A quick digest of the coolest weekend happenings in Hong Kong.
Friday, October 18
Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss will be opening the weekend with his new show Daniel Sloss: X. Sloss has two Netflix specials under his belt — DARK and Jigsaw — has performed on Conan 10 times, and has sold out across 11 consecutive Edinburgh Fringe fests.
He’s known for his particularly dark brand of humor, musing on everything from dating to religion. Audience members must be aged 18 and over to attend.
8pm to 9:30pm at, Music Zone@E-Max, 1 Trademart Drive, Kowloon Bay, Kowloon. HK$488 to HK$688.
Punchline Comedy Club: Adam Bloom
Award-winning British comic Adam Bloom also has several sold out shows to his name — including seven solo Edinburgh Fringe fests and 29 UK tours — and is also coming to Hong Kong this weekend.
9pm at, Eaton Club, 5/F Champion Tower, 3 Garden Road, Central. HK$290.
Still-Life by Jennifer Steinkamp
LA-based artist Jennifer Steinkamp is well known in the art world for her 3D animations and video installations. Now, Steinkamp will be bringing her immersive work to Hong Kong with a “unique garden sanctuary.”
The central installation is a critical nod to the 16th-century genre of Dutch and Flemish still-life paintings, where normal everyday objects are carefully placed to offer visual allegories about the fragility of life and passage of time. In Steinkamp’s reimagining of still life, she animates fruit-bearing plants that “move and collide in a poetic dance that celebrates life and regeneration through the natural environment.”
10am to 7pm (Friday) and 11am to 7pm (Saturday) until October 26 at, Room 407, 4/F, Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central. Free.
Kino 2019 German Film Festival
The Goethe-Institut in Hong Kong will be presenting their German film festival featuring 10 films released in 2018 and 2019. The festival’s closing film is 25 km/h, a comedy about two estranged brothers who meet for the first time in years at their father’s funeral. After a fistfight in the cemetery and a booze-filled wake, they decide to embark on their boyhood dream of driving across Germany on their mopeds from the Black Forest to the Baltic Sea.
Other films in the lineup include the drama A Regular Woman, based on the true story of the honor killing of a young Turkish woman in Berlin; the thriller The Collini Case, a courtroom drama in which the defendant has killed a man apparently on a whim; and the comedy Sweethearts, which follows the misadventures of two mismatched women — a professional criminal and her panic-stricken, single-mom hostage — as they run from a relentless detective following a botched diamond robbery. Check the website for screening times and ticket prices.
Until Sunday, October 20, Louis Koo Cinema, Hong Kong Arts Centre, 2 Harbour Road, Wanchai, AND Cinema, Hong Kong Film Archive, 50 Lei King Road, Sai Wan Ho, AND Premiere Elements, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui. HK$56 to HK$90.
Saturday, October 19
The Bloomings of Umbrellas and Sunflowers Revisited
With the anti-government protests now on their 20th weekend, it’s a good time to reflect on one of the seminal moments in Hong Kong history, the 2014 Umbrella Movement. PEN Hong Kong will be hosting this book talk featuring sociology professor Ming-sho Ho from National Taiwan University, who will be presenting his new book on Taiwan’s Sunflower Movement and the Umbrella Movement. He will share his findings regarding the genesis, progress, and outcomes of these two protests, which both began in 2014, and how they continue to shape the pro-democracy movement.
3pm to 5pm at, Art and Culture Outreach, Foo Tak Building, 365-367 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. Free.
I Kong/Soom T/J Star/Skunga Kong inna Hong Kong style
Heavy Hongkong and Hong Kong International Reggae Ska Festival have teamed up for this night of, you guessed it, reggae and ska music. Music will be provided by Jamaican-Chinese reggae legend I Kong (whom some of you may remember from Clockenflap 2018), female vocalist Soom T, Skunga Kong, J Star, Fiya Mousefx, Hidden Dragon, Steffunn, Alex Croft, Paul Stripe, Mr. 14, Chakka C, and Blooddunza.
10pm at, Aux, Basement, 152 Austin Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. HK$200.
If you’re still in need a little more comic relief, comedians Ben Quinlan, Garron Chiu, Ryan Hynek and Maitreyi will be providing the laughs at this HKU shindig.
8pm to 10pm at, Yuet Ming Auditorium, Chong Yuet Ming Cultural Centre, University of Hong Kong, University Drive. HK$300 (standard) HK$100 (student).
Louise Nevelson is an American sculptor known for creating monochromatic wooden wall pieces. Yin Xiuzhen is a Chinese contemporary artist known for her colorful sculptures and installations. Pace will be presenting a two-person exhibition that juxtaposes the works of these two opposites, and explores the relationship between their respective styles of expression. The exhibition runs until November 15, and Yin will be present for the opening reception.
11am to 7pm (closed on Sundays) until November 15 at Pace Gallery, 12/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road Central. 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, October 20
The World of Studio Ghibli’s Animation
If you’ve always wanted to take a selfie with No-Face or walk into the forest to visit Totoro, then good news: You might just get that chance here at this exhibition which will feature 3D models of iconic scenes taken from the studio’s beloved films, bringing its traditional pencil and paper illustrations and animated graphics to life. For years, Studio Ghibli — the Japanese animation studio behind these characters and founded by filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki — has been wowing audiences with beautifully animated masterpieces that feature fantastical worlds, lovable characters, and stories that resonate with young and old alike.
11am to 10pm until November 3 at Portal 6311, 1/F, 18 Sheung Yuet Rd, Kowloon Bay. HK$168 to HK$208 (adults, online) HK$118 to HK$148 (students and concessions), HK$360 to HK$450 (two adults and one child, and HK$100 for each extra child), HK$188 to HK$228 (adults, at the door), HK$128 to HK$168 (students and concessions, at the door), HK$408 to HK$540 (two adults and one child, and HK$100 for each extra child at the door).
This exhibition is part of the Emerging Curators Project, and explores the relationship between “an art object and the practice that results in the art object.” It invites guests to explore how contemporary art has shifted its focus away from “art for art’s sake” and towards viewing objects on their own in isolation.
2pm to 8pm (Mon) and 11am to 8pm (Tues to Sun) until 31 December at JC Contemporary, Tai Kwun Contemporary, 10 Hollywood Road, Central. Free.
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