"LONG TIME NO SEE" Interactive Exhibition at PMQ Captures a Moment in the past at the heart of Hong Kong

The centerpiece of the exhibition is an immersive mural featuring Central Hong Kong's major landmarks that freezes a moment in this unique community's heritage. The mural includes heritage buildings such as Tai Kwun, Central Market, Man Mo Temple and the Kom Tong Hall, which is today the Dr Sun Yat-sen museum. Illustrated in a modern and accessible style, the mural allows visitors to experience a unique mix of life that straddles both past and present. To create an even more engaging experience the exhibition uses augmented reality (AR) technology to bring parts of the mural alive on the smartphone screen, accessible via a free AR app available in major app stores.

Serving first as Central School and then as the residential quarters for the families of married junior police officers, PMQ transformed into its current incarnation as the creative landmark of Hong Kong in 2014. Snippets of typical PMQ life are celebrated in the exhibition's interactive animations located in its five Verandahs. Blending art and interactive technology, the animations allow visitors to virtually "step" into the daily routines of 1950s family's life in PMQ via the AR app in smartphone. Visitors can take selfies in the midst of virtual Mahjong games, traditional haircuts and more. Overseas tourists could upload their pictures with the animated characters with hashtag #PMQlongtimenoseehk to redeem an exclusive souvenir by showing the post and valid overseas travel document to PMQ staff at the information centre.

Victor Tsang, Executive Director of PMQ said: "The blend of East and West is what makes Hong Kong unique as a world city. This unique exhibition is designed to appeal to the nostalgic visitor as well as the tech-savvy one, bringing art and technology together to depict Central Hong Kong's unique history, heritage and culture in a bygone era. We are excited to have Bo Law, a former resident as the artist of the project to recreate different episodes that took place in these very units back in the old days, with lovingly illustrated artworks and interactive technology."

Bo Law is a Hong Kong-based artist and illustrator whose passion is art in the community. He has a very personal connection with PMQ. The son of a policeman, he lived there from the age of 8 till 13. His interpretations of PMQ are drawn from personal experience and reflect the curious yet accepting viewpoint of a lively child in a simpler age.

Home to over 100 creative businesses, PMQ is a platform for creative exploration, interaction and exchange, where talented designers mingle with business professionals and creative entrepreneurs. PMQ is raising the standards of creative design in Hong Kong and fostering new creative enterprises as they venture onto the local, regional and international stage.

The "LONG TIME NO SEE: A Virtual Encounter with Neighbourly Nostalgia" exhibition runs from now till March 31, 2017 at PMQ. The mural is on display in Exhibition Unit H402 from 10am to 8pm everyday; the interactive animations can be experienced in the five Verandahs outside rooms H402, H504, S601, S302 and S307 from 7am to 11pm daily. Admission is free.

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About the artist

Bo Law is a Hong Kong-based artist and illustrator whose passion is art in the community. Deriving inspiration from the living environment around him, he concentrates on the cityscape of Hong Kong in his work. Law actively participates in various art projects with local non-profit organisations and commercial corporates.

Law has a very personal connection with PMQ: the son of a policeman, he lived here with his parents, brother and sister from the age of 8 till 13. His depictions and interpretations of PMQ in its earlier incarnations are drawn from personal experience and reflect the curious yet accepting viewpoint of a lively child in a simpler age.

About PMQ

PMQ is part of the government's "Conserving Central" initiative and also one of the heritage conservation and revitalization projects under Development Bureau. Awarded with the operating rights after an open invitation for proposals, the Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation Ltd ("Musketeers Foundation") has set up a non-profit-making social enterprise to run this project, in collaboration with Hong Kong Design Centre, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and Hong Kong Design Institute of the Vocational Training Council (VTC), namely PMQ Management Co. Ltd. Not only to build this iconic design hub for the Hong Kong creative industries with the design community, PMQ also promotes "enterprising creativity", creativity manifestation, and sets out to nurture more local designers.

SOURCE PMQ Hong Kong