Central's Alluring UFO

The UFO appeared in the distance, a vision of alluring beauty. Its pristine, white skin glistened amidst the pulsating coloured lights that are the life of this city. I walked towards the structure, perplexed and intrigued. What could this sleek, sensuous structure parked atop the old Star Ferry car park be? What lied within?

As I approached, I saw the name on the signboard that inspires in me the kind of delight akin to a teenage groupie finding out that her favourite band is about to roll into town: Zaha Hadid. The UFO in question is the Chanel Contemporary Art Container, containing works by the likes of Daniel Buren, David Levinthal, Michael Lin, Sophie Calle among others. The artists are all interesting, but what I really wanted to see and experience was the space.

The approach to the container, on this particular overcast day, made me think of Chris Marker's La Jetée, the image of the woman standing at the end of the jetty. The memory of the woman that comforts the protagonist through a post-apocalyptic present, we later find out, is actually the moment of himself, as a child, witnessing his own adult death.


Once inside Hadid's container, though, it was a warm and welcoming cocoon, with echoes of Eero Saarinen's TWA terminal. The deep, sultry, accented voice of a woman on the audio guide begins: "I was waiting for you...so impatiently...torn between pleasure and pain...I have such an overwhelming need to open up...to display my fantasies...open up my pack as the French would say...".

And so the show begins, 20 artists and their vision of what desires, insecurities and longings lie within a Chanel quilted bag.

Hong Kong is the first landing site for Mobile Art. From Hong Kong, it heads to Tokyo, New York, London, Moscow and finally Paris. The show runs here until 5 April 2008 and tickets (HK$10) can be booked via HK Ticketing.