Back to Nature 回歸自然
a photographic journey through Mongolia with Marc Progin
穿越蒙古的攝影之旅
Exhibition Dates: 5 June – 5 July 2020
Opening Reception: Friday 5 June, 6-8pm
Venue: Blue Lotus Gallery, G/F 28 Pound Lane, Sheung Wan
This exhibition is an Associated Programme of Le French May Arts Festival 2020.
Artist Talk with Marc Progin :
Saturday 6, 13, 20, and 27 June, 11-12.30pm
RSVP required | First come first serve basis
Conducted in English - Cantonese translation available on prior request
for further info please contact Christina Jensen (christina@bluelotus-gallery.com)
Back to Nature is to be where nothing else counts and exists than the moment
and the place where you are;
where an hour lasts a full day, where pollution is an unknown word;
it is to be in a vast land of exceptional quality
that has remained as natural as it was at in the beginnings of time,
where man is rarely seen,
where the air is odourless,
the rain a beverage
and the celestial bodies companions.
Once you are there, there is no 'elsewhere', only a horizon beyond which you don’t want to see.
Back to nature is a photographic journey through Mongolia, with Marc Progin, that bypasses the walls of societies and the cities to enlarge our horizon and reconnect with the 3 worlds that are the sky, the earth and nature. It is at the same time while travelling in open space, to enter your inner self; to discover the beauties of nature and awaken those who sleep in you. It is to find the human essence, from where we came from and to give a reason to our life, learn for what else we are on earth than to live.
Travelling the seasons, across the deserts, the mountains and the Steppe, you will meet on the way with nomads, the wildlife, migrating birds, the hunters and ride on camel or horse back along with their caravans.
To sum up, Back to Nature is meant to start your mother clock,
the one that nature had given you at birth.
Have a nice journey.
《回歸自然》是比任何東西的價值以及存在更重要的一個時刻，
亦是一處你所在的地方；
那裡的一小時持續一整天，而污染只是一個未知詞；
那一片稀有而遼闊浩瀚的土地上，
長久以來都恍若盤古初開一樣自然，
那是很少人親眼目睹過的地方，
那裡的空氣清新無味，
雨水就是土地的飲料，
與天空同體共生。
當你一踏進那裡後，就沒有「別處」了，只有那條你不願看到的地平線。
《回歸自然》是一趟與 Marc Progin 穿越蒙古的攝影之旅，繞過社會和城市的城牆，擴闊我們的視野，並與天空、土地和大自然這三個世界重新建立聯繫。它讓我們在開放的空間中尋回內心深處的自我；重新發現大自然的壯麗；喚醒那些沉睡於你體內的人。它從我們的根源尋找人類的本質，給一個理由予我們所謂的生活，讓我們學習在地球上除了生活其實還有甚麼。
在沙漠、山脈和草原上穿越季節，你將在途中遇上游牧民族、野生動物、遷徙鳥類以及獵人，並跟隨沙漠商隊一起騎著駱駝或馬匹去冒險。
一言以蔽之，《回歸自然》是為了啟動大自然給你的原始時鐘。
祝你旅途一路順風。
Available works:
About the exhibition:
The world has been in lockdown due to the ongoing pandemic and longing for connection to other human beings, animals and the earth as well as a strong pull towards working the land and rural living is emerging everywhere. This has been a time for re-evaluating many of the basic elements we accept to be ‘normal life.’ The global anxiety caused by climate change and the daily destruction and suffering being witnessed en masse results the questions being asked about modern existence and consumption are ever louder and more urgent. These sentiments echo Progin’s personal call toward Mongolia and his subsequent photographic work and written prose act as an antidote to the chaos around us. Listening to the wisdom of the still living ancient tribes and cultures offers guidance in times where action appears meaningless. Art and Nature have the ability to heal and to enlighten and this exhibition is deeply tuning-in to both.
Back to Nature marks Progin’s first solo show with Blue Lotus Gallery with a selection of fine art prints spanning a period of shooting in Mongolia between 2007-2019. Half the works are completely unseen and even two photographs have been selected as a special preview for his new body of work titled ‘Cretaceous’ set to be premiered in 2021.
Books and prints by the artists will be available for purchase throughout the exhibition.
