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Happiness in the Making – An Exhibition of Works by Rosanna Li Wei Han

Rosanna Li Wei Han is a Hong Kong ceramicist and design educator, well known for her whimsical clay works of people going about their daily affairs. Although her trademark male and female figures are plump in defiance of today’s aesthetic standards, they are endowed with a nimble grace and good humour.

Li’s robust ceramic figures have a certain rustic charm. Depicting the sense of contentment and vitality of simple folk, her works are often filled with wit and humour, reflecting her keen observation and sensitivity to people and events in the community. Other than clay, she also collects ready-made objects to make installations. Her work can be satirical at times, critically questioning and challenging established conventions and the status quo of society by skilfully playing with puns and parodies.

She is a Museum Expert Advisor of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and a founding member and former chairperson of the Contemporary Ceramics Society (HK). Since 1983, Li has held 15 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 170 group exhibitions. Her works are widely exhibited in Hong Kong, Macau, and the Mainland (including Xian, Beijing, Shanghai, Jingdezhen, Hangzhou, Foshan, and Guangzhou), and overseas (including Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Mongolia, Australia, Canada, USA, France, and UK). Her work can be found in the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the Guangdong Museum of Art, the Shiwan Ceramic Museum, the Zhejiang Museum of Art, and the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum. Among Li’s many awards are the 1985 Hong Kong Urban Council Fine Art Award in Ceramics; the 1999 Sculptor of the Year Award; the 2005 Commendation Medal for Achievements in the Promotion of Arts and Culture from the Secretary for Home Affairs; and the 2013 Hong Kong Federation of Women “Hong Kong Women of Excellence in the Six Arts Award” in Visual Arts (Sculpture/Ceramics). She was a finalist of the 2016 Sovereign Asian Art Prize Competition.

Li studied ceramics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic, and then pursued her undergraduate studies in Art Education at the University of Liverpool. She later earned a Diploma in Art Education from the University of London Institute of Education, a Master’s Degree in Educational Management from the Cheltenham & Gloucester College and a Master’s Degree in Cultural Studies from Lingnan University. From 1990 to 2010 she taught at the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and worked there as a visiting lecturer from 2010-2016. In 2016, she was a participant of the Shigaraki Cultural Ceramics Park Artist-in-Residence Programme of Shigaraki, Japan.