Chronotope Lab as Living Archive: Creating a Space to Build Community in the Arts

Grace Leong

This presentation explores the archiving role of the artist-educator in shaping a sustainable and caring artistic ecosystem within an arts institution engaging from the concept of chronotope. Chronotope Lab, now known as Collaborative Lab has catalyzed 26 diverse projects initiated by faculty and alumni, spanning digital arts, film, exhibitions, publications, performances, presentations, community engagement, and experimental forms. These projects foster close collaborations between students, alumni, and mentors, cultivating trust, care, and a shared artistic purpose—what we might call a 使命感, or calling, as artist-educators. What makes these experiences powerful is the convergence of the right people, the right place, and the right moment in time—'old and new people’ realign and form new connections to deepen the sense of belonging. I believe an arts school transcends its physical structure to become a site of living culture—where encounters between faculty and students transform into shared practice and, ultimately, collective memory to fuel meaningful connections. Viewed through this lens, Chronotope Lab functions as a living archive—a dynamic, evolving space where artistic memory, knowledge, and practice are not merely preserved, but continuously activated through creative collaboration.