Hong Kong is a nexus and a vessel for resonance between multiple cultures: if captured in words, it would be a co-authored, dynamic book of interactions, transcending time, and cultural differences. 

Visitors are invited to develop stories, dreams, and speculations on the histories and futures of Hong Kong as they encounter the urban legend of Ah Kwan Showing the Way, a fantasy concocted by early British colonialists. Combined with the materiality and notion of fortune-telling rituals, the audience will play a game of Chinese Whispers with this local legend as basis, each day regenerating the past and producing a ‘fortune’ for the future. 

Captured in sand, visitors’ written strokes will be projected live in the mirroring sites and recorded over the duration of the exhibition to collate an archive of resonance on- site and online. The pavilion, therefore, presents an alternative archive, documenting the multiple, interwoven, non-linear histories of Hong Kong, and encouraging collective speculation beyond the rhetorical narratives of the city’s future.

Sandtable 沙盆推演’ is supported by the Design Trust Feature Grant; and London Branch of the Hong Kong Economic Trade Office.