Para Site and Goethe-Institut Hong Kong are delighted to present *underground-children-festival, an exhibition curated by , on view at Goethe-Institute Hong Kong from 16 June to 31 July, 2018. This exhibition is the first joint-project by the two institutions supporting emerging curators, selected through an open call from alumni of Para Site’s Emerging Art Professionals program over the past three years. Featuring newly commissioned and existing works by , *underground-children-festival takes Children’s Day in Hong Kong as its departure point, playfully exploiting contradictions within the festival’s intentions to reveal and to challenge its ingrained power structures.
Although rarely observed, Hong Kong Children’s Day takes place on 4 April each year. For many years, children have been subjected to commemorative activities and events with adults being the ultimate decision makers and de facto authorities governing the day’s events. This exhibition explores the impossibility of this festival to fully proclaim children’s rights and to celebrate their autonomy. Addressing this fundamental flaw, through the works of these seven artists, *underground-children-festival seeks to illustrate the absurdity of this day, as a metaphor for the hypocrisy of other officially mandated public celebrations.