Ha Bik Chuen’s Motherboards & Collagraphs
Curated by Michelle Wun Ting Wong at Para Site, Reframing Strangeness honoured the legacy of Ha Bik Chuen on what would have been his 100th birthday. The exhibition offered a rare look into Ha’s artistic process by placing his collagraph plates, or “motherboards,” at the centre of the show. Usually understood as tools used to create prints, these plates were presented as artworks in their own right. Displayed alongside their corresponding prints, they revealed the layers of labour, experimentation, and visual thinking behind Ha’s practice. The Labour Behind the Image Ha Bik Chuen’s collagraph plates were made through a careful and time-consuming process. Using wood and other materials, he handcrafted more than 100 motherboards, which were later used to produce over 3,000 prints. The surfaces of these plates included Roman letters, Chinese oracle bone script, traditional Chinese characters, textures, fragments, and found forms. Together, they acted as a bridge between raw material and finished image, showing how Ha transformed everyday marks and objects into modernist compositions. By focusing on the plates rather than only the final prints, the exhibition encouraged visitors to think about the hidden labour behind artmaking. It also showed how tools, surfaces, and process can carry meaning beyond their original function. Hong Kong in Transition Ha’s work reflected the changing social and economic landscape of Hong Kong during the decades in which he developed his practice. His collagraphs captured a city in motion, shaped by migration, industry, urban growth, and shifting cultural identities. Rather than relying on dramatic scenes, Ha often worked with simple compositions, harmonious colours, and ordinary materials. Leaves, discarded objects, written characters, and textured surfaces became part of a visual language that connected daily life with broader questions of memory and place. His modernist approach gave quiet objects a new sense of presence. Through…