Tai Kwun art installation vandalized in suspected criminal damage

A public art installation titled “Waiting Pavilions” — created by Polish artist Alicja Kwade and displayed at Tai Kwun in Central — was found damaged on Sunday and a criminal damage investigation has been launched.

At 11.28am, security personnel reported that a large stone placed on a white chair, which forms part of the artwork, had separated and was lying on the ground.

Staff cordoned off the affected area, and police officers initially classified the case as criminal damage.

According to the Tai Kwun website, Waiting Pavilions is the artist’s first site-specific installation in Hong Kong, bridging the past and present in Tai Kwun’s Prison Yard.

The transparency of the bricks alludes to the unseen confines of modern life. The numerous white chairs nearby, each holding up a sizable stone, may also allow viewers to think about how the external environment is connected to our inner worlds.

With glass, metal, and stone, Kwade reimagines the waiting experience in a contemporary context. Six prison-like structures, built with glass bricks, dot the Prison Yard. 

This latest edition of Tai Kwun Contemporary’s public art commissions will be on view from 20 December 2024 through to the second half of 2026.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