The Works：Exhibition "On the Brink of Borrowed Time: To Stay / To Flee" & in the studio: Cong Quarte

Looking back at 2020 as we are about to enter a hopefully more positive 2021, for Hong Kong this has been a year like no other. One way or another, the Covid-19 pandemic has affected us all. Although there is good news about the Covid-19 vaccines, new variants of the virus are still raising concerns. And then there are the social and political pressures that still worry many. For much of the territory’s history, many of those who have come here have seen Hong Kong as a temporary stop on a road to somewhere else. Others have settled and taken pride in their identity as Hongkongers. But Hong Kong has often been buffeted by storms, both literal and metaphorical, and – as one recently finished exhibition at the Hong Kong Arts Centre highlighted - each storm has led its residents to once again ask the recurring question: should I stay or should I go?

The Cong Quartet was formed by four friends at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in 2015. The quartet, with a slightly changed line up, is currently the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. They have also been supported by the Hong Kong Art Development Council’s Emerging Artists’ Scheme and participated as an ensemble at the Netherlands String Quartet Academy in Amsterdam. Recently, they returned to Hong Kong for a recital organised by the Museum of Art. Unfortunately, thanks to Covid-19, the physical concert cannot go ahead, but the recital will be streamed online.