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Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui’s “Fermata” Brings the Rhythms of Hong Kong to Venice

With immersive installations of light, sound, water and textiles, the exhibition illuminates the city's quieter frequencies and the oftentimes overlooked rhythms of everyday urban life.

“Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice,” one of the collateral shows of the 61st Venice Biennale, creates a bridge between two cities shaped by water and marked by strong maritime histories. Artists Kingsley Ng and Angel Hui have transformed the Campo della Tana, next to the Arsenale, into a subtle choreography of light, sound and movement, constructing a sequence of sensory and poetic evocations of the daily rhythms of Hong Kong. Visitors are immersed in a synesthesiatic experience that traces the city’s gradual transition from night into day. “The whole installation unfolds as a time-space sequence on a loop; every second and every session offers some surprise,” Hui tells Observer, explaining how, rather than presenting isolated objects, the artists conceived the exhibition as a shared sensory journey connecting multiple practices. Although this marks their first collaboration, Hui previously studied installation under Ng, establishing an intergenerational dialogue between their approaches.

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Sound plays a central role in their collective world-building. Field recordings from Hong Kong at night—including transportation noises, birdsong and distant urban atmospheres—were integrated into a collaborative soundscape that evolves throughout the installation’s 10-minute cycle. “I told Ng Kingsley what I imagined, and he helped compose it because we see the entire exhibition as one journey, not separate works,” Hui explains, describing the totality of the show as a choreographed temporal experience.

"Fermata: Hong Kong in Venice" Artists: Kingsley........

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