WMA Masters and WMA Commission – until 30 September 2019

Deadline: 30 September 2019. WYNG Media Award (WMA) is a series of non-profit programmes that spark discussions of important social issues of Hong Kong through impactful images, with a view to fostering positive change. From now till 30 September 2019 (23:59 Hong Kong time; GMT + 8:00), WMA invites both photographers and artists worldwide to respond to the theme “Light”. Entries for the WMA Masters award and proposals for the WMA Commission grant must relate to the theme and context of Hong Kong.

‘The notion of “Light” is intrinsically related to photography.’ says Vivian Fung, Project Director of WMA, when explaining about the theme. ‘Whether it is about the dawn of life, enlightenment and knowledge, channeling of attention or symbolism of urbanity, “Light” can relate to Hong Kong in so many ways. We hope this theme could inspire image-makers to explore social issues in Hong Kong through diverse works and projects ideas.’

The WMA Masters finalists and the WMA Commission recipient will be selected by a panel of renowned industry leaders in photography, art, publishing, and the non-profit sector, including:

Jury Panel of WMA Masters

● Zoher ABDOOLCARIM (Former Asia Editor, TIME)

● BUT Ho Ming (Trustee, WYNG Foundation)

● Clement CHEROUX (Senior Curator of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art)

● Brendan EMBSER (Managing Editor, Aperture Magazine)

● May FUNG (Independent Culture and Arts Practitioner)

● Yumi GOTO (Founder, Reminders Photography Stronghold)

● ZHUANG Wubin (Independent Photography Writer, Curator)

Jury Panel of WMA Commission

● Jacqueline FRANCIS (Associate Professor & Chair of the Graduate Program in Visual and Critical Studies, California College of the Arts)

● Linda LAI (Associate Professor, the City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media)

● Melissa Karman LEE (Education and Public Programmes Curator of Taikwun)

● Teresa MA (Trustee, WYNG Foundation)

● John STANMEYER (Photojournalist, Humanist and Emmy Nominated Filmmaker and field recordist)

The WMA Masters Finalists’ workswill be exhibited in Hong Kong in April, 2020. A full–colour catalogue will be published to coincide with the exhibition. WMA will also host a series of public activities throughout the year to encourage public discussions on the chosen theme. The project period of the WMA Commission is from March 2020 to March 2021. For more details, please visit wma.hk/light.

About the WMA Masters

The WMA Masters is a non-profit photography award aiming to nurture the growth of photography as an art form, and to spark discussions of social issues of great importance to Hong Kong through visual images. Image makers worldwide are welcome to submit a body of work of up to 10 images with captions. All entries must relate to the theme “Light” and the context of Hong Kong.

An international panel of judges, comprising of industry leaders in photography, art and the non-profit sector, will select one winner who will receive a cash prize of HK$250,000. Each finalist will receive HK$15,000.

Previous winners of theWMA Masters are KO Chung Ming (Hong Kong), Rufina WU (Hong Kong) & Stefan CANHAM (Germany), SIU Wai Hang (Hong Kong), Albert BONSFILLS (Spain), Wei Leng TAY (Singapore), Kurt TONG (Hong Kong), Sui-fong YIM (Hong Kong) and Sharon LEE (Hong Kong).

About the WMA Commission

The WMA Commission is a grant for projects focusing on photography. All photographers and artists worldwide are invited to submit proposals to create new research-based photography work in Hong Kong that address the annual theme of “Light”.

An international panel of judges will select the WMA Commission recipient, who will be granted HK$250,000 to progress towards a production of the chosen proposal in Hong Kong, and a public event featuring the completed work. The award grant covers artist fees and production of work.

Previous recipients of theWMA Commission include CHAN Wai Kwong (“Poverty”) who held an exhibition at the Photocrafters (Hong Kong); LAU Ching Ping (“Air”) who published the book Thin As Air; TRES Art Collective (“Waste”), released the book Ubiquitous Trash—Hong Kong Editionand held exhibitions at the Connecting Space and Puerta Roja (Hong Kong), and Chinese Culture Centre (San Francisco); and Ducky TSE Chi Tak (“Identity”) who held exhibitions at the JCCAC and the Hong Kong Central Library (Hong Kong); and Xyza CRUZ BACANI (“Mobility” who released the photobook We Are Like Air, held exhibitions at the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Eslite (Hong Kong), Ayala Museum (Manila) and Christine Park Gallery (New York), and participated in Pop-up Magazine Spring 2019 events (San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle, New York, Washington D.C.). On-going commissioned projects include LEE Kai-chung’s “The Retrieval, Restoration and Predicament” (“Transition”) and LO Lai Lai Natalie’s “The Days before Silent Spring”.

About WMA

The WMA Programme is a WYNG Foundation initiative. WYNG Media Award (WMA) is a series of programmes developed to spark discussions of social issues of great importance to Hong Kong through visual images, with a view to fostering positive change. They include WMA Masters, WMA Commission, WMA Open, WMA Student and WMA Film. Each year, a theme is chosen for the programmes. Past themes explored included “Poverty”, “Air”, “Waste”, “Identity”, “Mobility”, “Transition” and “Opportunity”. The theme for the 2019/20 cycle is “Light” .For more details, please visit wma.hk

About ‘Light’

The time we awake
To a life we never chose
No matter the joys, no matter the woes.

How we see
The people, the places
And the years written across their faces.

What we know
Is true and just —
Lies and malice shall turn to dust.

The lonely path to
What the heart desires
No matter the horrors that may transpire.

A glimmer of modernity
In glassy eyes
Heralding humanity, digitised.

A vivid memory
That went from a spark
To the last light one saw before the dark.

Prizes:

The WMA Commission recipient, who will be granted HK$250,000 to progress towards a production of the chosen proposal in Hong Kong, and a public event featuring the completed work. The award grant covers artist fees and production of work. The project period of the WMA Commission is from March 2020 to March 2021. WMA will also host a series of public activities throughout the year to encourage public discussions on the chosen theme.

Photo Contest Website: http://wma.hk/zh/