A quick digest of the coolest weekend happenings in Hong Kong.
Friday, July 12
SummerFest is a two month-long free festival taking place at Central Harbourfront with more than 30 large-scale activities suitable for families. There will also be a “Smartizen Park” showcasing how new technologies are being integrated into our daily lives. Other events include a exhibition of more than a hundred pieces of stone art paintings from artists around the world, a yoga party, and an outdoor playground for the kids.
10am to 3pm at, Central Harbourfront, 9 Lung Wo Road, Central. Free.
Alison Lau and MUKZI @ House Music Series
Chinese zither (guzheng) artist Alison Lau and composer MUKZI (who performed at Clockenflap last year) will be performing at the entrance of the Hong Kong Arts Centre as part of the center’s House Music Series, where musicians from different genres collaborate and perform in an outdoor gig that allows the audience to interact with the musicians.
7pm to 10pm at, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wan Chai. Free.
Matchbox Days Exhibition: Opening
Since January 22, 2019, Hong Kong-based artist Rachel Smith has been filling one matchbox per day with a “visual commentary of the past 24 hours” — imagine a sort of micro-diorama. The project began as a coping mechanism for her growing anxiety and the panic attacks she started experiencing around the start of the year. The project was only meant to last 30 days, but Smith soon passed that mark, and the result is a visual diary in novel form. You can check out some of the matchboxes here.
6pm to 9pm until September 29 at, H307, Veranda, PMQ, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central. Free.
Wontonmeen is a hostel that’s hosted a slew of small and intimate jazz nights. Kicking off this weekend with some relaxed jazz tunes are guitarist Terry Yau, drummer Bud Leung, and pianist and organist Patrick Lui, who is well-known in the city’s jazz scene (in fact, he’s the leader of the Patrick Lui jazz orchestra).
8:15pm at XS, G/F 135 Lai Chi Kok Road, Kowloon. Free.
This VR short film directed by Alexey Marfin takes the audience into the personal spaces of five strangers living in Hong Kong. The film brings you up close and personal with a cast of colorful characters: a musician, a Filipina domestic worker, a Hong Kong-Indian astrologer, and a Chinese businessman. Click here to see the trailer.
10:30am to 6:30pm (Mon-Sat) and 2:30pm to 6:30pm (Sun) until July 28 at, Osage HK, 4/F, Union Hing Yip Factory Building, 20 Hing Yip Street, Kwun Tong. Free.
“I am glad to hear you’re doing fine”: Chung Wing Sze Wallis Solo Exhibition
The title of this exhibition is borrowed from the Swedish film A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, in which the line “I am glad to hear you’re doing fine” is repeated constantly, and represents an uncanny significance both for the one who says it, and whoever hears it. The various pieces of work consist of Chung’s reflections on her daily life, which have been described as “detached and descriptive yet emotionally disturbing at the same time.”
9am to 5pm until Wednesday, July 31 at Naked Hub, G/F 5-13 New St, Sai Ying Pun. Free.
Saturday, July 13
As Tai Kwun approaches its one year anniversary, it will be displaying 101 objects related to its previous life as the Central Police Station.
11am to 8pm until Thursday, September 22 at Duplex Studio LG1/F & LG2/F, Block 01 & Site-wide, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Rd, Central. Free.
Opening reception: Christopher K. Ho’s Embassy Sites
“Speculative artist” Christopher K. Ho presents this solo exhibition, which includes sculptural, sonic, architectural, and two-dimensional work that explores the perils and potentials of transnationalism. The topic is something that resonates with Ho, who since 2016 has been returning to Hong Kong regularly after having lived and worked in the States for decades, and the exhibition draws references from the political histories, transnational desires, and infrastructures that mediate our travel, and which we consciously and unconsciously experience.
7PM to 9pm (opening reception) and 11am to 9pm until Sunday, August 18 at Tomorrow Maybe, 4/F Eaton HK, 380 Nathan Road, Jordan, Kowloon. Free.
Art gallery Chez Trente presents Kakahuette, a platform that produces limited edition art prints from photographers and sells them. The gallery will present work by 10 photographers with different styles and backgrounds, some of whom you can even meet at the opening reception on Saturday. Prints on display are also for sale, but there are only a handful, so do go down early and have a look if you’re looking for something to liven up your bare walls.
5pm to 12am on Tuesday to Thursday; 5pm to 3am on Friday to Saturday; 3pm to 12am on Sunday, until Thursday, August 15 at, Chez Trente, 6 Chung Wo Lane, Soho, Central. Free.
Dialogue with artists Brian Chu Yin-woo and Jess Wong Tsz-ying
Brian Chu Yin-woo and Jess Wong Tsz-ying are artists who have just completed residencies in Chicago and Tokyo, respectively, through Soundpocket’s Artist Support Programme. Wong will talk about her year-long research project on streets and space that culminated in her solo exhibition “when space became a place: KSSP, KF, HK” in Tokyo, while Chu will share his experience of exploring Chicago’s underground music scene, and the impact it has had on his self-discovery and creative process. Chu will also play an improvisational performance with a frame drum, a cassette player, and found objects.
