A quick digest of the coolest weekend happenings in Hong Kong.
Friday, April 19
State of Euphoria, Mousefx, Bulletproof HK, Trippylanez, and RASHO will present a night of reggae and ska this weekend.
9pm to 1:30am, at, The Aftermath Bar, L/G, 57-59 Wyndham Street, Central. Free.
Game of Thrones Ultimate Experience
Well, the final season of Game of Thrones is here, which means the end is nigh for the fantasy TV mega-hit. It also means that, hopefully, people will finally stop saying “winter is coming” (though, realistically, they probably won’t). If you’re excited for the final season, this is your last chance to catch Now E and HBO GO’s one-off exhibition featuring eight interactive zones, white walkers, collectable gifts, and the Iron Throne itself. Head on over so you can geek out over GoT IRL.
11am to 9pm until Tuesday, April 23 at, 2/F Atrium & Centre Bridge, Cityplaza, 18 Tai Koo Shing Road, Quarry Bay. Free.
Chinese artist Liu Bolin is most well-known as the “Invisible Man,” camouflaging himself among everyday objects. His art combines sculpture, performance, and photography, and meditates on themes ranging from ancestral traditions and cultural symbols, to ecological damage and consumerist societies.
11am to 7pm until Saturday, April 27 at, 1/F, 159-163 Hollywood Road. Sheung Wan. Free.
From handwritten signboards to computer fonts, this exhibition will feature a number of old street signs from Hong Kong, as well as the stories behind them and how they’ve defined the city’s streets. This exhibition, “Lee Hong Kong Kai,” is an allusion to eminent signboard maker Master Lee, and literally translates to “A man called Lee models Hong Kong,” which is also a sly Cantonese homonym for “Look at the streets of Hong Kong.”
11:30am to 9pm (Friday) 10am to 9pm (Saturday to Monday) and 10am to 5pm (Tuesday) until Tuesday, April 23 at, L1, Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre, 30 Pak Tin Street, Shek Kip Mei. Free.
If you find yourself dragging halfway through your long weekend and in need of a caffeine buzz, head on down to PMQ for this coffee festival. Also in attendance will be baristas from Taiwan and Japan presenting their brewing techniques and share their coffee experiences.
2pm to 8pm (Friday) 12pm to 8pm (Saturday and Sunday) at, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central, Sheung Wan. Free.
Picturing Bauhaus: Erich Consemüller’s Photography of the World’s most famous Design School
This exhibition, by Germany’s Klassik Stiftung Weimar, will display some photos by Bauhaus artist Erich Consemüller to celebrate 100 years of Bauhaus. This exhibition will provide insight into the world of the influential design school’s teachers, students, and output. Consemüller documented the early years of the institution in about 300 photos taken in 1926 and 1927, here on loan from a private Berlin collection.
10am to 8:30pm (Monday to Friday) 10am to 6pm (Saturday) at, Goethe-Institut Hongkong, 14/F Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Free.
Digital Zoo by Okuda San Miguel
Those of you wandering around Sham Shui Po may have noticed a bright yellow building with a colorful bear looking down on you. That bear was painted there by Spanish artist Okuda San Miguel, and his geometric style can be seen on murals everywhere from Spain to Tahiti to India. This solo exhibition will feature a variety of animals painted in his signature style.
11am to 7pm (Monday to Saturday) and 2pm to 7pm (Sunday) until Sunday, April 28 at, 74 Hollywood Road, Central. Free.
This Victoria Has No Secrets is an a cappella choir concert and collaboration between co-artistic directors Ng Cheuk-yin and Yuri Ng, with lyricist Chris Shum. Details about the plot are still not clear, but it takes its title from Hong Kong’s former name of Victoria (and also some kind of underwear shop?), which it held way back when then-British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston labeled the island “a barren rock,” when it was ceded to the British after the Opium War. According to the organizers, this musical “draws the audience together to reminisce their laughter and melancholy shaped by events, experiences, perceptions and insight. Each of these memories, rooted in locality, embroiders an album of our memories.” So, you know, if that’s your bag, check it out!
3pm (Friday) 8pm (Friday and Saturday) until Friday, April 20 at, Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, Edinburgh Place, Central. HK$32O and HK$250; 10 percent discount for every four tickets purchased; 35 percent discounts for students, concessions people with disabilities and CSSA recipients.
As part of the Fringe Club’s “Jazz-Go-Central, Jazz-Go-Fringe,” Jazz+ is a series of crossover performances between jazz and other genres that will be happening every month through May. On Friday, the performance will be led by touring jazz guitarist Chi-ho Choi who will present some jazz arrangements of hits from the 80s and 90s, from Metallica to Jamiroquai.
8pm to 10pm at, The Hong Kong Fringe Club, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central. HK$200 (On the day) HK$150 (Advance, and Fringe members) HK$100 (Students).
