1970-80s was the golden era of Hong Kong’s textile industry. Not long after, factories gradually moved to cities in China such as Shenzhen, Guangdong, or further south in Vietnam. Much of the mill workers were forced to be relegated to low-skill-intensive jobs such as janitors in hospitals or commercial offices. Taiwan encountered a similar situation at around the same time, and the history of cotton-spinning gradually faded out. Nevertheless, cotton-spinning has remained an indispensable link in the construction of life and culture.

During the two months of her residency in Hong Kong, Kang will meet and conduct interviews with former woman textile workers. Bridging their personal stories with their subconscious, she will record and examine their dream patterns in relations to their social reality. They may have woken up from the dream brought to them by the cotton industry, yet personal memories and experience remain. Towards the end of the Artist-in-Residence programme, Kang will present the documentations and works generated from the project ‘Cotton Dreams’.