2025 | Outdoor Mixed-Media Wall Installation (with Workshop & Public Engagement Programmes) | The Mills & In Time Of

VISUAL DESIGN OF WALL INSTALLATION

Three Generations of Women

The narrative is anchored by three monumental female figures from the story, representing the generations of grandmother, mother and daughter, arranged in the front layer of the wall. Each looks slightly upward with her right arm raised, a shared gesture of determination and dignity that links their experiences across time. 

The grandmother is using a sewing machine, embodying the skill and labour that sustained her family in earlier decades. The mother, dressed in a business suit and holding a book, signals access to education and growing social equality in the early 1980s. The daughter, representing the present, wears a more relaxed outfit and holds the patterned pyjamas echoing her grandmother’s sewing, suggesting a generation that has inherited both material comfort and a renewed appreciation for local craftsmanship, cultural heritage and the search for purpose.

Urban, Workers and Nature

Kapok flowers sit at the heart of the visual language. The wall explores the relationship between the city, local communities, textile workers and the cotton trees that line its streets. These trees are imagined as quiet witnesses to the evolution of the neighbourhood, its industries and everyday lives, reminding us of our connections with family, people, place and nature, and of the need to cherish the moments right in front of us.

The horizontal artwork reads like an unfolding visual archive: from old cinemas and rooftop schooling to tong lau balconies and local street stalls. Traditional textile tools such as sewing machines, needle threaders and weaving shuttles sit alongside cassette tapes, retro televisions and mobile devices from different eras, tracing changes in technology and daily rituals across decades. 

Familiar details such as calendar pages, letter boxes, piggy banks and public vehicles are scattered throughout, allowing visitors of different generations to find their own points of recognition. Activities across ages also appear in the illustration, including children playing hopscotch, adults playing mahjong and an elderly ice cream seller on a custom bicycle. These scenes weave the artwork into Hong Kong’s daily life while reflecting the city’s industrial and social history.

Shifts in Mindset (through Women’s Innerwear)

Subtle elements in the changing styles of women’s undergarments quietly document shifts in autonomy, body image and cultural expectations. Conservative white bras with modest cut, hanging to dry on bamboo poles, evoke a more restrained era; later, lingerie appears on television advertisements, hinting at emerging self-awareness. In the present, young women wearing sports bras and fitted pants while practising outdoor yoga point towards comfort, confidence and embodied empowerment.

Together, these visual cues connect intimate aspects of everyday life with broader changes in women’s roles and the city’s industrial landscape, making social history visible and memorable through small, recognisable scenes.

LAYOUT DESIGN FOR VISUAL IMPACT

Designed for Multiple Viewing Perspectives

From afar, the three giant women in the front layer are clearly visible, creating an impactful focal feature that marks the core narrative of the installation. They are complimented by a bold red and green colour scheme inspired by kapok blossoms and The Mills’ preserved architecture and staircases. Up close, visitors can follow fine linework, micro stories and hidden motifs in the lower layers that reward slow and attentive looking. The continuous horizontal illustration forms a connected and rhythmic composition that reads as a single coherent landscape (spanning districts from Tsuen Wan to Sham Shui Po and further into Kowloon).

Framing the City

The main visual places kapok flower clusters on both sides as metaphorical viewfinders, enhanced with woven elements in rattan. Standing in the middle of the artwork feels like peering out from a cotton tree, echoing the narrator’s angle described in the short story. This framing perspective reinforces the idea of nature as a gentle witness to the city’s transformation and positions visitors as temporary observers within a shared city archive.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

Co-creation of Giant Weaving Flowers

Kapok flowers serve as a significant and symbolic motif throughout the wall artwork, weaving together the stories of three generations. Their language of flowers speaks of cherishing the happiness before us. As part of the project, a series of community weaving sessions was organised and led by the local weaving team Breakthrough Arts Studio, inviting neighbours and members of the local community to co-create giant woven kapok flowers in various colours and forms designed by visual artist UUendy Lau. These collective creations now form part of the wall artwork installed on both sides, embodying shared hands, shared stories and shared joy.

Postcard Series for Embroidery

The project extends beyond the wall art itself. Visual artist UUendy Lau has designed a year-long series of embroidery postcards, each featuring a woman character from the wall visual and made with perforated holes for simple stitching. Visitors are invited to locate the corresponding detail in the wall, photograph it and redeem a postcard at the concierge, then add their own embroidery at home. This “mini game” turns close looking into a small act of making, allowing people to carry a fragment of the story with them and contribute their own thread to the narrative.

📌 How to redeem a postcard:
1) Snap a photo at The Weaving Wall – A Love Letter from Kapok that captures the elements featured on the postcard.
2) Show the photo at the concierge to redeem the postcard of the month.

PUBLIC WORKSHOP

Workshop | Kapok Flower Calendar DIY 

In this workshop, participants were guided by UU to learn basic weaving, embroidery and hand-sewing techniques while creating personalised calendars that mark meaningful dates alongside the flowering cycle of cotton trees. They were also invited to choose a day on the calendar, stitch it, and plan a visit to see the kapok blossoms with friends or family. The activity encourages reflection on time, care and shared moments, offering a quiet counterpoint to the fast pace of city life.

PROCESS & MAKING

A Year of Development

Process and collaboration are central to this wall installation. The project developed over almost a year, with around nine months devoted to intensive research, sketching, designing the main visual and layout, and testing materials. During this period, the artists and curatorial team explored production methods that could withstand outdoor conditions while retaining colour vibrancy and tactility for long-term display, and considered how best to honour the legacy of local textile crafts and industries.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Part of The Mills’ Textile Story

The Weaving Wall sits within The Mills’ ongoing commitment to revisiting Hong Kong’s industrial past and reimagining it in a contemporary cultural context. Since its revitalisation in 2018, the site has explored new ways of connecting textiles, community and everyday life through exhibitions, installations and public programmes.

This artwork continues that trajectory by transforming a former factory rooftop into a space for collective memory, storytelling and encounter. Through the intertwined languages of literature, image and fibre, it honours the labour of previous generations while opening space for new forms of creativity, dialogue and belonging.