M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story is an exhibition at M+ Hong Kong, showcasing works by contemporary Chinese artists; M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story is also a project by the same name, created by Hong Kong art collective HASS Lab, in which a group of neurodivergent individuals recreated every work in the entire exhibition. This is the first time the works are presented in an exhibition, as part of an archive.

In the past year, the HASS Lab team took neurodivergent participants from three social welfare organizations (SAHK, Hong Chi Association and Kai Oi School) to visit and create in various art spaces. These visits are unguided, where HASS Lab let visitors appreciate the works in their own way, and then ask them to look at the works in a three-step process of “objective observation > subjective likes and dislikes > connection with the artists’ creative motivation,” through which they express their own experiences and opinions, thereby building their aesthetic confidence. We do not criticize, but only objectively record and encourage. When entering the museum, we do stretches and shout with the participants in the exhibition hall to dispel the inertial repression of the body in public space.

In each exhibition area, we let them experience the works and confirm their choices by “walking > watching > talking > drawing,” and collect the works they draw. In this exhibition, we juxtapose the pictures of all the works in M+ Sigg Collection: Another Story with the original works (replicas) of the neurodivergent participants in an intuitive visual contrast. They present the diverse understanding of different individuals on art and the world, communicating an artistic spirit of tolerance and understanding.

This project is excerpted from HASS Lab’s Boundless Brain Bank – Neurodivergent Visual Databank, a part of the Let’s See an Exhibition Together series on bbb.hasslab.hk. HASS Lab was co-founded by Hong Kong artist Pak Sheung Chuen and cultural producer Cherry Chan in 2022, and is dedicated to exploring the experimental application of contemporary art in social welfare services.