What Our Pot Plant Taught Me

One day until the opening of the third "Hong Kong Faces and Places" graduation exhibition. The exhibition will be held from April 5th to 14th for a duration of ten days. It will be located on the 9th floor of Hysan Place and will showcase the works of participants from semesters VII to IX.

The theme of this exhibition is "Grow Thy Communities". The meaning of the topic is yet to be revealed, and we sincerely invite everyone to come and visit.

The preparations for the exhibition are in full swing. Originally, my colleagues took turns taking care of our pot plant. In the busy month of March, I suddenly realised that I hadn't watered it for over a week, and I also forgot to trim the withered leaves. Just now, I quickly fed it half a cup of water, and I heard the dry soil happily singing, gurgling like a freshly poured cola.

There are many different plants in that pot, but the most prominent one is a herb with opposite, simple leaves. This wild grass blooms purple flowers and should be drought-resistant with strong vitality. We still don't know its name.

The pot plant was originally created by Helen Cheung, a participant from the Semester I. She lives in Ping Kong Village and records the people, scenery, and the relationship between villagers and nature in the village. During that time, Helen also tried gardening, and a pot of sensitive plants grown in Ping Kong soil is part of her coursework. After the first graduation exhibition in mid-2021, the sensitive plants were taken care of by us. Unfortunately, the sensitive plants didn't adapt well to the small pot and gradually weakened, eventually being replaced by the current unknown herb. Coincidentally, the pot also grew some clover and moss, becoming more lively.

Apart from the sensitive plants, the seeds that once slept deep in the mud would emerge when the time was right. The sensitive plant that used to grow in the same pot did not disappear out of thin air but rather materialised into nourishment, moisturising all living beings.

The advanced semester IX brings together a group of participants who want to gain a deeper understanding of sustainable development, communities, and narratives. They have accumulated knowledge from the introductory and advanced semesters and have depicted their ideal sustainable communities and cities.

The work of the same person in the introductory and advanced semester may seem unrelated. This season, many participants are from the semester VII and VIII. You can compare their works at the exhibition or search for other participants' past works on the Urban Diary webpage to ponder the connections between the two, adding to the enjoyment of visiting the exhibition.

The most direct way is to ask the participants from semester VII to IX who are stationed at the exhibition and listen to their personal accounts of the process of planting their own works.

Looking forward to seeing you at the exhibition!