Missed Art Month? 5 reasons to visit Tai Kwun now, from a film on obsolete Hong Kong tech featuring Josie Ho, to retro neon and floral installations, and an outdoor production by Tsai Ming-liang

Mar 29 , 2024

The Monk from Tang Dynasty, part of Tai Kwun’s Spotlight: A Season of Performing Arts programme. Photos: Handout

Since opening in 2018 following a decade-long revitalisation, Tai Kwun has been reborn as one of Hong Kong’s most important cultural hubs.

Not to be outdone by Art Basel, Art Central and the variety of other art-related events taking place in town throughout March and April, Tai Kwun is presenting its own striking line-up of works.

Everyone’s favourite former jail is pulling out all the stops to showcase a multitude of artworks across disciplines – from dance and theatre to film and large-scale installations. The works cover a variety of themes, from the history and evolution of Hong Kong itself, to sustainability and metahumanist explorations.

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Here are some of Tai Kwun’s must-see programmes coming up in the next few weeks.

1. Spotlight: A Season of Performing Arts

The Monk from Tang Dynasty, part of Spotlight: A Season of Performing Arts

Running through April 28 is a series of five performance pieces that comprise Tai Kwun’s Spotlight programme for 2024. Now in its fourth edition, the interdisciplinary series allows artists to “break free from conceptions of space and form to explore fresh possibilities”.

Between March 29 and April 1, acclaimed Taiwan-based, Malaysian director Tsai Ming-liang’s The Monk from Tang Dynasty comes to Hong Kong having shown in Brussels, Vienna and Taipei. The outdoor production follows Buddhist monk Xuanzang, famous for his Silk Road pilgrimage to India, whose travels inspired the classic 16th century novel, Journey to the West. Exploring themes of loneliness and determination, the production blends art, theatre and painting, and stars actor Lee Kang-sheng and painter Kao Jun-honn.

The performance installation Labyss sees the audience interact with a fictional Danish start-up using technology to store memories

From April 13 to 28, the series pivots to the hypermodern with productions Retry Login and Labyss. The former invites participants to sit in an individually enclosed space to chat with “possibly other sentient beings or machine intelligence” during a 45-minute session. The latter sees the audience interact with a fictional Danish start-up that uses technology to store memories via sensory experience that will be “absorbed and regenerated into a strange emerging collective life form”.

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Memory Trace of Western Chamber, a work inspired by the ancient play Romance of the Western Chamber

Dance artist Elsie Chau Kam-ngai and choreographer Ong Yong Lock present Memory Trace of Western Chamber between April 18 to 20. The dance theatre piece is centred on Cui Yingying, the protagonist of the Yuan dynasty play Romance of the Western Chamber.

Rounding out the series and running from April 19 to 28 is Dormitory Town. Catalonian performing arts creation platform Contenidos Superfluos presents its 2021 project exploring the serenity of cemeteries and resting souls.

2. Sarah Morris: Who is Who

A still from Sarah Morris’ ETC, a film about the eponymous obsolete technology, with appearances by actress Josie Ho and graphic designer Henry Steiner

Running until April 14 is multidisciplinary artist Sarah Morris’ latest film, ETC. Playfully evoking the now-obsolete electronic teller card (ETC) – the precursor to the ATM card – the movie depicts Hong Kong’s electronic and digital transformation over the past few decades. Subjects featured include actress Josie Ho and graphic designer Henry Steiner, who designed the first ETC for HSBC in 1979. The film is being screened alongside a wall painting – titled Lippo [Paul Rudolph] after the twin skyscrapers in Admiralty, and the man who designed them.

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3. Neon Connection

Audiences who loved Tai Kwun’s “Vital Signs” (pictured) can look forward to Memoir in Neon, from April 11

Opening on April 11, Neon Connection is a year-long exhibition dedicated to those disappearing local landmarks, Hong Kong’s neon signs. Yard Architecture Studio brings us the artwork Memoir in Neon, which arrives in the wake of Tai Kwun’s successful summer exhibition, “Vital Signs”. This time, Yard Architecture is mapping the 55 metres and 59 steps of Tai Kwun Lane into three zones, so pedestrians along Tai Kwun’s main artery can enjoy vibrant neon art.

4. Tai Kwun in Bloom

Morning Hibiscus by Hiufu Wong, part of Tai Kwun in Bloom

For those who want to enjoy a more naturalistic visual spectacle, Tai Kwun is hosting a lush floral extravaganza at the Parade Ground from April 4 to 7. The market celebrates nature as inspiration, but also showcases the possibilities and beauty of sustainable living. Those who know Hong Kong mainly as a concrete jungle can cast their preconceived notions aside as they wander through Tai Kwun in Bloom.

5. “Green Snake: Women-centred Ecologies”

“Green Snake: Women-centred Ecologies” at Tai Kwun Contemporary, finishing on April 1

This weekend is the last chance to catch “Green Snake: Women-centred Ecologies”. The large-scale exhibition features over 60 works representing more than 30 artists and collectives from 20 countries. The works focus on the connections between art, ecology and climate change – and on the precious, limited resource that is our natural environment.

Art

Sarah Morris has ETC, a film on the eponymous outdated tech featuring Josie Ho – and screened alongside the painting Lippo [Paul Rudolph], named after the Admiralty skyscrapers and their designer
Filmmaker Tsai Ming-liang’s outdoor production The Monk from Tang Dynasty is inspired by the classic 16th century novel Journey to the West, and stars film actor Lee Kang-sheng