隨水而泊 Hitch a Ride on Water: Frank Fischbeck Collection

回溯到十五至十七世紀的大航海時代，歐洲列強開始遠洋探索，尋找新的貿易路線與伙伴。然而香港這個地方，卻是直到十八至十九世紀，才始見於西方的地圖和文獻。當中對香港海域的詳盡記錄，印證其優越的地理位置和港口深度，早在開埠前便吸引不少中外商貿活動。這個曾被謔稱為地瘠山多、水源缺乏的荒島，亦終被英國選為殖民地。

維多利亞港自此見證香港這個邊陲小島如何搭上通往世界的航道。作為島嶼系列的終章，「隨水而泊」從 Frank Fischbeck Collection 這個涵蓋上世紀香港歷史和文化遺產的照片庫中，精選出四十七幀與維港相繫的照片，配以兩段委約拍攝的錄像，探索香港應水而生的城市面貌和人文景象，藉此重新思索維港自開埠後接近兩個世紀，對香港的意義和價值。是次展覽冀藉重新展示、沖曬和派發這些舊照片，讓昔日處於封存於檔案庫的遺珍得以再度流傳，從而引發與當下相扣的討論。宛如1972年太空人 Jack Schmitt 在外太空拍下第一張地球全貌的照片《藍寶石》，在報章刊登後，隨之觸發人類對宇宙、烏托邦和未來的討論和想像。

European powers began their overseas explorations during the Age of Exploration in the 15th to 17th centuries, and, as part of their efforts to discover new trading partners and routes. However, it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that Hong Kong appeared on Western maps and written records. These materials charted the waters near Hong Kong Island for commercial purposes and demonstrate that Hong Kong’s prime geographical location as well as its deep waters had attracted Chinese and foreign trading activities long before the city’s opening as a port. Hong Kong –– once jokingly described as a barren rock due to its barren and mountainous landscape, and limited access to water –– was ultimately selected by Britain to be a colony.

Victoria Harbour has since witnessed Hong Kong’s trajectory from being a peripheral island to a central shipping node en route to the world. As the final chapter of the island series, Hitch a Ride on Water showcases 47 photographs related to the Victoria Harbour from the Frank Fischbeck Collection, which encompasses photography that cover Hong Kong’s history and cultural heritage of the past century. The selected photographs, and the two commissioned videos, explore the urban landscape and everyday life of Hong Kong as a city born out of its intimate relations with the waters, and to reexamine Victoria Harbour’s significance to Hong Kong almost two centuries after the city’s opening as a port city. This exhibition aims to reanimate these old photographs through their renewed display, processing, distribution, circulation, and to inspire conversations on contemporary issues. An example of this is the Blue Marble –– the first image of the full Earth taken from space by astronaut Jack Schmitt in 1972 –– which stimulated people’s discussions and imaginations of the universe, utopia, and the future since its publication in newspapers.