Shirley Tse Explores Heterogeneity in Hong Kong Pavilion at 2019 Venice Biennale

Shirley Tse represents Hong Kong at the 2019 Venice Biennale with her exhibition 'Stakeholders', a collateral event located at Arsenale, Castello, 2126 (Campo della Tana). The show continues her investigation into heterogeneity, emphasizing interdependency, play, and non-predetermined outcomes through two installations—one indoor and one outdoor. Tse employs diverse technologies like woodturning, 3D printing, and HAM radio, alongside various materials and wood species, marking an exciting moment with new methods. She reflects on Hong Kong's unique postcolonial identity, noting that an official collateral event amplifies such representation and lived experience. Tse questions the national pavilion model's relevance, given artists' transnational lives, and describes her work as rooted in plasticity rather than specific geography, aligning with Hong Kong's fluid, transitional identity. Her earliest Venice Biennale memory dates to 1990, featuring Bernd and Hilla Becher in the West Germany Pavilion and Jenny Holzer representing the United States. Tse looks forward to seeing Ralph Rugoff's exhibition 'May You Live in Interesting Times', having previously collaborated with him in California. The Biennale runs from May 11 to November 24, 2019.