Villepin in Hong Kong presents 'As the Ground Holds', a focused exhibition running from 21 May to 8 August 2026. The show brings together works by Léonard Tsuguharu Foujita, Zenzaburō Kojima, Lê Phổ, and Mai Trung Thứ—four artists who made Paris their home during the city's modernist heyday. It marks Kojima's debut in a Hong Kong gallery and reunites works by these migrant artists who navigated the École de Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.
This exhibition matters because it highlights the often-overlooked networks of migrant artists in early 20th-century Paris, weaving together Japanese and Vietnamese painters who shared exile, friendship, and exhibition history. In a time shaped by displacement, the show offers a timely meditation on how artists hold onto their worlds while finding new ground, making it relevant to contemporary conversations about migration and cultural identity.