page_title: Ha Bik Chuen
section_title: Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi
hierarchical_section_title: Ha Bik Chuen / Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi
caption_attribution_description: English: Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi, 2016
context_page_description: Ha Bik Chuen, also known as Xia Biquan was a Hong Kong painter, sculptor, photographer and craftsman. Born in Xinhui, Guangdong Province of China, he moved to Hong Kong in 1957, and began to study sculpture. He joined the Chinese Contemporary Artists' Guild in 1960. He is also a member of Hong Kong Visual Arts Society, Hong Kong Graphic Society and Hong Kong Sculptors Association.
  Specialized in woodblock print, paper relief and sculpture, his versatility marked his unique characteristics. He liked to use harmonious colors and simple compositions to reveal everyday objects in natural environments, such as autumn foliage, wilting leaves and discarded ropes with special attention to tonal balance and textural treatment.
  Primarily known as a sculptor and printmaker, Ha Bik Chuen had parallel practices of photographing exhibitions he attended, and collecting materials including illustrated magazines and artist portraits which he also used in the construction of book collages. Ha’s entire collection has been stored in his Hong Kong studio in To Kwa Wan since his passing in 2009 until its relocation to Fo Tan in 2016.
context_section_description: The media artist Walid Raad was introduced to the work of Ha Bik Chuen during his 2014 residency at the Asia Art Archive. Raad immediately realised Ha's affinity to one of his fictional collaborators, Suha Traboulsi. A fictional collaboration was forged between Traboulsi and Ha, which resulted in the exhibition Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi in 2016 at the AAA library,
  ‘Between 1967 and 2009, Hong Kong-based artist Ha Bik Chuen collaborated with the Beirut-based artist Suha Traboulsi on a number of projects. Most of these remained out of view until 2010, after Ha's death, when his archives were unpacked and studied. The two met in 1962 when Traboulsi travelled to Hong Kong to research Chinese calligraphic practices. They struck an immediate friendship that soon turned into an artistic collaboration from afar: Ha in Hong Kong and Traboulsi in Beirut.
  For Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi at the AAA Library, works from two collaborative series are on display: 'Editor’s Introduction' (1972–1980) and 'Notes' (1983–2009).'Editor's Introduction' consists of several 'sculptural spaces' built by Traboulsi and inspired by Ha's ephemera-laden collage books. 'Notes' consists of Traboulsi's reproductions of canonical modern paintings by Arab artists: Inji Efflatoun, Abdel Hadi el-Gazzar, Hamed Nada, Ibrahim el-Salahi, Marwan, Seta Manoukian, among others. The Traboulsi reproductions were scattered among several of Ha's collaged notebooks. Traboulsi never revealed where her productions were strewn, and it has taken several years of painstaking archival research to reassemble some of her paintings shown here.’
  – Walid Raad
caption: Exhibition view of Walid Raad: Section 39_Index XXXVII: Traboulsi at Asia Art Archive Library in 2016
exif: {}