HMS Tamar (2014)
Video documentation of a performance
Single-channel video｜16:9｜HD｜Colour｜3’43″｜Chinese and English subtitle｜Stereo
Between 1897 and 1997, Tamar was a Royal Naval Base and the Prince of Wales Building was the most important and iconic building in the military shore base. At that time, on the external wall of the building facing east (towards Admiralty MTR station), apart from the nameplate hanging from the building, there was also a cross statue, which was reported to be a chapel built on the podium level. After the Handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the People’s Liberation Army was stationed at the Tamar site, and the external wall of the “Prince of Wales Building” was renovated. The English nameplate and cross were removed and the building was renamed as “The Building of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison” and replaced with a Chinese nameplate.
In 2012, in response to the Tamar expansion, Central reclamation, and construction of a military dock, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Hong Kong Garrison Building was again undergoing a comprehensive renovation and maintenance project, which will be completed in 2014. The whole building is covered with bamboo scaffolding and nets, and the nameplate is completely covered. I made a nameplate based on Mao Zedong’s “Serve the People” calligraphy and presented it to the PLA Hong Kong Garrison as a gift.
