Time in Textile_01

Time in Textile

那時候每個角落都藏著驚喜:每天悉心打扮的「商店」婆婆、後巷「理髮室」的叔叔、點著香煙的「辦館」老闆娘、 住在現已變成酒店的「唐樓」伯伯,隨著時代演變,商舖樓宇的稱呼也變了, 這些每道微小都記錄著那年代的社區生活。

這是一輯又一山人、吳凡和我合作,拍攝關於天后街坊的照片,然後我把相片打印成一比一再貼到木板上,作為The Edge的開張展覽。

Back then, a surprise awaits at every corner: the old “shop” lady who dressed up every day, the “barbershop” uncle in the back alley, the “liquor store” matriarch with a cigarette in hand, the old chap who lived in the “tong lau”, now converted into a hotel. Times have changed, and so have the names of the shops and buildings. Every subtle thing as these documented life in the community back in the days.

This is a series of photographs of the Tin Hau “gai fong” (residents), taken by anothermountainman, Fan Ng and me in collaboration. I then printed them out in their original size and laminated them on wooden boards, as the debut exhibition of The Edge.

Photo by Stanley Wong (又一山人)

那時是我的輕狂歲月,晚晚夜夜笙歌,後來乾脆和傳媒界好友在清風街16號唐一樓,正是現在Tuve Hotel的位置,開了一間名為The Edge的創意空間,作為創作界朋友的聚腳地,交流狂想,在主流無法實現的,即使在唐樓辦通宵樂隊派對,只要是好玩的,都無任歡迎。我們只開週末夜晚,午間到對面辦館入手樽裝汽水,然後去祥利冰室吹水閒聊,打烊後到日間租碟夜晚賣公仔麵的四眼仔那裡吃宵夜,那時一切總覺得平常不過,現在才真正感受到時代巨輪原來會在你不知不覺間把它們碾碎得無影無蹤。事到如今,只能在永興街巷口的Time Tailor改衣店旁,從樹葉的長相找到被分解了的太陽傘,背後的張記理髮室也就像從沒出現過一樣,還幸可在牆上回味這「美麗的街」和「嘿,祝你幸福」的塗鴉。

Those were my good old days, those nights of endless songs and amusements. Later, together with friends in the media industry, I opened The Edge, a creative space on the first tong lau floor on 16 Tsing Fung Street, where the TUVE Hotel is nowadays. It was a hub for friends in the creative field to pass around mad ideas. Everything that was unattainable in the mainstream culture, even hosting overnight band parties in tong lau, was welcome as long as it was fun. We only opened at night on the weekend, so in the afternoon, we would visit the opposite liquor store to stock up on bottled soda, and then to Cheung Lee Restaurant to talk. When our space closed, we would have our late night meal at the bespectacled guy, who rented videos by day and sold instant noodles by night. Everything felt so usual back then, that you only realise by now how the grand wheel of time grinds things into nonexistence while you are unaware. As things have become now, at the Time Tailor clothes altering shop, next to the entrance of an alley on Wing Hing Street, I can only locate the beach umbrella that was long dismantled, through the shape of the tree leaves. The Cheung Kee Barbershop at the back almost never existed. Thankfully, I still got to reminisce about this “beautiful street” through the walls, and be greeted by a graffiti that says “hey, wishing you happiness”.

繼2020-2021年的「慢針黹牧民在藍屋」,今年來到下一站天后 —— 我成長的社區,很多東西都轉變了消失了,我在想,有什麼方式可以隨時隨地和外界分享我的最美時光?有什麼東西是可以隨身陪我遊走讓人看見?

應該是衣物 —— 我們最貼身的日記,用不著紙筆或光影儀器,每天都很理所當然地披在我們身上,經歷人生或重要的或微小的事情,盛載回憶,同時亦向外界分享自己的故事。

我希望為衣物重新定義,證明它不是過季就掉的産品,而是足以連結人心、世代相傳的記憶體。

Following the 2020-2021 “Slow Stitch nomad at Blue House”, this year we have arrived at the next stop, Tin Hau – the community that I grew up in. With so much changed or vanished, I wondered how I can share my fondest memories with others anywhere and at any time, and what are the things that can follow me wherever I go and be seen by others.

That would be clothes – our most intimate journal. It needs no pen, paper or lighting devices, but it drapes over our bodies so naturally every day, as we go through matters in life, significant or trivial. They contain our memories, and, at the same time, share our stories with the world.

I hope to redefine clothes, to prove that they are not products to be disposed of at the end of a season, but vehicles of memories that connect people and pass on through generations.

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Photo by Hins Ngao

於是我就發動了慢針黹牧民小隊,走上賽西湖公園,席地而坐,一邊細聽我的天后故事,一邊把我繪畫的細節刺繡到回收的舊白布上,最後我再把布片拼合成這象徵香港社區文化的茶餐廳侍仔恤衫。

So I summoned the slow stitch nomad squad, who walked up to Choi Sai Woo Park, took their seats on the ground, and listened attentively to my Tin Hau stories, as they took in all the details I drew and embroidered them onto recycled white cloth. Lastly, I patched these pieces together to make this cha chaan teng uniform shirt, a symbol of the community culture in Hong Kong.

Time in Textile_10

Photo by Oi!

人人造針黹是我的願景,也是我們理應人人略懂的生活技藝,是我們的祖先幾經歷練所傳承給我們的,可惜快時尚的洗禮卻要我們忘本。是時候重拾衣物的意義,感受工匠的毅力;這些都是我從過去43篇文章所介紹的慢針黹藝術家所給我的啟發。

這些回憶,可能也是香港人的集體回憶,也是我的刺繡靈感。

My dream is for everyone to practise stitching. It is a life skill that we should all know a little too, a skill passed down to us by our ancestors only after many a trial. Regrettably, the waves of fast fashion have left us ignorant of our roots. It is time to reconsider the meaning of clothes, to experience the resilience of craftsmanship; all these were shown to me by the slow stitch artists that I introduced in the last 43 articles.

These memories could be the collective memories of Hong Kong people too, but they are also the inspiration for my embroidery.

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幾經波折,終於找到最好的營地,在那裡分享我的見聞,同時以半年時間收集大家的回憶,召集慢針黹牧民來一起化成刺繡,讓我最後拼合成更多遊走的衣物故事。

讓我們的集體針黹創作成為縫合人心的人文景觀,傳承得來不易的手藝,建構社區空間的新面貌,油街見!

We have overcome many obstacles to secure the best campsite at last, where I will share what I have seen and heard. At the same time, I will spend half a year collecting everyone’s memories and recruit slow stitch nomads to turn them into embroideries together, so that in the end I may connect them into many more travelling clothes stories.

May this collective stitching creation bring a new culture for the sewing up of hearts, and may it pass on hard-earned craftsmanship and form the new face of community spaces. See you on Oil Street!

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