簡歷

Biography

At exhibition ‘How to draw a line across the sea?’ taken by studio.light.on, Nov 2025.

(中文有待更新）

Yip Kai Chun is a Hong Kong–based artist who makes work from the edges: of diasporas, of islands, of cities, and of the stories we tell ourselves about belonging. He slips into peripheral and overlooked communities, then turns those encounters into mixed‑media installations built from moving image, sound, text and found objects.

Born in Hong Kong to Chinese migrant parents (like many of his generation), Yip began to question the Hong Kong identity no one had been asked to explain. Reconnecting with his father’s Hakka language and heritage opened a wider inquiry: into migrants in Hong Kong, Hong Kongers and Chinese people abroad, and the idea of Hong Kong itself as a migrant city. His works sidestep stereotypes and easy categories, inviting instead moments of interaction, understanding and reimagination — of history, culture and the relationships that hold them together.

Recent projects include a solo exhibition on ferry commutes, animals and listening on the island he calls home, and a touring multimedia installation on Chinese spirit‑medium practice in West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Yip has undertaken residencies in Indonesia (2025), the USA (2024), Singapore (2022), India (2018 & 2019), Armenia (2016), Georgia (2016), Kyrgyzstan (2016) and Portugal (2016). He was awarded Special Mention, Media Art Category, The 21st ifva Media Art Exhibition, Hong Kong (2016). He co‑founded the Inter‑island Festival (2021, 2023 & 2026), a celebration of the outlying islands in southwestern Hong Kong.

(22 September 2026)

簡歷 (PDF) | Curriculum vitae (PDF)

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創作自述

Artist Statement

(中文有待更新）

Language, culture and history — things that define our beings — pass down and constantly morph on a macro level, even they are at times conceived as stationary. The context of migration complicates the matter when languages, cultures and histories of two or more places meet, collide and converge. Starting from my own experience with a Hakka father from China migrating to my hometown Hong Kong, I am intrigued by these liminal and peripheral communities and localities, where disconnection and yearning come with uniqueness and potentials.

I immerse myself in these communities and localities with an ethnographic mindset and sincere curiosity and care, trying to connect with the people and places. Even though there is an apparent ‘other’ in many cases, ‘I’ as a creator and person am always an integral and explicit part of the process and work. The personal and micro perspectives unravel the complex resistance, negotiation and mutation at work.

The research-oriented and socially-engaged process results in mixed media installations that comprise moving images, sound, text and found objects, blending into the existing fabric of the space. Often with a fun, everyday and colourful look, my work is relatable, intimate and approachable. Narrativity is an essence of my work. Rather than art objects to be deciphered, my works are experiences of interaction among the subjects, the work, the audiences and myself. Dissolving rooted norms and classifications, my work opens up new knowledge for genuine understanding and connections. While my work sheds light on the myriad, amazing cultures and realities the world inhabits, it nonetheless emphasises the things in common amid diversity, reimagining relationships in the world.

Living on an outlying island in Hong Kong for 8.5 years has a profound impact on me as an artist and a person. Often perceived as marginal and isolated, I see the island and sea under the same lens and meditate on the relationship between the land(sea)scape and the people.

(2 January 2026)

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我 me: yipkaichuns (at) gmail (dot) com