Presented at 67/F One Island East, the Hong Kong iteration of
Memory Adoption Bureau continues Coco Capitán’s ongoing participatory
project, inviting visitors to adopt individual memories in the form of
2vernacular photographs. Conceived in 2020 and first presented at Galerie
Jean-Kenta Gauthier in Paris, the project stems from the artist’s
sustained engagement with vernacular photography. Often regarded as
surplus, anonymous, or without value, these intimate images—once
preserved within personal or individual contexts—frequently fall outside
both private spheres and institutional or collective archives.
By redistributing them one by one, Memory Adoption Bureau proposes
a reallocation of responsibility, reframing questions of authorship,
ownership and value. Engaging with collective memory, Memory Adoption
Bureau suggests that photography preserves time not only through
institutional archives but through shared responsibility and continued
care. The work stages a movement between the individual and the
collective: what escapes private remembrance may still enter shared care.
Visitors are invited to select a “lost memory,” complete an
adoption passport at the bureau, and assume responsibility for its future.