A quick digest of the coolest weekend happenings in Hong Kong.
Friday, January 24
The Riff Presents: Chinese New Year Special
New stand-up comedy club The Riff will be kicking off the Chinese New Year weekend with a bang, featuring not one, not two, but four comedians. Vivek Mahbubani, Ben Quinlan, Garron Chiu, Tamby Chan, and Andrew Chu will be tickling the funny bones on Friday night.
9pm at, 8/F California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Central. HK$150 (advance).
The David Zwirner gallery presents this solo exhibition by British artist Rose Wylie called Painting A Noun…, which features several groups of related paintings and drawings that underscore the importance of memory. Drawing from a wide variety of media sources such as film, fashion photos, news images, and so on, Wylie tries to recreate these images from memory, and the result is a series of images “loosely tethered to their original referents, but tightly connected to the memories as they have developed over time.”
11am to 7pm until Saturday, February 22 at, 5-6/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central. Free.
LKF live music venue the Aftermath will be hosting a night of folk music courtesy of The Gutter Gospel Revue, and smooth R&B and soul by local group Clave, and Karen/Arizton.
8:30pm to late at, The Aftermath Bar, L/G, 57-59 Wyndham Street, Central. Free.
DJ Jazzy Jeff, hip hop producer and actor best known for collaborating with a young Will Smith (and appearing on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air!) will be behind the decks at LKF tapas bar Cassio.
8pm to 1am at, Cassio, 2/F LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, Central. Free.
Jazz vocalist Yvonne Barrie will be kicking off the weekend with some modern jazz with the help of her band, which features Bruce Hunnisett (saxophone), Brian Flynn (piano), Chiin Zse-Tan (bass), and Seynah Alvessi (drums).
9pm at Peel Fresco Music Lounge, 49 G/F Peel Street, Sheung Wan. Free.
As I Lay Dying’s Shaped By Fire Asia Tour 2020: Live in HK
American metalcore band As I Lay Dying will be returning to Hong Kong for the first time in six years to promote their latest record, Shaped By Fire, alongside special guests Massacre Conspiracy Official Head.
8pm to 11pm at, This Town Needs, 1/F, Commercial Accommodation, Ocean One, 6 Shung Shun Street, Yau Tong. HK$420 (advance), HK$520 (at the door).
Saturday, January 25
The Riff Presents: Standup comedy showcase
The Riff is hosting another night of stand-up comedy this weekend, this time featuring six comedians. The event will be hosted by Mohammed Magdi (who most recently was the opening act for Jim Gaffigan in Shanghai last year), Maitreyi Karanth, Mahesh Mansigani, Pete Grella, Seth Waters, and Dave Findlay.
8:30pm at, 8/F California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Central. HK$150 (advance) HK$200 (at the door).
Charity yoga for wild animals in Australia with: Dannie and Musya
This charity yoga event will raise money for Australian wildlife organization WIRES. This is a bring-your-own-mat event. The first students to arrive will receive a gift from event sponsors Lululemon.
10am to 11:15am at, Pier 10, Central pier. HK$50 (minimum donation).
CNY movie at Hong Kong Observation Wheel
At least two Hong Kong Chinese New Year comedies will be screen outside the observation wheel this weekend. They include Agent Mr Chan about a disgraced secret agent who’s forced to go undercover after being banished for 20 years, and the screwball romcom All’s Well Ends Well — which features in our list of classic Chinese New Year films — about three hapless brothers played by Stephen Chow, Leslie Cheung, and Raymond Wong caught up in their own romcom conundrums.
3:30pm and 6pm until Tuesday, January 28 at, Hong Kong Observation Wheel and AIA Vitality Park, 33 Man Kwong Street, Central. HK$38.
Her Song: Abstract Compositions By Tina Buchholtz And Tsang Chui Mei
The Karin Weber Gallery’s first exhibition of 2020 will feature a “dialogue on abstraction” between two artists from different cultural backgrounds: Tina Buchholtz from Germany, and Tsang Chui Mei from Hong Kong. Both draw from the school of Western abstraction (think Jackson Pollock) as well as traditional Chinese painting.
11am to 7pm until Saturday, February 22 at, Karin Weber Gallery, 20 Aberdeen Street, Central, SOHO. Free.
Hong Kong the way it was, by Ed van der Elsken
We’re all feeling a bit nostalgic about old Hong Kong these days (and with the ongoing protests, who can blame you?). F11 Foto Museum will be celebrating its fifth birthday with this exhibition of photos of old Hong Kong taken in 1959 and 1960 by Dutch photographer Ed van der Elsken. The collection will feature 130 black-and-white photos of Elsken’s 13-month stay in Hong Kong, a city he reportedly once described as “the prettiest of harbor cities.”
2pm to 7pm until February 28 (closed on Sundays) at F11 Foto Museum, 11 Yuk Sau Street, Happy Valley. HK$100 (adults), HK$50 (students and seniors aged 65 and above), free for children aged 11 and under, and disabled persons.
Sunday, January 26
Chit Chat Studio will host the first dance party of the Year of the Rat, with music provided by Tomii Chan and Ram Cheung. There will be a 30-minute free open dance class starting at 8:30pm, and then after that the party gets started. Remember to bring your own food, drinks, and cups if possible.
8:30pm to 12:30am at, Chit Chat Studio, 22-24 Tak Cheung Building, Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan. HK$100.
Souvlaki Sundays at Artemis & Apollo
Great Mediterranean food in Hong Kong is hard to find, and Wan Chai taverna Artemis & Apollo has made a name for itself as one of the best places in the city to get Greek food. This year they’re introducing a weekly event called “Souvlaki Sundays” where they’ll be serving up Greek-style spit-roasted meats in a family-style menu. Guests must register online for tickets.
12pm to 9pm at, Artemis & Apollo, G/F, 9-11 Moon Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong. HK$388.
Slice Of Life: Pearl Law Solo Exhibition
Hong Kong-based illustrator Pearl Law‘s distinctive illustrations have graced the covers of publications like the South China Morning Post and Time Out Hong Kong. She’ll be hosting another solo exhibition that will focus exclusively on cyanotype, a type of photography printing that produces a picture or photo as a cyan-blue print.
12pm to 7:30pm until Sunday, February 9 at, ODD ONE OUT, G/F, 14 Francis Street, Wanchai. Free.
This exhibition will feature more than 70 original works, installations, photographs, and sculptures by Banksy, the elusive British street artist and political activist known for creating works such as Seasons Greetings, and Balloon Girl — which was famously partially shredded by its own frame after the hammer went down on it at a Sotheby’s auction in 2018.
Note that this exhibition is organized by Art Projectors Hong Kong in partnership with Last Bullet Production and HKPI, and has not been authorized by the artist.
11am to 7pm until Sunday, March 1 at, 1/F, FT Life Tower, 18 Sheung Yuet Road, Kowloon Bay. HK$180 (standard, weekdays), HK$210 (standard, weekends), HK$145 (concessions, weekdays), HK$170 (concessions, weekends), Free (children).
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