Cracking Art Public Installation Introduction

Harbour City kicks off its first public art project in 2023 with “Cracking Art Public Installation” by the renowned Italian art collective Cracking Art Group, which makes their first appearance in Hong Kong. From 31 January 2023 to 28 February 2023, 90 massive animal sculptures made from recycled plastic will be displayed in 6 locations throughout the mall, in various sizes and bright colours to engage and connect with the public.

Cracking Art holds this exhibition designed to dialogue with the environment and to stimulate interaction with visitors, and to remind the public on the importance of sustainability and environmental conservation. Cracking Art has exhibited at over 300 amazing locations worldwide, such as New York Central Park, Duomo di Milano, Four Seasons Hotel in Florence and Xintiandi in Shanghai. Appearing in unexpected spaces and places, the oversized coloured animals have always become the talk of the town. In its 30th Anniversary, Cracking Art makes its first appearance in Hong Kong.

The Ocean Terminal Forecourt of Harbour City is coloured and populated with giant rabbit sculptures (3 pieces of 2.5-meter-tall rabbits and 16 pieces of 55cm-tall rabbits), which sunbath along the city’s breathtaking waterfront. Unexpected encounters await with elephants, penguins, dogs, cats, bears, a crocodile and turtles – in total of 90 maxi sculptures in 8 species who find their spring residence all around Harbour City. Visitors are welcome to have an up-close interaction with them and enjoy spectacular views of the iconic Victoria Harbour.

To continue the mission of Cracking Art Group of minimizing waste and reducing the environmental impact, the sculptures will be returned after the exhibition and will be displayed in other cities.

Exhibition Details

• Cracking Art Public Installation
• Date: January 31 - February 28, 2023
• Location: Harbor City
• Address: 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

About Cracking Art

The name “Cracking Art” comes from the English verb “to crack”, which express the state of being split, broken, cracked, or crushed. For the artists, it represents the instant when something natural becomes artificial and is the reason why they seek to seize that very moment in their art form.

The Cracking Art Group is composed of six international artists. The artworks are designed to inspire a community-wide conversation about the anthropic effect on the natural environment through engaging performative projects in which out-of-scale installations- such as the worldwide known coloured animals- invade all kind of spaces, from those that are normally dedicated to art exhibits to then appear unexpectedly in everyday places.

With the intention to radically change the history of art through a strong social and environmental commitment, the Cracking Art movement was born in 1993. The revolutionary use of plastic materials investigates the close relationship between natural and artificial reality. The group dimension doesn’t limit each individual artist’s creativity: each member of the movement also works independently to develop their own interpretation of contemporary problems and tensions.

The source of the above information: Harbour City official website