2013年因著參與空城藝術節,初次走入坪洋公立學校。村校被殺多年,村民卻仍清楚記得校歌。在市區長大的我讀著歌詞,深受觸動——「雲山蒼蒼 碧樹茫茫」,一首校歌,勾勒出鄉村風光和對學生的期望。我和義工以鐵絲網屈出部份校歌歌詞,創作了裝置作品《校歌在地》,將字掛在校園各處,讓描述校園風景的文字回歸校園。 是次為《有你有我有田有山有水有意》在長春社古蹟資源中心構思一場工作坊,我想,該如何在港島市區做一件與鄉村學校有關的事?不如學習昔日村人胼手胝足、同心建校的精神,合力寫一首關於長春社四周街道的城市歌。沒有碧樹茫茫、稻麥飄香,街市興旺、麵包飄香又如何?將字帶到街上,齊齊造一個送給社區的作品。 I visited Ping Yeung Public School for the first time because of Emptyscape Arts Festival in 2013. The village school was closed for many years, but the villagers still remembered the school anthem well. As an urban dweller, I was touched by the lyrics: “rolling clouds and verdant mountains; boundless is the lush forest”. It is fascinating how the beautiful rural scenery and the school’s expectation for its students are all condensed into a school anthem. With the help from volunteers, I created the installation “School Song in-Situ” by bending pieces of metal mesh into the shape of some characters from the lyrics. Hung at different corners of the campus, these characters were returned to the school environment that they were used to describe. When asked to design a workshop for “I We You They He She It” at The Conservancy Association Centre for Heritage (which is in Sai Ying Pun), I wondered how we can do something related to village schools in an urban area on Hong Kong Island? In the spirit of villagers, who toiled and moiled to build village schools in one heart, we will co-create a ‘city anthem’ about the surroundings of CACHe. With no ‘lush forest’ or ‘fragrant harvest’ in sight, how about filling in the blanks by ‘bustling market’ or ‘fragrant bread’? Let us bring the characters of our song to the street and make a present for the neighbourhood. |