Leung Shuen Bay Public School
Anthem
Name
Emblem

Anthem and name are the most symbolic elements of a collective memory of school life. Similar to how the school becomes a place of convergence for the different groups of people in the four different villages and fishermen, sound and architecture bear the same ability to unite people of different backgrounds and origins.

In Leung Shuen Bay Public School, there is no school song yet there is sound to signal the departure for fishing but also sound of school bell to signal the gathering of people. As we engage with the alumni, everyone remembers the school bell’s rhythm hit manually on a metal tank as a collective memory of sound. It reminds them of the joy of school life and recess when everyone gathered and played as a community with no boundaries.

In collaboration with Fragrant Village, who has been studying Hong Kong village schools containing countless memories of growing up and reflecting the context of Hong Kong’s urban development, the art installation becomes one that unites people through music and architecture. It is a bench that meanders alone the basketball court lines but also a xylophone that creates a sound based on the rhythm of the school bell.

As one approaches the piece from either ends, you can put on spheres of different materials and roll it down the piece. Visitors would hear the rhythm of the school bell but also could read the lyrics co-created with villages through many community engagement workshops along one side of the piece. On the other hand, there is also oral history in the form of edited quotes from alumni sharing their memories or feelings towards their alma mater.

In the middle, as the spheres finally landed on the flat portion of the piece, it also serves as a bench at seating height for visitors to take a pause from their hike to the site to finally focus on their senses and experience the school environment at that very moment.