Microwave International New Media Arts Festival
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The Microwave International New Media Arts Festival (微波國際新媒體藝術節）is a new media art festival based in Hong Kong. Mainly government-funded, it began in 1996 as a video art festival.
In 2006, it went through a rebranding to become an independent organisation, with its Hong Kong design partner Milkxhake giving it a new look in fluorescent colours: fluorescent orange for the brand colour and another fluorescent color as each year's festival colour. In 2007 it officially became fully independent as the government's previous "presenter" role was handed over to Microwave. Two additional board members joined in the same year: media artist Helen Grace and LED artist Teddy Lo. The government remains the main sponsor of the Festival, although many more sponsors were sought for the Festival. In 2008 Milkxhake decided to go for more solid colours and chose black and white for the theme.
The annual festival has generally included an exhibition at the Hong Kong City Hall, a keynote conference, performances, screening programmes and other special events organised each year. In 2007, the Festival included a few new events, such as an alternative exhibition at the Hong Kong Film Archive (Project Room), an outdoor one-minute screening programme that makes use of the outdoor LED megascreens owned by collaborator JM Network around Hong Kong (Microwave x Project Canvas), a forum and a performance with US group Graffiti Research Lab that "hacked the city" with their L.A.S.E.R.T.A.G along the two sides of Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour as a special programme.
Along with the participation of local graffiti artist MC Yan, they achieved a record-breaking tag[1] 1200 metres across Victoria Harbour (James Powderly and MC Yan tagging from Central ferry, with Evan Roth and the local crew controlling the set up in front of the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui).
In its first extended event outside of the annual November Festival, Microwave also held the "A-Glow-Glow" Macro Interactive Media Art Exhibition in April 2008, which was funded by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and aimed for more mass appeal. Two large-scale interactive LED artworks were placed by the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, right across the harbour from the Hong Kong City Hall, where the annual festival main exhibition is held.
[edit] Festival 2008
Transient Creatures (異生界）
The Main Exhibition (7-16 Nov, Hong Kong City Hall) includes:
Mei Kei LAI (Macau) - Does it Make Scents To Have Fun?
Laurent MIGNONNEAU & Christa SOMMERER (Austria) - Life Writer
Anne NIEMETZ & Andrew PELLING (Germany/Canada) - The Dark Side of the Cell III
Tissue Culture & Art (hosted by SymbioticA, Australia) - Semi-Living Worry Dolls, Pig Wings, The Remains of Disembodied Cuisine (3 exhibits)
Project Room Exhibition (14-23 Hong Kong Film Archive) includes:
Adam BRANDEJS (Canada) - Genpets
Howard BOLAND & Laura CINTI (Norway/Italy) - The Martian Rose
Soyo LEE (Korea) - The Light and Reason of Dead Butterflies
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology (India) - Moon Vehicles
Yulu Wu (Beijing) - Rural Robots
Transient Creatures official website: microwavefest.net
[edit] Extended Exhibition - April 2008
"A-Glow-Glow" Macro Interactive Media Art Exhibition
"A-Glow-Glow" was held by the waterfront in Tsim Sha Tsui (Kowloon Peninsula), with two interactive LED installations by two artist groups:
Teddy Lo (HK) - Phaeodaria (placed by the Museum of Art)
United Visual Artists (UK) - Volume (placed on Avenue of Stars)
A-Glow-Glow Website: microwavefest.net/aglowglow
[edit] Festival 2007
Luminous Echo (形光譜)
The Luminous Echo main exhibition included:
Jens Brand (Germany) - Satelliten-Tuner
Henry Chu (Hong Kong) - The Sound of Market
Wolfgang Muench (Germany), Masaki Fujihata (Japan), Kiyoshi Furukawa (Japan) - Small Fish
Interactive Sonic Systems (Spain) - Reactable
Kingsley Ng (Hong Kong) - Musical Loom
Daan Roosegaarde (Netherlands) - Dune 4.1
Yao Bin (Beijing) - Luminescent Rain
MINMAF 2007 official website: microwavefest.net/2007
