A market is perhaps one of the most ancient social inventions. Central Market is as old as Hong Kong as a port city, selling food of the best quality and providing necessities for generations and generations of families. The market is a witness of how the city has evolved.
Over the past 170 years, Central Market has been demolished three times and rebuilt twice. The existing modernist architecture was completed in 1939. The market was then given a Grade 3 historic building status in 1990. Since the Market’s closure in 2003, there had been debates over its preservation or demolition. Conservation plans were once formulated and scrapped. In the summer of 2017, the revitalisation project finally kicked off. Four years later, which is the summer of 2021, Central Market reopened as a playground for all.
Discussions about the significance of the market has been largely about the architectural merits of the building. In this hybrid-mode talk, Dr Chloe Lai, urbanist, will present her latest documentary “Not Just Buying Food: Central Market Rendezvous” (approximately 30 minutes). The documentary is a collection of interviews with six individuals who used to work or shop at Central Market. They tell us what they remember about the old Market, as well as their expectations for the Market as it reopens. Apart from personal interviews, this short film also includes animations and aerial shots that allow us to view Central Market from different angles.
The Speakers
Dr Chloe Lai is a journalist-turned-storyteller. She curates a digital story museum named Urban Diary (https://www.urbandiarist.com/en/). Urban Diary is a collage of stories which features the arts and crafts of the ordinary Hong Kong people that make the city vibrant, diverse and resilient. Dr Lai uses engaged journalism to narrate stories of everyday life. She firmly believes in discovering different ways of living in the ruthlessly development-driven Hong Kong
Ian Tan, PhD candidate at HKU, whose research is about architectural history and building materials will trace the development of Hong Kong’s sanitary infrastructure and public health measures against diseases like cholera and typhoid fever by focusing on the 2nd generation Central Market built in 1895. He will discuss how the planning and regulation of markets became a means to inculcate good hygiene and a space to showcase the latest sanitary technologies. These experiments to create good public health spaces would influence the planning of subsequent abattoirs and markets, including Kennedy Town Abattoir (completed in 1896), and 2nd generation Western Market (1906), and Ma Tau Kok Cattle Depot (1908).
Romaine Bamford, who first visited the Market in the mid-1950s when she was only five or six, will join the discussion and share her fond memories about the Market.
PROGRAMME
Time: 7:15pm – 8:30pm Hong Kong Time (desk reception opens at 6:45pm)
Admission: Café 8 - $150 for members, $200 for guests /non-members, numbers are limited. No charge for alternative Zoom.
Booking: Please email membership@royalasiaticsociety.org.hk in advance to register your attendance for either Café 8 or Zoom.