HONG KONG.- Event Horizon by British artist Antony Gormley officially launched today, and will be a part of the Hong Kong cityscape for six months, until 18 May 2016. The most extensive public art installation ever seen in the city, Event Horizon brings Hong Kongers a chance to see and interact with a world renowned art project and delight in being the Asian city of choice for the arts – changing the face of contemporary art in the city forever while paving the way for public art.

This afternoon’s launch ceremony at Statue Square Gardens was officiated by Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBS, JP, Chief Secretary for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), together with artist Antony Gormley, Director of British Council Hong Kong Robert Ness, and Carmen Ho of K11 Art Foundation, along with student tour guides and students participating in the Youth Arts Foundation education programme. The Hong Kong community and HKSAR Government welcome the project, with support from renowned sponsors and local landlords.

“It gives me great pleasure to join you at the launch of this much awaited, major public art installation, Event Horizon Hong Kong, ” said Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor, GBS, JP, Chief Secretary for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). “I would like to thank Antony Gormley for choosing Hong Kong as the first city in Asia to embrace this significant project. It’s Asian premier in Hong Kong reinforces our position as an arts hub and an economy where creative industries are set to prosper. Indeed, Hong Kong’s condensed urban environment, unique topography and vertical density provisde an ideal setting for Sir Antony’s project.”

Antony Gormley said: “I am delighted to see that Event Horizon is launched in Hong Kong. Event Horizon captures the particular time of a particular body: a subjective place. The principle dynamic of the work is the relationship between imagination and the horizon, involving the citizen in a game of seeking and perhaps finding. Beyond those figures that you can actually see, how many more are out of sight? Where is the meeting place of earth and sky? Event Horizon engages Hong Kongers in the desire to look up and look again at familiar places in a new way, inviting reflection on human nature and our place in the wider scheme of things.”

Robert Ness, Director of British Council Hong Kong, said: “I’m delighted that we’re launching Event Horizon today and excited that it’s brought so many Hong Kong organisations, corporations, businesses and individuals together in this celebration of the transformational power of art. It’s amazing to see so many people craning their necks to get a better view of Antony’s sculptures and watch them recording the moment on their smartphones. Our Teaching Centre have produced education materials for distribution to all schools in Hong Kong, supported by a series of teacher development workshops. We’re responding to the debates about the place of ‘art’ in our busy urban lives and, indeed, the way we relate to the busy cityscapes in which we live.”