HKPAX 2024: Time in a Bottle – Leon Ko / Freespace, West Kowloon Cultural District

Time in a Bottle by Leon Ko combines music with dioramas and scent to create a truly multisensory experience.

Time in a Bottle

Last week I had the great fortune to be in Hong Kong at the same time as HKPAX, the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo, was taking place.  Even more exciting, this is its inaugural year.  From 14 to 18 October, a range of local and international artists showcased their talents in arts venues across the city.  Additionally, arts practitioners were able to come together for talks, events and networking opportunities, promoting cross-cultural collaboration and the exchange of ideas.

As with some other excursions (like this one or this one), my primary focus for my week in Hong Kong was not tourism.  By scheduling carefully, however, I was able to attend a couple of events.  Despite the calibre and international reach of HKPAX, I decided to focus primarily on local contributors.  I am lucky to have the opportunity to see a variety of international acts at home in London, but am less familiar with Hong Kong’s arts scene, so this seemed like a great opportunity.  I started, therefore, with Time in a Bottle. 

This multi-disciplinary and sensory experience by Leon Ko took two forms.  Firstly, at certain times it was possible to attend a live musical performance.  At other times, visitors could explore the exhibition at their own pace during a timed slot.  I went for the latter.  Time in a Bottle consists of twelve dramatically lit scenes laid out around the perimeter of a performance space.  They group perfume bottles from Ko’s own collection into twelve themes or dioramas.  For self-guided exhibition visitors, there are QR codes leading to Ko’s composition for each scene, as well as a brief description and a QR code to download more information on the perfume bottles themselves.  Headphones were provided for those (like me) who forgot their own.  Gentle scents complete the multi-sensory experience.

A Great Start to HKPAX

Time in a Bottle starts with The Creation Myth, moves through themes like The Imperial Dynasties, War, Victory, Rebuilding the Modern Cities, and ends with Going Home.  There’s something of a narrative, therefore, or at least an arc of civilisation, destruction, and rebuilding.  Certain repeated musical themes also help to connect the scenes.  The music – for oboe, piano, and string quartet – is atmospheric and clever.  Ko evokes perfectly the worlds laid out in the small theatrical scenes.

If anything, I thought the experience was slightly hampered by logistics.  Each piece of music is about five minutes, meaning not much extra time during a one hour slot if you want to listen to all twelve.  Having groups start at the same time also meant a little crowding: fellow visitors in my time slot all gathered around the first scene, before realising it was more practical to spread out.  This has the benefit of more space, but means you lose that narrative arc.  In the end I couldn’t quite lose myself in the moment as I had one eye on the clock.

Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable experience.  The perfume bottles, some more than a century old, naturally lend themselves to the drama and theatricality of stage-like scenes.  I like that it engaged so many senses at once.  And Ko’s music, as I say, was evocative and clever, the short pieces knitting together into a recognisable and intriguing whole.  It was also an excellent opportunity to check out the West Kowloon Cultural District, a relatively new quarter of museums, cultural institutions and restaurants with great views of the Hong Kong skyline.  My experience of HKPAX was off to a good start!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Time in a Bottle was on as part of HKPAX (14-18 October 2024)