step up! was an exhibition that celebrated Hong Kong’s stairs through art, theatre, dance, design and community initiatives, curated by Melissa Cate Christ, transverse studio and a collaborative partner with Very Hong Kong. It consisted of performances, events, art, and architecture installations which reflected on conflict, ownership, responsibility and cultural occupation in the context of public right of ways in Hong Kong. The installations were situated on an essential typology of pedestrian right of way, the staircase.
The intent of step up! was to bring greater awareness about the importance and role of stairs in Hong Kong culture and daily life. As part of the everyday landscape of mountainous Hong Kong, outdoor stairways play a critical role in creating a permeable and accessible public realm. Embedded in hillsides, stacked on sidewalks or replacing streets and alleys altogether, Hong Kong’s ubiquitous and often emergent stairs (and the complex wayfinding they enable) are a reflection of a diverse city in continual flux. Serving as markets, ephemeral gathering places, secret short-cuts, wedding photo hot-spots, or quiet rest areas away from vehicular traffic, stairways are a vital typology of pedestrian and community infrastructure which define and embody the shared cultural experience of Hong Kong’s extreme topography. Stairs in many places in the city are threatened by careless maintenance practices, infrastructure proposals and/or urban development – step up! was a chance to celebrate these unique places and the often unacknowledged stair culture they engender in Hong Kong.
Although it is relatively straightforward for government departments or utilities to acquire an excavation permit to destroy and rebuild the public surface, granting permission to occupy the same spaces with art is a perplexing jurisdictional conundrum. Therefore the challenge of step up! was to design and install work which was light, temporary, site specific, and interactive. For the performances, the challenge was how to leave a trace, evidence of an event past, or a clue to a future one.
For all projects, the intent was to uncover the hidden potentials of stairs as occupiable public spaces, celebrate the uniqueness and complexity of Hong Kong’s urban fabric and inject an element of spontaneity and surprise into our everyday routines.
We chose 8 stairs, with 11 installations and 6 performances/events by 13 artists, which followed a path from Dominion Garden (the Wan Chai hub for the Very Hong Kong festival) to Tai Ping Shan, the primary site of step up!. The goals of VHK (to celebrate and occupy Hong Kong’s public spaces), fit with the objectives of step up!, so we worked with them as a collaborative partner, with one installation on the stairs from Dominion Garden up to Sun Street, which also housed maps to the rest of the locations and events.
拾級！是一個集結在地（樓梯）性表演，活動和藝術裝置的展覽，是為 Melissa Cate Christ, transverse studio 所策劃，反思公眾在香港使用樓梯的權利的矛盾、擁有權、責任和文化佔領的背景。藝術品置於香港島一種非常重要的城市元素－樓梯。 當中參展者有本地和海外藝術家及一些社區組織，包括meikilee (音樂表演)，平野幹（現場畫畫表演和裝置）；HerStory (舞蹈和表演為基礎的裝置)；磅巷關注組（樓梯導賞）；殷家樑（攝影）；何紫君 (雕塑)；戴安攸(混合媒體裝置)；黃振強 (混合媒體裝置)；區詠欣 （聲音裝置） 及 Andrew Toland 和 Tiffany Hambley (混合媒體裝置)。
拾級！意圖在香港日常生活文化當中，喚起人們對樓梯的關注，了解他們的重要性和作用。香港多山而路不平坦，在朔造一個具滲透力和方便進入的公共空間時，樓梯發揮了關鍵性的作用。不論是沿山坡而建，與行人路重疊或取代了街巷，香港這些普及而無處不在的樓梯（以及因它們所形成尋路上的複雜性）都反映出一個多元化城市裡面的不斷變遷。它們成為市集，短暫的聚腳地，秘密捷徑，拍攝結婚照片的熱點，或遠離交通，自我形成較安靜的作息區。樓梯是構成行人和社區設施存在的重要結構，並幫助定義和呈現出香港極端地型的共同文化經驗。在城市裡，佈滿不同角落的樓梯大多不被小心維修和保養，甚至承受由建設計劃和城市發展而帶來的威脅。拾級！藉此機會接觸這些富有獨特性的樓梯和推廣還未得到肯定的樓梯文化。
政府部門和公共事業相對地較能直接獲得掘路准許証用作清拆和重建之用，但以藝術之名申請牌照佔領同樣的空間卻是一個何其大的難題。所以，拾級！是為了挑戰而設計輕型的、帶有暫時性的，在地性的和互動的裝置藝術，而表演的重點是如何留下痕跡，讓它成為過去的証明和將來的延伸。
展出的全部意圖發掘樓梯隱藏的潛力以成為可被佔領的公共空間，並且推廣香港城市結構的獨特性和複雜性，更為日常生活注入自發性的元素。
我們選取了8條樓梯，邀請共13位本地和海外藝術家，分別參與創作合共11個裝置藝術和6項表演。展覽路線由灣仔東美花園 (乃為 Very Hong Kong Festival 的中心地帶) 至拾級！的主場－太平山。而剛巧舉辦這節目的組織 非常香港 的理念與拾級！的目的理念吻合，所以這次有幸成為合作伙伴，共同慶祝及佔據香港的公共空間。除了在東美花園至星街的樓梯上設置了一個裝置藝術，是此展覽其餘十個裝置藝術及活動在均在不同的樓梯間發生。