A multitude of people, and yet a solitude!”

—Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

What is the difference between loneliness and solitude? For centuries, numerous writers and thinkers have contemplated these two states. To French philosopher and author Albert Camus, loneliness is always accompanied by estrangement and anxiety. In Six Lectures on Solitude, painter and writer Chiang Hsun defines solitude as synonymous with departure or withdrawal from a group, a category, or a parameter, which requires a candid understanding of oneself. Being alone and feeling lonely are distinct experiences: being alone is a choice often made to have a sense of inner peace, while feeling lonely evokes sadness from being excluded against your will. It is intriguing how a touch of sentimentality can prompt reflection on these nuances. Emotions unravel like numerous illusory threads—intricate and universally experienced. To deepen our understanding of how we feel when we are alone, we can turn to cultural historian Fay Bound Alberti’s A Biography of Loneliness. In the book, she argues loneliness is not a universal or ahistorical phenomenon, and that “oneliness” has long been regarded as a precious moment to seek inner peace or communion with God. However, as religion declined and society rapidly industrialized in the nineteenth century, “loneliness” emerged as a term and soon connoted the negative experience of alienation between individuals. Similarly, with the advancement of science and technology, society has shifted its focus from the group to the individual, giving rise to a contemporary loneliness. This exhibition does not aim to study the history of human emotions, but to explore the relationship between emotions and scientific and technological development. If the Industrial Revolution served as a catalyst for loneliness (as Charles Dickens’s Oliver Twist shows), how has this dynamic evolved in our current world?

Festival Grand Opening: 25.10.2024, 18:00 - 21:00

Venue address: Exhibition Hall, Low Block, Hong Kong City Hall, 5 Edinburgh Place, Central