Saturday, April 20
Llamando a Julia from Alicante, Spain, will be taking to the stage with some Spanish punk music.
9pm to 1:30am, at, The Aftermath Bar, L/G, 57-59 Wyndham Street, Central. Free.
Singer Candy Ng made her name performing on TV talent shows and can often be spotted on the sidewalks of Mong Kok busting out acoustic performances of Cantopop songs. She’ll be performing more covers of Cantopop classics in her signature style at this Yau Ma Tei cafe.
7:30pm to 9:30pm at, Red Idea, Shop B, 1/F, Jolly Garden, 151 Reclamation Street, Yau Ma Tei. Free.
German Film Forum: In the Fade
The Goethe-Institut Hong Kong will be presenting this screening of the 2017 German film In The Fade starring Diane Kruger. In the crime drama, Kruger plays a woman living in Hamburg whose life is derailed after her Kurdish-German husband and their young son are killed in a terrorist attack by a neo-Nazi couple.
3pm at, Premiere Elements, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon. HK$95.
Asia Society presents this art installation by LA-based James Turrell. This marks the first time the American artist has set up an installation in Hong Kong, and focuses on Turrell’s use of light for his immersive installations. The name of the exhibition, “yukaloo,” refers to an aperture setting in which LEDs are engineered to change colors gradually over the course of several hours. This installation attempts to recreate an atmosphere similar to how the sky changes from late afternoon to night.
10am to 8pm until Sunday, June 9 at, Asia Society Hong Kong Center, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty. Free.
This exhibition will for the first time display drawings, paintings, and notes by artist Lee Wen dating from 1978 to 2014. Lee is a Singaporean performance artist oft-credited with shaping the development of performance art in Asia, and introducing contemporary art to Singapore. One of Lee’s most notable works, The Journey of a Yellow Man, is a series of installation and performances that evolved from a critique of Orientalism to a mediation on freedom, climate change, humility, and religious practices. This exhibition is in memory of Lee, who died last month.
10am to 6pm until Saturday, June 29 at, Asia Art Archive, 11/F Hollywood Centre, 233 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan. Free.
Hong Kong artist Hon Chi-fun wowed the art world with his distinctive traditional Eastern style blended with contemporary Western techniques. Born in 1922, Hon was a postal inspector by trade, and a self-taught artist who rose to prominence in the art world. He passed away in February at the age of 96, and this exhibition at the Asia Society features 30 pieces of his work that explore his fascination with light as a material and subject.
10am to 8pm until Sunday, June 9 at, Asia Society, 9 Justice Drive, Admiralty. Free.
Sunday, April 21
PLAY to Proliferate: Sign City
As Coconuts HK discovered last year, as the government ramps up efforts to take down many of the city’s iconic neon signs, some groups have been working to save them from the landfill. One such group is Streetsign HK, an NGO that works to draw attention to the disappearing legacy of the city’s unique signboards.
The main installation features rescued pieces of Chinese characters from actual abandoned signboards, arranged with lighting and a series of mirrored walls and floors to create and the effect of endless neon, evoking old street shots of Hong Kong when signboards dominated streetscapes.
The exhibition also includes an interactive element in which users can create their own neon sign using transparencies and an overhead projector.
10am to 8pm until Sunday, May 5 at, Oil Street Art Space, 12 Oil Street, Fortress Hill. Free.
Steps Through Time: Old Photo Exhibition
Pottinger Hong Kong will be celebrating its fifth year with this exhibition of more than 30 rare prints of old Hong Kong. The main hotel entrance is located at 21 Stanley Street.
6am to 11:30pm until Sunday, May 5 at, Hotel Lobby, The Pottinger Hong Kong, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central. Free.
Vvzela Kook: Fragrant Little Haven
Also taking place at Eaton HK is the opening reception for this exhibition by new media artist Vvzela Kook. During her research, Kook found that Hong Kong, a city that used to be one of villages and vegetation, is now a concrete jungle where at least 180 streets are, ironically enough, named after plants or trees in a reminder of its greener past.
8pm to 11pm until Sunday, May 5 at, Tomorrow Maybe, 4/F Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Kowloon. Free.
If you’re looking for something low-key and wholesome to on Sunday after a weekend of boozing, you could swing by Aftermath for their Sunday board game days. They have Monopoly, Exploding Kittens, the Game of Life, Carcassonne, and others. What better way to end the weekend than with some food and a boardgame with your friends — and yes, they have booze, too.
5pm to 12am at, The Aftermath Bar, L/G, 57-59 Wyndham Street, Central. Free.
Avengers: Endgame Exhibition in Causeway Bay
Avengers fans, assemble! If you’re excited about the upcoming Avengers film and want a chance to pose for a photo with Captain America, the Hulk, and Thanos, fear not, Lee Garden will have some statues ready for you.
All day until Monday, May 13 at, Lee Gardens, Causeway Bay. Free.
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