This event will be conducted in Cantonese, with simultaneous English translation available
2pm to 4pm at, Glue, 1 Electric Street, Shop 1A, Wan Chai. Free.
Pop Up Co-Art Exhibition at The Nate By District15 Platforms
District15 Platforms, the Hong Kong Arts Collective, HKWALLS and The Collective will transform a four-floor retail podium at THE NATE into a pop-up “co-art exhibition.” The event will showcase a number of artists, including Go Hung, Espen Cook, Amy Maria Tong, and Daisuke Tajima from HKWALLS; Akiko Sakai, Karen Chan, and Frédéric Bussièr from The Collective; and Jonathan Jay Lee, Shann Larsson, Peter Ross, Marc Allante, Barlo, Simple Bao, Camille Levert, Michelle Kuen Suet Fung, and others from The Hong Kong Arts Collective.
1pm to 7pm until Sunday, July 21 at, THE NATE, 176 Nathan Road, HK Tsim Sha Tsui. Free.
Gregory J. Buda and Nick Rolin of The Dead Rabbit in New York will be guest bartenders at beloved dive bar The Pontiac (which, by the way, was one of Asia’s 50 best bars this year).
9pm to 12:30am at, The Pontiac, 13 Old Bailey Street, Central. Free.
City Poetry By Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze
As the government ramps up efforts to take down many of the city’s iconic street signs, some groups have been working to save them from the landfill, while photographers rush to document the ones that are still left. Hong Kong-based photographer Romain Jacquet-Lagrèze will be holding a solo exhibition called City Poetry, which has been described as his most personal project to date. Jacquet-Lagrèze has been taking photos of some of the city’s visually striking street signs, taking them home and translating them into poetic musings with the help of his Hong Kong-born wife. City Poetry takes signs from around Hong Kong, mashing them together to form phrases and sentences. This is your last chance to catch this exhibition.
11am to 6pm until Sunday, July 14 at Blue Lotus Gallery: G/F 28 Pound Lane, Sheung Wan. Free.
Sunday, July 14
Screening: The Decline of American Empire
Local bar Club 71 will be hosting a screening of The Decline of American Empire, a 1986 Canadian sex comedy-drama film about a group of intellectual friends from the Université de Montréal history department who have a long dinner conversation about their sexual affairs. During their long dialogue, they touch on issues of adultery, homosexuality, group sex, BDSM, and prostitution.
7:30pm to 10pm at Club 71, Basement, 67 Hollywood Rd, Soho, Central. Free.
Chopsticks present: Rebirth by Aruta Soup
PopArt muralist Aruta Soup is known for blending animation culture, black humor, and street culture in his paintings and graffiti. He’ll be holding his debut Hong Kong exhibition this weekend, and showcasing some new paintings, which feature famous cartoon characters as viewed from the artist’s “ironic” point of view. This is your last chance to catch this exhibition.
10am to 7pm until Wednesday, July 17 at Lucie Chang Fine Arts, 26 Tai Ping Shan Street, Sheung Wan. Free.
Takashi Murakami is a Japanese artist known for blurring the line between high and low art, and blending Japanese artistic traditions with post-war Japanese culture and society. Tai Kwun Contemporary presents this exhibition which will feature over 60 paintings and sculptures, from his large-scale post-apocalyptic works to his optimistic flower pieces to his contemplative Enso paintings, offering Buddhist visions of enlightenment. This exhibition will also showcase some of Murakami’s iconic and outlandish costume designs, which visitors will experience alongside other important video works, samples from his private art collection, and Murakami’s spectacular wall and floor art, which delivers a forceful yet complex visual impact.
10:30am to 7pm until Sunday, September 1 at Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Rd, Central. HK$75 (general, walk in) HK$60 (general, advance) HK$55 (concession, walk in) HK$45 (concession, advance).
Hollywood photographer Bob Willoughby made a name for himself capturing candid photos of stars, and Audrey Hepburn is arguably one of the most iconic Hollywood stars of all time. To mark the 90th anniversary of Hepburn’s birth, and the 10th anniversary of Willoughby’s death, F11 Foto Museum will be holding an exhibition presenting 90 of Willoughby’s photos of Hepburn. Each photo — one for each year since Audrey’s birth — features a number of behind-the-scenes shots of some of her most well known movies, to rare candid photos of Hepburn as a mother. This exhibition has been curated by F11’s founder and director Douglas So with the help of Willoughby’s son Christopher. Guided tours will also take place on Saturday (2:30pm for English, 4:30pm for Cantonese).
2pm to 7pm until Saturday, July 27 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.
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