Exhibition · Ora-Ora Gallery · Hong Kong
Ora-Ora is delighted to announce a major new multi-disciplinary group show for August, and its first collaboration with independent Hong Kong-based curator Zoie Yung. “The Pleasure-Dome of Hills: A Curated Hallucination of a Modern Literati” pays tribute to Ora-Ora’s location in Tai Kwun and Hollywood Road, including the fine rosewood furniture trade with which the street is synonymous. It opens on August 27, 2026. The line-up of 13 artists, many of whom are from Hong Kong, is as follows: Chan Cho Kiu Bunchi, Emily Cheng, Dave Chow Yui Wang, Huang Dan, Ashlee Ip, Vann Kwok, Lam Duen Shan Ming, Lau Hiu Tung, Mindy Lui, Gerald Mak, Tse Chun Sing, Wengio Wong, and Zhang Zhihui. Curated around the fictional layout of a scholar’s studio, the presentation juxtaposes Ming Dynasty huanghuali, Qing Dynasty zitan and Republican Period Rosewood furniture with contemporary art, crafts, and wearable art. Ora-Ora becomes a space of “polytemporality” where historical monuments and contemporary interventions seamlessly intersect. It also becomes a space where not only the beauty but the function of heterogenous art is celebrated. Huanghuali furniture’s distinct yellowish hue from the rosewood tree native to southern China was especially prized by China’s scholarly elite from the Ming dynasty to Qing dynasty. Zitan, a rare, heavy purple-black rosewood, was in demand for its colour and suitability for fine carvings. The Republican-period piece included in the exhibition blends late Qing regional aesthetics with early 20th-century craftsmanship and strongly reflects Southern, or Cantonese, furniture styles. Noting the combination of diverse artistic forms within the exhibition, Ora-Ora CEO Dr. Henrietta Tsui-Leung commented: "The combination of Ming Dynasty huanghuali and visionary contemporary artists represents no contradiction, but is a compelling example of how art and lifestyle are entwined. For our collectors, art is an experience to be enjoyed as much as a creation to be…