My introduction to the Chinese artist collective Yangjiang Group came in the form of an elaborate tea ceremony at the 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art in Sydney where an impressive array of tea making apparatus and tea drinking paraphernalia. The act of taking tea is a common means of “breaking the ice,” which the Yangjiang Group’s tea ceremony did remarkably well, especially because of the language barrier. But it also served as an introduction to the Group’s practice and to the exhibition I was at 4A to see, “Actions for Tomorrow.”

It’s no secret that banqueting plays an important role in Chinese culture, and needless to say no exhibition opening here is complete without some serious eating and drinking. But for their first show in Hong Kong at Blindspot Gallery, Chinese artist collective theYangjiang Group have taken this cultural phenomenon a bit further, not only showing work created partly out of food, but also turning the leftovers from their opening night banquet into art works on the spot. 

The Yangjiang artist collective was founded in the eponymous Pearl River Delta town in 2002 by Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan and Sun Qinglin, and even though they pursue independent careers much of their work is still realized together. For their current show “After Dinner Shufa” — or "After Dinner Calligraphy” —  at Blindspot, they took their frequent bohemian drunken dinners together as the starting point for their work.