Private Project

Umbilical Cord

“A certain day, two persons and one camera, one performance artist, one film maker, improvised to make metaphors of the current era in a closed theatre under pandemic.”

In a time of quarantine, people flow with constraints for their living. People who work, who eat, who are considering their future, strive to find a way for a brighter scenario.

Situated somewhere tranquil, I attempted to make sense of the place but in vain. Is it time? But my body is deteriorating, my mind worn out. Or is it in the air? The suffocating wind is so fierce that all soil of vanity is blown into the air but there is no turf underneath.

This is an era where taking a breath has become such an act of uncertainty, will one find accompany in other entities? Be it an orange, or an exhibition, these moments to be spent together will turn into nutrients for us to hang on.

Or haven’t my umbilical cord been cut? The other end has long been hidden inside my stomach, keeps reminding me of the hunger for my mother’s milk when I was in her arms – the desire to live on.

Mom, the sun is so strong, if I were a tree I would have been cut down; if I were a human, I would have been caught.

Would there be gentle wind among skyscrapers? So that rotten wood would be allowed to grow lissome stems which can fly away with the kites.

  • Kwok Hin Tang
    Director
  • Florence Lam
    Key Cast
    "Performance Artist "
  • Kwok Hin Tang
    Cinematographer
  • Kwok Hin Tang
    Post-Production
  • Project Title (Original Language):
    臍帶
  • Project Type:
    Documentary, Experimental, Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 19 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 1, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Hong Kong
  • Country of Filming:
    Hong Kong
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Kwok Hin Tang

Tang Kwok-hin, mixed media artist, independent curator and writer, was born in 1983 and raised in Hong Kong. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2008 and Bachelor of Arts (major in Fine Arts) in 2006. His work originates in his inquiries into his own background as an indigenous inhabitant, for which he explored the meaning of existence and the intimate aesthetics that are closely related to his own life journey and experiences. These ideas are realised in his works, in which he blurs the boundary between art and life. By integrating art and the contradictions of human life, he attempts to reveal essences, the tensions of binary systems, and the rhythms in perception, often demonstrating long gazes of fleeting moments. He usually appropriates and reconstructs the texts of the everyday, while including individuals speaking about stories hidden in everyday life, such as those that touch upon upbringing, heritage, freedom, capitalism, consumerism, nature, politics, and norms. He previously participated in la Biennale di Venezia: 15th International Architecture Exhibition at Hong Kong Pavilion, 7th Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture, 15th WRO Media Art Biennale, Hong Kong Contemporary Biennial Award 2009, etc.; also exhibited in Ice Palace, Miami, U.S.A.; Osthaus Museum, Hagen, Germany; Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester, UK; 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, Australia; Museum Bärengasse, Switzerland; Esplanade, Singapore; Singapore Art Museum; Guangdong Times Museum, China; Vargas Museum, Manila, Philippines; Busan Cinema Center, South Korea; Hong Kong Museum of Art; Hong Kong Heritage Museum; Tai Kwun Contemporary, Hong Kong; Taipei Museum of Contemporary Art; Kuandu Museum, Taipei, Taiwan, etc. He was awarded the first prize at Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial 2009; selected by Sovereign Asian Art Prize 2010, 2011 and 2014; awarded a Young Artist Award by Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2010; granted by Asian Cultural Council in 2013. Collectors of his art include Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong Heritage Museum, Deutsche Bank, Amelia Johnson Contemporary and private collections over the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Austria, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc.

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