Key faces from the Hong Kong art world flooded the Asia Society Hong Kong (ASHK) Center on April 26 to preview Extended Figure: The Art and Inspiration of Lalan before it opened to the public. The new exhibition features the work of the pioneering Chinese artist Xie Jing-lan, known as Lalan, and goes on show in a year that marks both 100 years since the artist’s birth and the 30th anniversary of the society. Open until September 19, this first major Hong Kong retrospective of the artist, who died in 1995, is part of the society’s series on 20th-century female Chinese artists.

In the Lippo Amphitheatre, the ASHK’s chairman Ronnie C. Chan gave an upbeat talk about the non-profit organisation’s work over the last year to a room of familiar faces, including his friend Peter Lam, who even received a greeting mid-speech from Chan.

“The Asia Society has actually been busier than ever during the pandemic,” Chan said. “Asia Society is an educational institution for arts and culture that will affect our community for centuries to come. When I was growing up, people used to say that Hong Kong was an ‘art desert’, a place devoid of culture. I’m so happy that we are now an oasis of art in this part of the world.” He then welcomed Catherine Kwai, founder of the Kwai Fung Hin Art Gallery, to the stage.

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Lalan was married to the artist Zao Wou-ki, with whom she moved to Paris in 1948, and her identity is often defined in relation to being his wife. However, she was an esteemed artist in her own right and a trailblazer for other women in the field. A trained singer and composer, a student of modern dance and a painter, Lalan infused her art with a deep understanding of music and movement, and broke boundaries by combining different disciplines.