JCCAC. An artist colony in Hong Kong. Part 1.

Industries that were housed in this factory were garments, shoes and watches, I believe.

Nowadays the building is converted into studios for artists. Some even live there. There is a teahouse and a restaurant. There are galleries and workshops are held.
From time to time there is a big handicraft fair or other event going on on the central courtyard. Unfortunately we missed that, so we encountered a quite deserted building.

An overview of the artists.

The teahouse is very quirky and vintage decorated. Cool!

We still enjoyed our visit, because both the industrial past and the artistic present are clearly there.

Let’s first look at the building itself:

From the building you look out at the surrounding buildings and hills.

Not bad, he? I can see myself living and working here!

In the open lobby on the ground floor are a few artistic sitting areas.

And you encounter the first of many machines that are left and exhibited in the building. Reminders of its industrial past.

It is interesting to read what the machines were used for. The combination with contemporary artworks is surprising.

There are eight floors around a central courtyard.

There were only a few artists working, I guess because it was a saturday.

There are art displays on the open galleries around the courtyard.

The huge head hanging there is a real eye-catcher. There were some other works from that artist. More about that in my second post about JCCAC.

The Giant Puppet Head by Lee Chi Man.

It’s really huge!

Some of the studios and spaces appear to be large and light.

There are some open spaces here and there where art works are exhibited.

Reflection of time - Pounce of Hanger-Hand by Ban Zhang

The whole building AND the open spaces on the various floors have potential for wonderful initiatives and events, …..

….but I read that the artist-tenants complain about a too restrictive management. At the same time, visitors (like us) often complain about most of the studios being closed. The artists reply to that, that they just want to work (and sometimes live) in peace and that they are not there to entertain an audience.

I particularly like this display with the shoe models, another heritage of the old factory, I presume.

This is not the only thing reminding us of the industrial history of the building.

When you exit the elevator, on each floor, some machines are on display, with explanation of what the machines were used for.

And as I already said, I like the unexpected combination and mix between industrial machines and contemporary art. Cool!

In my next post I will show you around on the different floors in order to catch the artistic, bohemian vibe.

What do you think of artist enclaves like this? Do you like the unorthodox, informal ambiance? Or do you prefer more glossy, high end galleries and art?