Arrow Lai Siu-Wai

Arrow Lai Siu-Wai (黎小威) is a Hong Kong contemporary printmaker working primarily with woodcut, presented in the forms of prints, moving images, and video installations. He is a lecturer in the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and an active member of Hong Kong Open Printshop, the city's leading non-profit artist-run print studio.

Lai earned his bachelor's degree in Visual Arts from Hong Kong Baptist University and his master's degree (MA Print) from the Royal College of Art, London (graduating class of 2023). His printmaking practice focuses on exploring self-identity as a Hong Konger in relationship with the everyday happenings and engagements in his society — a theme he develops through both single woodcut prints and broader installation arrangements that integrate moving image with the printed surface.

A central body of work is the 'Arrow' series, which derives from imagining televised firework displays during national-day celebrations projected forward to 2047 — the year that the 'one country, two systems' framework expires. The carving process for the woodcuts demands a precision the artist describes as similar to handling explosives, allowing him to intimately experience the power of fireworks while reflecting on public spectacle and societal identity. The 2047-titled prints in the series — '20:00:00:00, 2047,' '20:13:20:14, 2047,' '20:20:13:14, 2047,' '20:20:20:20, 2047' — are titled with timestamp-style time codes that reference firework display countdowns and the year of the political watershed. Each is editioned as woodblock and circulated through the Hong Kong Open Printshop's Print Art Contemporary online shop at HK$3,000 per print.

His exhibition history includes Bainbridge Open 2023 (ASC Gallery, London), 'Third Floor' at the Royal College of Art (London, 2023), 'Two Fold' at Southwark Park Gallery (London), 'Fleeting Moment' at Fine Liquids Art Gallery, and 'Impact 11' at Hong Kong Open Printshop. International exhibitions in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, India, and Spain place his practice within the print-art exchange networks linking East Asia and the UK that have intensified since the 2014 Umbrella Movement and the 2019-2020 Hong Kong protests.

At EdUHK, Lai's teaching focuses on print-art technique and the integration of traditional relief printmaking with contemporary moving-image practice. His role as a lecturer alongside fellow Hong Kong digital-media-printmaker Hung Keung places him at one of the city's principal training grounds for the next generation of Hong Kong print and media artists.

For Hanga's purposes, Lai Siu-Wai qualifies as a verified contemporary Hong Kong printmaker with strong public-collection presence (Hong Kong Open Printshop), a degree from one of the principal European print MAs (RCA Print 2023), and four currently editioned woodblock prints in the 'Arrow 2047' series.