UCCA is proud to present a talk with Laurent Gutlerrez and Valérie Portefaix of MAP Office, moderated by Cao Fei, founder of Rag, to accompany the exhibition The Oven of Straw. The speakers will cover the subjects of production and urbanism, and utopia and agriculture.

In dealing with physical and imaginary territories, MAP Office’s work forms a critique of spatio-temporal differences. From Hong Kong to the Pearl River Delta, from urban density to rural development, and from infrastructures to virtual platforms, their projects document how we subvert and appropriate the environment we live in.

Note:

FREE, ticket required. See Ticketing & Participation*.

Laurent Gutlerrez, b. 1966 in Morocco, co-founder of MAP Office. He is Associate Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is currently doing a PhD on the “Processes of Modernization and Urbanization in China focusing on the Pearl River Delta region”. He lives and works in Hong Kong.

Valérie Portefaix, b. 1969 in France, co-founder of MAP Office. She is Visiting Assistant Professor at the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She holds a Master of Architecture, School of Architecture Paris-Belleville, and a PhD in Urbanism, University Pierre Mendes France. She lives and works in Hong Kong.

Cao Fei, b. 1978 in Guangdong. Works primarily in video and multimedia installation. Her noted project, "RMB CITY," created in the online world of Second Life, was launched in 2009.

Rag

“Rag” is not exactly a collective, since it has neither fixed members nor regular events, but has rather emerged from an interest-group-like discourse structure. Established unintentionally by artist Cao Fei in 2012, Rag approaches various topics in a “instant-approachable-flexible” fashion.