Lap-See Lam presented in major exhibition at Henie Onstad

The work of Swedish artist Lap-See Lam interprets traditional storytelling forms such as Cantonese opera and shadow plays to grapple with the translation – and mistranslation – of cultural heritage. Lam’s practice, ranging from film to virtual reality, sculpture, and installation, addresses a process she describes as ‘generational loss’. Her work traces a line through histories of 18th Century Chinoiserie through to the decor of Chinese restaurants in modern-day Sweden, including the one established by her grandmother on her arrival to Stockholm from Hong Kong in the 1970s. Lam’s art also reflects her family's migration history.

Isabella Maidment Chief Curator & Director of Collection at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, and Chair of the Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award Jury said:
“At the heart of Lap-See Lam’s expansive universe is an interest in the translation of cultural heritage: in what is lost and what is gained in the passing of knowledge between generations from one culture to another. Through fictional narratives, her work imaginatively attends to the slippery, complex nature of belonging, collective inheritance, and shared memory across oceans.”

About the exhibition:
Lam’s work explores the cultural affinities and disconnections at stake in the transformation of the Hong Kong Chinese diaspora in Europe. Titled Ombres in reference to Ombres Chinoises, the French name for the Chinese shadow play introduced to Europe in the 18th Century, the exhibition at Henie Onstad brings two major shadow play installations into dialogue for the first time as a single immersive installation, alongside new works created specifically for the exhibition. The new works are glass-blown sculptures, results of the  artist’s ongoing residency at CIRVA, The International Glass and Visual Arts Research Centre in Marseille, France.

An ongoing interest in the cultural specificity of bamboo is a conceptual thread, one that appears in the exhibition as a scaffold supporting the video Tales of the Altersea as a reference to the temporary stages that were an itinerant way of presenting early Cantonese opera and also the bamboo scaffolding technique used in construction for centuries in Southern China, including Hong Kong. The installation at Henie Onstad is made in collaboration with Daisy Pak, a Hong Kong-based bamboo sifu who brings this expertise to Norway. 

Curators for the exhibition are Isabella Maidment and Xiaoyu Weng.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication with contributions by Isabella Maidment, Xiaoyu Weng and Alvin Li and an interview with Lap-See Lam. 

An artist’s talk will take place at Henie Onstad on Saturday, 13 June at 12 pm.

Key information:
Title: Lap-See Lam: Ombres
Artist: Lap-See Lam
Co-curators: Isabella Maidment and Xiaoyu Weng
Dates: 11 June 2026 – 3 January 2027
Press view: Wednesday 10 June, 11 AM -1 PM
Artist talk: Saturday 13 June, 12 PM
Location: Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Sonja Henies vei 31, 1311 Høvikodden, Norway

For further information, please contact:
Matthew Brown | matthew@sam-talbot.com | +44 (0) 7989 446557
Therese Manus | tm@hok.no | +47 48 06 44 62

About Lap-See Lam:
Lap-See Lam (b. 1990) lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. She holds a master’s degree in fine art from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2020). Working across video installation, sculpture, and performance, Lam draws on the aesthetics and cultural codes of the Cantonese diaspora — from shadow play and Cantonese opera to the décor of Western Chinese restaurants — blending contemporary technologies with traditional forms and mythologies.

In addition to Henie Onstad, Lam will be presented at Vienna Secession (Vienna) and SCAD Museum of Art (Savannah, USA) in 2026. Recent solo exhibitions include PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art (Montréal), Moderna Museet (Stockholm), Hammer Museum (Los Angeles), The Power Plant (Toronto), Studio Voltaire (London), AKG Art Museum (Buffalo), Swiss Institute (New York), Portikus (Frankfurt), Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm), Trondheim Kunstmuseum, and Moderna Museet Malmö. Lam represented Sweden at the 60th Venice Biennale in 2024 with The Altersea Opera, a site-specific installation for the Nordic Pavilion commissioned by Moderna Museet, created in collaboration with composer Tze Yeung Ho and textile artist Kholod Hawash.

About Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award Programme:
The Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award Programme is a partnership between the Lise and Arne Wilhelmsen family and the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter. It was established to continue and honour Lise Wilhelmsen's (1936–2019) commitment to the visual arts. The Award honours the contribution of an outstanding international artist with a significant body of work whose practice resonates with our time and ignites meaningful conversations. The Award is intended to mark a pivotal milestone in an artist's career and is selected by an international jury of experts. Lam is the fourth award recipient, following Alia Farid in 2023, Guadalupe Maravilla in 2021 and Otobong Nkanga in 2019. Lam’s exhibition at Henie Onstad will be the most extensive presentation of her work to date.

Anne Hilde Neset, Director of Henie Onstad said: “Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award gives an excellent opportunity to have comprehensive presentations of artistic practices that are of great international significance and with a deep focus on social impact. We are so happy to work with Lap-See Lam for this fourth iteration of the award.”

Paulina Wilhelmsen, Jury Member and Founder of the Award, said: “Lap-See Lam's practice is deeply personal yet widely resonant — there’s a certain magic in how she explores identity, migration, family, and memory. It is with great joy that we welcome Lap-See Lam as the new laureate of the Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award, which is so meaningful for our family.” 
The family's commitment to the Henie Onstad Kunstsenter is confirmed for the subsequent eight editions, spanning 16 years.

Upon receiving the award, Lap-See Lam said:
“My work often unfolds through large-scale, collaborative processes – bringing together diverse voices, materials and histories to create something greater than the sum of its parts. Receiving the Lise Wilhelmsen Art Award is not only an affirmation of this way of working, but also a reminder of the vital role art plays in shaping how we see, remember and imagine the world. More than anything, this award makes it possible to continue the work – building, questioning and creating with others, giving form to the unseen and the possible. It is a great honour.”

Read more about the announcement of Lap-See Lam as the recipient of the Award, including the jury statement.