為未來一代，記錄現在香港 | Record the present Hong Kong, for the future generations

雖然說我們時常抱怨香港高壓的生活，但我們對這片彈丸之地可以說是又愛又恨；就算生活辛苦，但仍然熱愛這片土地。

Even though we complain about the stressful urban life in Hong Kong a lot, yet, people have a love-and-hate relationship with this small piece of land; life is tough, but it doesn’t affect our love for this piece of land.

2020年6月20日至11月7日期間，香港藝術家麥東記於Parallel Space展出了一系列以香港街景為主題的水彩作品，《香港定格》。此次展覽囊括了2018和2019年的作品；2018和2019年的香港可說是兩個頗有差異的香港，於是，對麥東記來說，這系列的作品不只是記錄了某個時期的香港，更是「定格」了不同時節的香港。

Hong Kong artist DON MAK is holding his exhibition “Once Upon a Hong Kong” at Parallel Space, including a series of watercolour artworks of Hong Kong street views. This exhibition exhibits works across 2018 and 2019; as Hong Kong has gone through quite a lot during 2018 and 2019, DON MAK thinks that those works do not capture the same Hong Kong, in fact, the Hong Kong that the works recorded can be very different, in terms of time and context.

拉長的畫面讓豐富的內容目不暇給，從左至右，猶如看過了一段街景的短片，每一個視點都有一個故事。溫柔的顏色與可愛的人物和建築，讓這片城市生動又活潑。畫中可愛的人物各有各生活，讓香港觀眾覺得自己彷彿就是畫中的其中一員一樣，你總能在這些作品中找到你自己。你可能是社會一員，亦可能正在茶樓飲茶；是一個實實在在的香港人生活的寫照。

The elongated canva is filled with plentiful scenes and contents; looking at the work from left to right, like a short clip of the street view, there is a story at every corner of the work. The gentle colors on lovely characters and buildings create a lively image of this city. Each of the cute characters in the painting has their own lives, making the audience feel like they are one of the characters in the painting. You can definitely find yourself in one of these works. You may be a member of the society, or you may be having yum-cha in the house; it is a realistic portrayal of life as a Hong Kong-er.

城市角落的細節，讓觀眾忍不住湊近畫作仔細觀察；多樣的角度，細味的樂趣。

The mesmerising details at every corner of the city, encourage the audience to observe the artworks closed-up; the variation in perspectives also gives the audiences a fun experience to take time to observe.

麥東記的作品中多以比較本地的風景為主題，有香港老舊的建築物，地標，西環依山而建的街市，MTR等，每一幅畫都提煉了香港最具代表性的風景。有不同的群組，有街坊，有學生，有上班族；你總能在其中找到你自己。

The themes in DON MAK’s artworks tend to be more local and down-to-earth; there are old buildings in Hong Kong, tourists’ spots, hillside neighbourhoods, MTR, and etc; every work is an epitome of the most iconic scenes in Hong Kong. There are also different groups; there are pedestrians, there are students, office workers; you can always find yourself in one of those.

不很準確的視角，換來的是朦朧的邊角，讓這些水彩作品多了一份夢幻美。雖然現實不是一幅幅畫裡如此美妙，但畫作美化的氛圍還是能為觀眾帶來一絲安慰；原來我們的城市如此美麗。

The artworks might not be the most accurate record of those views of Hong Kong, instead, there are blurry edges of lines and lights, giving these water-colour artworks a different beauty of fantasy. Although, reality can never be as wonderful as artworks portray it to be, these refined scenes could still give us a touch of comfort, and discover the charms of this city.