Hong Kong Arts Centre, Wan Chai｜Hong Kong and Italian Artists Sculpt a New Language of Unity in “Fusion Final” Exhibition

Description

In a world increasingly fragmented by geopolitical divides, the Fusion Project emerges as a bold testament to art’s enduring power to bridge differences. Launched in 2021 by Italy’s Arkad Foundation, this ambitious initiative culminates in the Fusion Final exhibition at Hong Kong Arts Centre (11–27 April 2025), where 36 sculptures, carved from the Apuan Alps’ marble and Hong Kong’s native woods, narrate a four-year journey of trust, dialogue and creative reconciliation.

Amid pandemic-era isolation, Arkad founders Cynthia Sah and Nicolas Bertoux launched Fusion — a radical experiment to combat global divides through art. The project pits Italy’s Carrara marble (a symbol of Western permanence) against Hong Kong’s ephemeral hardwoods, transforming centuries-old cultural emblems into a visceral metaphor for unity. “Marble and wood don’t fight, they hug each other,” says Bertoux. “Yet their encounter creates new forms of beauty.” This material confrontation became the project’s backbone, proving that collaboration thrives not by smoothing edges, but by magnifying them.

After the publication of the call for participation, a professional jury selected ten artists for their contrasting aesthetics and shared mastery of materiality, the collaborative pairs include:

- Danny Lee             with         Francesca Bernardini (Italy)

- Margaret Chu               with         Aurélien Boussin (France)

- Yuen Leung Ho     with         Jacob Cartwright (Australia)

- Violet Shum           with         Flavia Robalo (Argentina)

- Yaman Chau                with         Lorenzo Vignoli (Italy).

Italian sculptors work primarily with Carrara marble, while Hong Kong artists use locally sourced hardwoods. Under a shared creative vision, they rework each other's unfinished pieces through material experimentation and structural reimagining.

The Fusion project unfolded in three acts of escalating intimacy. During its first two phases (Fusion 1 in 2021 and Fusion 2 in 2022/23), artists navigated pandemic constraints through remote collaboration. Italian sculptors carved their visions into initial stone drafts and shipped them to Hong Kong, where their partners responded with complementary wooden works that journeyed back to Italy. In a pivotal shift, Fusion 3 (2024) brought the five Hong Kong artists to Italy’s marble heartland, where they worked shoulder-to-shoulder with their counterparts. From conceptual brainstorming to execution, the artists communicated in real time, exchanging techniques and bridging cultural perspectives. This final phase dissolved digital intermediaries, culminating in sculptures where every tool mark whispers of hands that learned to trust across divides. 

The Fusion Final exhibition crafts a dynamic interplay between Carrara marble’s timeless solidity and wood’s organic impermanence. 

Danny Lee and Francesca Bernardini’s “Mountain and Streams” a stroke of wood, hanged above some accumulated slices of marble evoke a solid mountain and its nearby ethereal cloud

Margaret Chu and Aurélien Boussin’s “Moon Phases” juxtaposes fluid marble arch, symbolizing the moon trajectory, connected with a rising wood shadow. 

Yuen Leung Ho and Jacob Cartwright’s “Messenger” explores balance and tension, the marble fragments look like notes, as if bird carries messages on its feathers.

Violet Shum and Flavia Robalo’s “I am a River” proposes a bucolic space where the stream of wood baptises a young innocent marble bather

Yaman Chau and Lorenzo Vignoli’s Phoenix creates a dancing bridge, swinging between freedom and lightness, where the wing, rebirthed from the ashes, seems ready to explore a new world. 

Each work explores duality: sacred vs. secular, motion vs. stillness, destruction vs. rebirth. “This exhibition is not only about the finished works of art,” affirm Arkad founders Cynthia Sah and Nicolas Bertoux, “but also about the process of experimentation, communication, mutual respect and understanding through the universal language of art.”

The Fusion Final not only presents 36 collaborative sculptures but also unveils a personal work by each artist, offering insight into individual creative evolution. Complemented by educational workshops, including marble-carving demonstrations and wood-texturing masterclasses, the exhibition will underscore art’s capacity to transcend boundaries through material innovation and cross-disciplinary dialogue.