Oil Street Artist Village () was an artist community occupying the former Government Supplies Department Headquarters (GSDH) at Oil Street, Fortress Hill, Hong Kong from 1998 to 2000. It has been described as Hong Kong's first artists colony.

History

The Oil Street Government Supplies Department compound was vacated after the relocation of the department in 1998. The Hong Kong Government had initially planned to sell the compound for commercial purpose, but suspended land sale temporarily in 1998, following a downward trend in the real estate market as a consequence of the

1997 Asian financial crisis The Asian financial crisis was a period of financial crisis that gripped much of East Asia and Southeast Asia beginning in July 1997 and raised fears of a worldwide economic meltdown due to financial contagion. However, the recovery in 1998–1 ...

. The land was instead rented to local artists and organisations on a short-term lease with a low rental fee of HK$ 2.5 dollars per square foot in July 1998. Tenants comprised about 40 artists, designers and cultural organisations including 1a space,

Videotage Videotage () is a Hong Kong-based Nonprofit organization, non-profit art organisation dedicated to nurturing emerging media artists and the development of the local new media art community. Since 1986, Videotage has evolved from an Artist collect ...

and the Artist Commune. The artists of Oil Street Artist Village were evacuated in late 1999 and early 2000, following a government proposition to sell the land. They were temporarily relocated to the

Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir (; ) is a former slaughterhouse in Cheung Sha Wan, in the Sham Shui Po District of Hong Kong. It was closed in 1999. Cheung Sha Wan Abattoir, together with the slaughterhouses in Kennedy Town Kennedy Town is at th ...

and the site of the former airport at Kai Tak as well as several factory buildings. In 2001, they were allowed to settle in the former

Ma Tau Kok Ma Tau Kok Road Old apartments Ma Tau Kok () is a place north of To Kwa Wan, south-east of modern-day Ma Tau Chung and south-west of the former Kai Tak Airport (now Kai Tak Development) in Hong Kong. It was a cape in Kowloon Bay in Victoria Harbo ...

Quarantine Depot, that was subsequently renamed Cattle Depot Artist Village.Legislative Council of Hong Kong,
LCQ15: Cattle Depot Artist Village
, 22 April 2009 Artists groups also moved later into industrial buildings in Fo Tan. The Oil Street Government Supplies Department building that had been rented to artists was finally demolished years later, after land sale had been further postponed. The Oi! art space opened in 2013, developed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, and aiming at promoting arts and providing venue for exhibition. It is located at 12 Oil Street, within the former clubhouse of

Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club The Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club is a Hong Kong watersports club for sailing, rowing and paddling. History In 1849 the ''Victoria Regatta Club'' was formed and later absorbed into the ''Hong Kong Boating Clu''b which, in 1889, was in ...

from 1908 to 1938, and next to the site of the demolished Government Supplies Department building, which housed the former Oil Street Artist Village.

References

External links

List of 1999 exhibitions
at 1a space, Oil Street
Uncatalogued: The Case of Oil Street Artist Village
a 2012 exhibition by

Asia Art Archive Asia Art Archive (AAA) is a nonprofit organisation based in Hong Kong which focuses on documenting the recent history of contemporary art in Asia within an international context. AAA incorporates material that members of local art communities ...

Arts centres in Hong Kong Hong Kong art Fortress Hill

History

References

Further reading

External links