KIU COLLECTIVE
In Cantonese, the sound KIU refers to "a bridge / to bridge" ( 橋 ). KIU collective is an artist duo founded by the artists Filippo G. Iannone (b.1994. Italy) and Sinwah Lai (b. 1991. Honk Kong). They hold a MA in Fine Arts & Design at HKU university in Utrecht, The Netherlands. The fondness they nourish for nature motivates them to explore it through different mediums such as photography, performance, collage, and installation. KIU art practice is based on the idea that communication exists prior to language. Communication emerges from the entanglements of the elements within the environment. The dialogues between the two artists are developed through trust and intuitive experimentation with material encounters that belong to a specific place, providing intimate documentation that raises questions about possibilities and limits of human senses in relation to the environment.
SINWAH LAI
Sin Wah Lai (b. 1991, Hong Kong) is a multimedia artist. She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Taipei National University of the Arts, Taipei, Taiwan (2014) and an MA in Fine Arts from HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, the Netherlands (2020). Her practice takes the form of video and multimedia installation, socially engaged projects, performances and illustration. In recent years, her works tend to explore ways of thinking beyond the human and non-human divide. By poetically looking into minute moments that happen everywhere around us, Sin Wah Lai attempts to retell intimate stories in order to trace personal experiences and shape new collective memories. As a Buddhist, Sin Wah Lai attempts to build an everyday life practice anchored in the above-mentioned understanding of art.
Her solo exhibition Cotton Language, Cotton Road was presented at Na-bei Gallery, TNUA, Taipei in 2014. Selected group exhibitions include 4th International Performance Art Weekend-136.10 Hertz, Luisa Catucci Gallery, Berlin, Germany (2017); The New Voices of Art: Recommended Exhibition of graduates, Da Dun Gallery, Taichung, Taiwan (2014); Girls and Females, Eight and a Half Art Space, TNUA, Taipei (2012). (Co-)curated art projects include Learn from Land, Gift from Land, Mapopo Community Farm, Hong Kong (2016); Walk in Sing Ping, Sing Ping Village, Hong Kong (2015) and Dream Museum Project, HK international Art Fair09, Hong Kong (2009). In 2012, she was the annual columnist of ‘The Lunar Calendar’ on T&D Monthly, published by Taiwan National Training Institute for Farmers' Organisations.
FILIPPO GIUSEPPE IANNONE
Filippo G. Iannone , born in Rome, Italy in 1994 , lives and works in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He holds a BA in photography from the College of Applied Science of Sydney Ultimo TAFE 2014/2016. Association process is a key method of Iannone’s practice. His body of work contains elements that have a personal value for the artist: everyday objects, photographs , moving images , to name some. Searching for intersections within cultural and historical contexts and meticulously revising memories and narratives, the artist constructs abstract geographies and bridges distances between temporalities. In addition to the aforementioned , exploration of the role of visual images is an important aspect of his research.