由於持續的全球大流行疫情，加上對於人類、動物和地球之間重新聯繫的渴望，世界一直處於封鎖狀態。這是重新評估我們所謂「正常生活」基本元素的時候。氣候變化以及我們每天目睹的破壞與苦難，引起了全球性的焦慮，導致人們對生存和消費提出了疑問，而且愈來愈響亮、愈來愈緊急。這些情緒正呼應著 Marc Progin 圍繞蒙古所創作的攝影作品和散文，同時他的創作亦成為了混亂世界中的解毒劑。一起來聆聽依然活著的古代部落和文化的智慧為我們所提供的指引，藝術與自然都具有治癒和啟發的功能，而本展覽希望對兩者都進行深度調整。
《回歸自然》象徵著 Marc Progin 在 Blue Lotus Gallery 舉辦的首次個人展覽，展出一系列精選的藝術作品，涵蓋了2007年至2019年在蒙古拍攝的時期。半數的作品從未對外曝光，當中甚至還選出了兩張作品作為他的新系列《白堊紀》的特別預覽，該系列將於2021年發布。
本展覽是2020年法國五月藝術節的相關節目。藝術家的書籍和印刷品可於展覽期間購買。
ABOUT MARC PROGIN
Time has no hold on this man or toward a singular career. Long distance runner and cyclist accustomed to the harshness of the Mongol Steppes that he covers in all directions. Marc Progin is 75. Slender, the muscle dry, straight like a post, he has the physical look of the marathoner and of the ascetic, "I feel good in my head because I feel good in my body."
The constant search for wide horizons is the red thread of his rich life. Born in a working-class suburb of Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1945, Marc Progin, a former watchmaker, settled in Hong Kong in the 1970s, becoming a pioneer in the conquest of Asian markets. At the turn of the millennium, the call of the unknown guided him in a new life as a traveller-poet.
Endurance leads him to a more fundamental, inner and cultural quest. The exploration of Mongolia, the original nature where the nomads live differently, without possessions, gives meaning to his life. He travels the deserts with minimal logistics. He explores its history and its paleontological treasures. At this cradle of dinosaurs, he borrows what becomes his nickname: ‘velociraptor,' named after a species of which he found fossilised remains. Lover of words, erudite, the traveller fills page after page of notebooks with illuminated poetry. His ‘Alexandrine' verses celebrate the beauty of Mongolian landscapes. They also tell of the spiritual quest of a man tired by the superficiality and illusions imposed by business, consumption and ‘connected’ society. Marc Progin photographs to convey what he sees and feels. In the bareness and the effort, in contact with emptiness and immensity, he clings to what he is, a being reduced to its vital needs: light, a little water and food.
Progin, the photographer, has had solo exhibitions in Hong Kong Foreign Correspondent’s Club and Latitude 22n as well as shown work with Hong Kong Heritage Project and Children of Mekong. He gathers a crown whenever he gives lectures, previously he has been invited to talk at the Royal Geographical Society [HK], CH-Lausanne University [Switzerland], CH-Neuchâtel Academy [Switzerland], American Hong Kong Society, Swiss Business Council Hong Kong, and French International School to name but a few. When he is not behind the camera shooting both for his own artwork or as a Press Photographer, he is often on the other side being interviewed numerous times by the RTHK, TVB, and for Radio.
關於 MARC PROGIN
時間沒有在他身上留下痕跡，亦沒有為他帶來從事單一職業的機會。作為單車和長跑的運動員，他早就習慣了蒙古草原在任何層面上的粗糙性。Marc Progin 現年75歲。他身型細長，皮膚黝黑而乾燥，昂首挺胸；他的身體看上去就像馬拉松運動員和苦行者，「我的腦袋感覺良好，因為我的身體感覺良好。」
不斷廣闊視野就是他豐富人生的紅線。前製錶師 Marc Progin 於1945年出生於瑞士納沙泰爾洲的工人階級郊區，於1970年代定居香港，成為征服亞洲市場的先驅之一。踏入2000年代，一種無名的呼喚引領他步入作為旅行詩人的新生活。
忍耐力使 Marc Progin 對基礎、內在和文化的追求更高。於蒙古的探索，游牧民族在沒有財產的情況下，那截然不同的原始生活本性，使 Marc 對生活意義有新體會。他帶最少量的物資去沙漠旅行，探索其歷史及古生物學的寶藏。在這個恐龍搖籃裡，他借用了自己的綽號：「迅猛龍」，以命名他發現的化石遺骸物種。博學的文字情人及旅遊者，在一頁又一頁的筆記本上寫滿耀眼的詩歌。他的《Alexandrine》詩句頌讚蒙古風景的壯麗，而且還講述了作為一個人的精神追求，對商業、消費和互聯社會的膚淺和幻想所感到的疲憊。Marc Progin 的照片表達出他的見解和感受。在赤裸和努力當中，在虛無和無限之間，他堅持著自己的本質，同時以最大程度降低需求：只有光、少量的水和食物隨他而行。
攝影師 Marc Progin 已在香港外國記者會以及Latitude 22n舉辦過個人展覽，並與香港社會發展回顧項目和Children of Mekong計劃一同展出。他曾受邀在皇家地理學會（香港）、洛桑大學（瑞士）、納沙泰爾學院（瑞士）、American Hong Kong Society、Swiss Business Council（香港）和香港法國國際學校等等地方進行演講。當他不在自己相機背後忙於創作攝影作品或作為新聞攝影師的時候，他亦經常接受香港電台、無線電視或其他電台的訪問。
PRESS RECEIVED:
