RePlace / RePlay: upcycling in Hong Kong art and jewellery

For centuries, jewellery makers and goldsmiths have worked sustainably and created circular economies by melting and reshaping precious metal objects and remounting valuable gemstones. This longstanding practice of recycling has also informed recent practices by which jewellery designers have creatively reused waste materials alongside precious commodities to turn “trash into treasure.” This exhibition presents research on upcycling practices in contemporary art and design in Hong Kong, a city that connects local with global practices while remaining rooted in Asia, one of the world’s top waste-producing and waste-receiving areas. Understanding craftsmanship as a way of thinking, the exhibition maps and investigates the pioneering roles of artists’ and jewellery designers’ sustainable practices. RePlace / RePlay challenges the mainstream understanding of Hong Kong jewellery as predominantly commercial and market orientated. Going beyond conventional ideas on materiality and value, the exhibition presents insights into a vibrant scene of ecologically aware creative practitioners from different generations and cultural backgrounds engaged with the upcycling of Hong Kong material culture. The display is complemented by the exhibition ReSource / ReSearch: Recycling as Creative Practice. A Research Exhibition, 3.5. to 15.5.2021, at Koo Ming Kown Exhibition Gallery, Lee Shau Kee Communication and Visual Arts Building, Hong Kong Baptist University, 5 Hereford Road, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong.