Returning to Tai Kwun, the second edition of Open the Box is a durational spectator-led programme led by Japanese artist Shinji Ohmaki. Tai Kwun Contemporary is excited to present the second edition of Open the Box. Returning to Tai Kwun for the summer, Open the Box 2025: Bloom of Light continues a project that opens up gallery and white cube spaces, typically reserved for curators and artists. Running from 5 July to 3 August 2025, this special event reverses roles, inviting audience aged five or above to become the artist and craft with fellow visitors and participants.
Exploring innovative approaches to community engagement, Open the Box offers up an alternative to conventional programming that has the potential to shape the future of museums. Led by Japanese artist Shinji Ohmaki, Bloom of Light is part of the artist’s ongoing Echoes Infinity series. This vibrant and engaging interactive installation invites participants to create floral motifs and patterns throughout an ever-growing gallery space, exploring themes of memory, time, and the creation of light in collaboration with the audience.
The artist’s uniquely delicate style, infused with traditional Japanese techniques, embodies the dual significance of transience and growth. The patterns featured in the works are collected by the artist from around the world, he incorporates local cultural elements from each city he visits, such as the bauhinia flower in Hong Kong, forming a continuously evolving process of accumulation, renewal, and organic development.
As visitors fashion their flowers, they contribute to an evolving shared space, weaving their memories into the artwork, culminating in a piece which unveils different cultural perspectives on identity and meaning. Celebrating the diversity of thought in Hong Kong, Asia, and beyond, the installation captures collective light: the light each carries within, and that blooms through human connection.
Join Tai Kwun for a programme bursting with colour, where families, friends, and fellow visitors can reflect on the nuances of identity and see their creative voice splashed across the walls of one of the city’s premier art spaces.
Admission tickets are required for the co-creation period. Please see the programme details below:
Date: 5 July – 3 August 2025
Co-creation Period: 5 – 27 July
Closed on Mon
Time:
Tue – Fri 2pm – 6pm
Sat – Sun 11am – 7pm
Ticketed Admission:
$180 (Includes one material pack and entry fee for at most two people)
$240 (Includes one material pack and entry fee for at most three people)
Public Viewing Period: 29 July – 3 August
Closed on Mon
Tue – Sun 11am – 7pm
Free Admission
Closing Ceremony: 3 August 2025
4pm – 7pm
Free Admission
Location: 3/F, JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun
Artists: Shinji Ohmaki
Curated by Veronica Wong
with Assistant Curator Christy Chow and Coordinator Vanessa Wong
The entire site of Tai Kwun is open to the public daily from 8am to 11pm, while Tai Kwun Contemporary at JC Contemporary is open from Tuesdays to Sundays from 11am to 7pm. Closed on Monday.
Programme details are subject to change; please refer to the Tai Kwun website for news and updates.
