Istanbul … HK Cage Images Feature …

Great to see my images of cage home, coffin home and other lowest cost ‘housing’ residents in Hong Kong get another significant airing … this time at the Zeytinburnu International Photography Festival in Istanbul, Turkey in January.

“Z Foto Fest” … as it is affectionately known for short … is an International photo festival hosted by the Türkiye Fotoğraf Vakfı (Turkey Photography Foundation) and the Municipality of Zeytinburnu on the European side of Istanbul, just outside the walls of the ancient city.

This years theme for the festival is ‘Oxygen’ with the aim of strengthening public awareness on environmental issues through the power of visual arts. Oxygens stated aim is to illustrate “the concepts of ecological collapse, perishing nature, industrial waste, human helplessness at facing wars, environmental issues, destruction caused by immigration and urbanization, accumulating waste from excess consumption of society, global warming and climate change, and comparing challenging and rare beauties of nature.” A big and noble call …

With that end in mind, “Z Foto Fest” contacted me about the prospect of showing my Hong Kong ‘homes’ work … and I readily agreed. Sadly, due to other commitments, I couldn’t travel to Istanbul … one of my favourite cities … to see the result.

The work “Living in a Coffin & Cage Dwellers of Hong Kong” was shown over five days of the festival at the Zeytinburnu Cultural And Art Center alongside other artists work from Russia, Italy, Austria, USA, China and Romania under the umbrella title “Abandoned – Rural – Overcrowded”. Z Foto Fest ends on February 11th.

Below are a selection of just some of my Hong Kong images involved in the exhibit … and a grab from the “Z Foto Fest” site.

Images © Brian Cassey

 

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Z Foto Fest 2018 Istanbul Turkey - Hong Kong Cage & Coffin Homes - by Brian Cassey

Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong

This presentation was chosen as the Winner of the Nikon Walkley Photographers Slide Night at the Powerhouse in Brisbane on 7th August 2012. It depicts, in still images and a beautiful musical piece, the current plight of the poor in Hong Kong – acknowledged as the Worlds richest city.

Words and Images © Brian Cassey

Life in a Coffin …

The second pic essay from my recent trip to Hong Kong … “Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong” has been posted to the web site of my collective ‘fotostrada’.

The pics – along with 1800 words – portray the situation of the poor of the former British Colony in the lowest cost housing alternatives of ‘coffin’ homes, bed space cage homes, wire cage homes, illegal rooftop shanties and illegal cubicles in old factories and industrial buildings. Although these still cost the residents more per square foot than the most expensive of Hong Kong’s luxury apartments, for the unfortunate they are just a step away from a life on the street.

The story also attempts to provide some historical perspective to the situation as the number of poor in HK exceeds the twenty percent figure (and the number of billionaires – which currently stands at 36 – continues to grow.)

The new essay can be found on ‘fotostrada’ in “Latest Stories” here … and will be posted to my personal site when time permits …

… whilst my older essay on the Hong Kong cage home dwellers – “Cage Dogs” – can be found on my web site here and on ‘fotostrada’ here.

Below I’ve posted a small selection of the many images from “Life in a Coffin – Hong Kong”.

© images Brian Cassey 2012

 

Cage Dogs & the Daily Mail …

Plenty of response to the publication of Cage Dogs on CNN World – most notably from the UK Daily Mail. The Mail requested the use of ten images … and they ran with the story headlined “Cage Dogs of Hong Kong: The Tragedy of Tens of Thousands Living in 6ft by 2ft Rabbit Hutches – in a City with more Louis Vuitton shops than Paris” – not so sure about the ‘rabbit hutches’ reference!

You can read the Daily Mail article and see the images at … http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2084971/Hong-Kongs-cage-homes-Tens-thousands-living-6ft-2ft-rabbit-hutches.html

Clicking on the screen shot below will also take you to the DM article.

Images © Brian Cassey

CNN World & Cage Dogs …

Very nice to see my pic essay on the Cage Home People of Hong Kong – “Cage Dogs” – featured on the global CNN world web site this week.

CNN World say their aim is to ‘tell powerful, inspiring stories through photography and offer a behind-the-scenes look at emerging and established photographers.’

The images are used well – accompanied by nice text by CNN’s Elizabeth Johnson  … and the comments on the story are … well … ‘interesting’ !

If you have a minute or three please take a look at “Cage Dogs” on CNN World at …  http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/08/hong-kongs-poor-living-in-cages/

The images can also be found on my personal website at … https://www.briancasseyphotographer.com/images.php?imagefolder=cagedogs … and on the web site of my collective ‘fotostrada’ at … http://www.fotostrada.com/#/brian-cassey/cage-dogs—hong-kong/

Just one of the images from the CNN World Cage Home feature is below …

© Brian Cassey

Gwangju Biennale – South Korea …

Returned last Thursday from a rewarding trip to Gwangju in South Korea where I was asked to exhibit my work on the cage homes of Hong Kong – “Cage Dogs” – at the Gwangju Design Biennale 2011. The total exhibit included a reconstruction of three 6 foot by two and a half foot wire cage ‘homes’ set on a floor plan where eighteen cages would be set. The minimalist feel to the exhibit added to it’s poignancy and it slotted it well alongside many other startling exhibits.

The theme of this years Biennale  is “Dogadobisangdo” (圖可圖非常圖) – “Design is Design is not Design” –  inspired by the first words in Do Duk Kyeong (Tao Te Ching, 道德經)’ of No Ja (Lao Tzu, 老子) – ‘The way道 that is the way is not always the way. The name名 that is the name is not always the name.’ – reinterpreted as ‘design is design is not always design and non-design is non-design is not always non-design’.

So there !

Chinese artist, architectural designer (the Olympic “Bird’s Nest” stadium) and activist – Ai Weiwei – is director/curator but was not in attendance as he is under ‘loose detention’ in China and unable to leave Beijing.

Very entertaining and elaborate opening ceremony with many imposing dignitaries and some excellent audiovisual work from renowned DJ Spooky. The Gwangju Design Biennale is expected to attract about a half million visitors to the city that is the centre of the arts and democracy on the Korean Peninsula.

Posted below a pic of the cage home exhibit at the Biennale – and my cage home images  ‘Cage Dogs’ can be found here.

Image © Brian Cassey 2011

Korea – Gwangju Design Biennale – Cage Dogs …

Have been invited to exhibit at Asia’s pre-eminent design and arts expo – the Gwangju Design Biennale in South Korea – with the images I collected from my visits to Hong Kong’s ‘Cage Home’ people. The Biennale team are replicating a Hong Kong cage home flat (which normally house up to 20 individual cage homes) and an actual 6 foot by two and a half foot wire cage ‘home’.

My surrounding exhibited photographs will tell the visual story of some of the tens of thousands of unfortunates who are living their lives in these cramped cages in Hong Kong – acknowledged as one of the World’s richest cities.

I’ve also been invited to give a video presentation … so will be off to Gwangju in southern Korea for the opening event on September 2nd.

Gwangju is Korea’s sixth largest city and the focus for contemporary design and arts on the peninsula and, indeed, Asia. The last Gwangju Design Biennale in 2009 attracted fractionally under half a million visitors.

However, Gwangju city is most noted for the 1980 massacre of (an unofficial figure) of near two thousand pro-democracy student demonstrators by the armed forces, when the city was at the forefront of the democracy movement in South Korea. The people of Gwangju are proud of the uprising and tend to be at the forefront of any political upheaval in the country.

Below I’ve posted  just two of the ‘Cage Dogs’ images that will be part of the exhibit at the Biennale. They will link to more cage home images on my web site proper.

Images © Brian Cassey