For quirky mall events, Hans Davis offers hands down one of the most peculiar displays. The Belgian is a hand-shadow master, creating animals and figures through light and a back screen. With 10 fingers and his palms, he can create more than 150 different shadow shapes.
The art form originated in China, so it's quite appropriate that Davis will do shows at Sha Tin's New Town Plaza for the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day until October 11.
'My grandfather always created funny shadows on the wall to put me to bed at night,' Davis said.
However, early in his career his goal was to be a magician, using his dexterous fingers for illusions and tricks. After witnessing a hand-shadow show by an Indian master named Prasanna Rao, dubbed the Prince of Shadow, Davis began incorporating hand shadows into his magic shows. They eventually took over completely, and his effects have won prizes at magic conventions in Belgium and France.
'The number of people doing hand shadows is rising nowadays, but they don't know how to give their shadows a spirit. I remember one of the audiences told me that when I was performing the shadow show, he forgot about my hands. The comment impressed me very much.'
In his enthusiasm, Davis added: 'I am now creating the characters from Star Wars ... oops, that was meant to be a secret.'
