking in'' ''Mini Zen Garden,'
disCONNECT
Hong Kong ''(2020); A Beast, A God, and a Line'',
Para Site Para Site () is an independent, non-profit art space based in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1996 by artists Patrick Lee, Leung Chi Wo Warren, Leung Chi-wo, Phoebe Man, Phoebe Man Ching-ying, Wong Chi Hang Sara, Sara Wong Chi-hang, Leung Mee Ping, ...
, Hong Kong (2018); ''Fête des Lumières'', Lyon (2018); ''Utopias/Heterotopia: Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition'' (2016); ''Project Across: Touch Wood'', K11 Art Space, Hong Kong (2015); Fine Art Asia 2014, Hong Kong Conventional and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong (2014); T''he Wind Shifts-Dialogues with Hong Kong Artists'', Chi Art Space, Hong Kong (2014); Asia Platform in
Setouchi Triennale The Setouchi International Art Triennale is a contemporary art festival held every three years on several islands in the Seto Inland Sea of Japan and the coastal cities of Takamatsu and Tamano. The festival was inaugurated in 2010 with the aim of ...
2013, Fukuda, Shodoshima (2013); ''Diverse City'' ''8Q'',
Singapore Art Museum The Singapore Art Museum (Abbreviation: SAM) is an art museum with multiple venues across Singapore. It is the first fully dedicated contemporary visual arts museum in Singapore with one of the world’s most important public collections by loc ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
(2012); Blue Wind International Multimedia Art Festival,
Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...
(2012); ''Citizening'', Vargas Museum,
University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...
, Manila (2012); ''Dialogue'', Liu Hai Su Art Museum,
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
(2012); ''Passing through memory'', Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum Opening Exhibition,
Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
(2012); ''Strolling on the water'', Westlake Contemporary Museum,
Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...
(2011); and ''Butterfly Effect'', He Xian Ning Museum,
Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...
(2010).


Recognition

Lam received several awards including 40 UNDER 40, ''Perspective Magazine'' (2010); Freeman Foundation Asian Artists’ Fellowship (2009); Urban Glass Visiting Artist Fellowship (2007); Asia Cultural Council Fellowship (2006); Award for “Artists in Neighbourhood Scheme II” of Hong Kong Art Promotion Office (2002); International Art Contest, Mixed Media, Hong Kong (1997); Hong Kong Creative Paper Works Competition, Mixed Media (1997); and Y. S. Hui Arts Collection Award, Print Making (1996).


References


External links


Artist's website

Talk by Christina Yuen Zi Chung: Reimagining Feminism in Hong Kong, organized by Asia Art Archive, video, 1:23:00

Panel: Survival and Aspiration: On Becoming an Artist with Choi Yan Chi, Ho Sin Tung, Jaffa Lam, organized by Asia Art Archive, 2017, video, 1:46:00

Talk by Jaffa Lam: Stars, Stripes and Fukienese Food, hosted by Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong, 2008, video, 1:17:13

Talk by Jaffa Lam: Artist as a Profession, hosted by Asia Art Archive, 2006, video: 0:58:00

International Artists' Workshop Sharing by Jaffa Lam and Kith Tsang, hosted by the Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2004, video, 2:00:36Creating Across Cultures: Women in the Arts from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Jaffa 1973 births 21st-century Chinese women artists Alumni of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Chinese emigrants to Hong Kong Hong Kong artists Hong Kong women artists Living people