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Kylie Knott

One of the most popular arts stories of 2025 shone a light on Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham, who in June was named the winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
Shedding a less positive light on Hong Kong was a story about why so many classical music stars are skipping Hong Kong for other Chinese cities.
A story about Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor – who became famous after a British king abdicated to wed her – also struck a chord.
Here we look back at seven of the best arts stories of the year.
1. Keyboard warrior

Hong Kong pianist Aristo Sham Ching-tao has won the 2025 edition of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, putting him on track for global stardom.
Sham, 29, is the first pianist from Hong Kong to win the competition, held in Fort Worth in the US state of Texas.
The announcement on June 7 of his victory followed two-and-a-half weeks of intense anticipation. Live streams of the contest’s four gruelling rounds, which began on May 21 with 28 competitors from 15 countries, received a combined 20 million views from 145 countries.
Read the full story here
2. Fandom of the opera

In March, around 4,000 music lovers from Hong Kong attended a one-night-only concert by Andrea Bocelli, a legendary tenor once dubbed the “Voice of God” by singer Celine Dion.
That the concert on March 29 was in Macau was an inconvenience they were willing to overlook.
According to the organiser and resort Galaxy Macau, Hong Kong visitors made up around 40 per cent of the audience at the sell-out show at the Galaxy Arena. Many of them, like music critic Edison Hung Sze-hang, were happy to make the two-hour round trip for it.
Read the full story here
3. Arty party

On October 20, around 100 guests journeyed through heavy and persistent rain to attend the dual celebration marking both the 100th and 60th birthdays of Taipei’s National Palace Museum.
The latter age, which marks how long the museum has been open in Taiwan, on a lush hilltop just outside the capital, is significant in Chinese culture because of the sexagenary cycle, which marks patterns of fortune in Taoist belief.
The centenary, on the other hand, is a nod to the museum’s roots in the Forbidden City in Beijing, which in 1925 transitioned from a royal palace into a public museum – now The Palace Museum – and from where 2,972 crates of great artworks and other artefacts were shipped to Taiwan when the Kuomintang relocated there in 1949.
Read the full story here
4. Art in the right place

When strolling through a beach resort, it is not often that you pass a sculptor chiselling driftwood or catch sight of a textile artist steeping fabric in a vat of dye. But such scenes are a daily occurrence on Nikoi Island in Indonesia.
The private island resort, about 50 miles (80km) away from Singapore in the Riau Archipelago, not only welcomes tourists but also hosts Southeast Asian artists through its year-round Ubah Rumah Residency programme.
Read the full story here
5. Missing in auction

Auctioneers Sotheby’s postponed the sale of sacred Buddhist relics in Hong Kong on May 7 at the last minute in response to a demand from the Indian government.
New Delhi also demanded the immediate repatriation of the relics.
The “Piprahwa Gems of the Historical Buddha” were to have been one of the highlights of a fortnight of auctions ongoing in Hong Kong that are focused on Asian works of art.
Read the full story here
6. Split personality

Much has been written about Wallis Simpson, the twice-divorced American socialite who changed the course of the British monarchy in 1936 when King Edward VIII abdicated to marry her.
Most of it is pretty scathing. Particularly indecent are the stories linked to a so-called “China Dossier” cataloguing Simpson’s sexual and criminal exploits during her year in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing from 1924 to 1925.
Read the full story here
7. Plush with success

Ever since Lisa from K-pop girl group Blackpink posted her Labubu on Instagram in April 2024, there has been a global frenzy over the ugly-cute soft toys created by Hong Kong-born artist Lung Ka-sing a decade ago.
Now, a new kind of Labubu is hitting the market.
Tattoo artist Hunter Chao is adding his personal touch to these cuddly, sharp-toothed monsters and reselling them as “Tabubu” toys.
Read the full story here


New Hong Kong street dance festival Flo Fest aims to change ‘troubled kid’ stereotype

7 of the best arts stories of 2025, from a new Labubu to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist

Craving art, music and theatre this Christmas? Here’s what to see in Hong Kong

Drones meet dancers in Hong Kong performance of Lucie in the Sky

Performing arts in Hong Kong

Hong Kong-born pianist Aristo Sham won the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2025. Photo: Jen-Pin Lin

Aristo Sham (centre) plays with conductor Marin Alsop and the Fort Worth Symphony at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. Photo: Ralph Lauer

Andrea Bocelli performs at the Galaxy Arena in Macau on March 29, 2025. Photo: Luca Rossetti

The National Palace Museum in Taipei celebrated two birthdays on October 20. Photo: Shutterstock

Nikoi Island off the east coast of Bintan, Indonesia. Since November 2022, it has hosted the Ubah Rumah Residency for artists and researchers. Photo: Nikoi Island

Sotheby’s Hong Kong postponed the sale of sacred Buddha relics after intervention by the Indian government. Photo: Sotheby’s

Britain’s King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry divorcee Wallis Simpson (left). Photo: AFP

Tattooist Hunter Chao works on a Labubu. Photo: Hunter Chao/Bryam Heredia

Chopin Competition winner Eric Lu thrills Hong Kong with a night of mesmerising music

Eric Lu, winner of the 2025 International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, played two Chopin-focused recitals at the University of Hong Kong on December 6 and 7. Photo: Eric Hong

Lu’s recital was mainly focused on Chopin, ending with a Bach aria dedicated to victims and those affected by the tragic fire in Tai Po. Photo: Eric Hong

Lu’s return to Hong Kong came just over a year after his debut in the city in October 2024. Photo: Eric Hong

Hong Kong classical concert to raise money for family of firefighter lost to Tai Po fire

The Cong Quartet are one of the big names who will perform at “Salute to the Brave, Soothing the Soul”, a charity concert co-organised by HK Phil’s first associate concertmaster Leung Kin-fung to pay tribute to Ho Wai-ho, the firefighter who lost his life in the Tai Po fire. 

Violinist and conductor Leung Kin-fung is a co-organiser of “Salute to the Brave, Soothing the Soul”. 

Pianist Nancy Loo will perform Amazing Grace with Hong Kong Pure Strings at the concert.

Meet the Korean viral ‘dancing conductor’ who says he’s not actually dancing

South Korea’s “dancing conductor” Baek Yoon-hak uses his energy-filled moves to get the whole audience joining in.

Baek leads the orchestra with his infectious enthusiasm.

How to play mahjong and how to win at mahjong: basic rules to get a game started, the suits, winning hands – and what to say to claim your victory

Want to win mahjong? Here are the basics of how to win in this traditional Chinese tile-based tabletop game. Photo: Antony Dickson

These mahjong tiles have been stacked into rows two tiles high. Players take a tile in turn from one of these stacks, moving on to the next stack when the first is depleted. Photo: Antony Dickson

An example of “chicken hand”, which is four sets of any category. Photo: Antony Dickson

Examples of “sheung” (top), “pong” (middle) and “kong”. Photo: Antony Dickson

Lifestyle

Arts

From Wallis Simpson to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist Aristo Shum, here are 7 arts stories that really drew in the readers in 2025


From Wallis Simpson to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist Aristo Shum, here are 7 arts stories that really drew in the readers in 2025.


Classical music

Aristo Sham Ching-tao

Sotheby’s

7 of the best arts stories of 2025, from a new Labubu to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}From Wallis Simpson to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist Aristo Shum, here are 7 arts stories that really drew in the readers in 2025

1. Keyboard warrior

From Wallis Simpson to prize-winning Hong Kong pianist Aristo Shum, here are 7 arts stories that really drew in the readers in 2025