https://www.scmp.com/rss/318369/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Ysabelle Cheung Ysabelle Cheung Doris Ng Toi-yee takes out a wooden tray and shows me its contents: wooden pegs, each scrawled with handwritten notes. Some of them are simply names, like “Marilyn”, followed by three hearts. Others contain more ambiguous text: “Truth is”, “Play”, “Hope”, “Broken”, “Inner Child”. Each one is an audience response from A Collective Imprint: Adjust the Rainbow (2025), a participatory performance that Ng staged in March at Supper Club Hong Kong, in H Queen’s. (I co-founded Supper Club but was not... https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3311545/hong-kong-artist-doris-ng-explores-vulnerability-and-disability-m?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/postmag/culture/article/3311545/hong-kong-artist-doris-ng-explores-vulnerability-and-disability-m?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 May 2025 21:00:09 +0000 Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli by Steve Alpert, Stone Bridge Press, 2/5 stars If you had visited the newly opened Ghibli Museum, in suburban Tokyo, in 2001, you might have been lucky to see artist and animator Hayao Miyazaki at work. Once a week the influential co-founder of Japanese animation giant Studio Ghibli would sit and draw at a modest wooden desk, to show fans how his films were made. Massive lines and crowds quickly formed to see Miyazaki; museum... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3088417/memoir-15-years-studio-ghibli-japanese-animation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3088417/memoir-15-years-studio-ghibli-japanese-animation?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 13 Jun 2020 05:00:09 +0000 Bird Talk and Other Stories by Xu Xu (translated by Frederik H. Green), Stone Bridge Press. 4/5 stars Early in Xu Xu’s short story “When Ah Heung Came to Gousing Road”, we are introduced to the titular street in 1960s Hong Kong. The area is described as a “steep little alley”, which near the top contains luxury houses and near the bottom three little stalls run by a shoemaker, a key cutter and a florist. While the introduction of Gousing Road – most prob­ably today’s Ko Shing Street in Sheung... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3084368/bird-talk-xu-xus-short-stories-hong-kong-symbol-new?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3084368/bird-talk-xu-xus-short-stories-hong-kong-symbol-new?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 May 2020 09:15:12 +0000 Grass, by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, pub. Drawn and Quarterly, 4.5/5 stars The opening pages of Grass, a graphic novel, introduce a girl. Her expression, distilled by a few sharp ink strokes, is full of pain, sorrow and uncertainty. Surrounding her on the blank page is an unmoving whiteness, with no sky or ground to anchor her to reality. Her eyes are downcast, her body cloaked against an invisible frost. This is the real-life protagonist of Grass, Lee Ok-sun. Born in Busan, South Korea, Lee was one... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3032118/graphic-novel-biography-korean-wartime-sex-slave-japanese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/3032118/graphic-novel-biography-korean-wartime-sex-slave-japanese?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:00:09 +0000 Mainstream media can be a harsh political arena for emerging Asian musicians, who have to contend with racial stereotyping as well as fight for precious screen time and radio play. Historically, only a handful of artists of Asian descent have made a mark on the global charts. With the help of social media, however, a new generation of musicians have become household names. Within these more intimate and casual online worlds, self-representing singers and rappers can maintain their idiosyncratic... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3027150/bts-psy-awkwafina-7-asian-musicians-who-used-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3027150/bts-psy-awkwafina-7-asian-musicians-who-used-social-media?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Sep 2019 14:00:05 +0000 The posters have started going up around the city for Dear Jane’s upcoming shows in September and their fans are getting excited. Having released three well-received singles earlier this year, the four-piece pop rock outfit are riding a wave of mainstream success that has garnered millions of hits on YouTube, and a status usually reserved for hot newcomers to the music scene. However, these boys are far from novices – Dear Jane formed in 2003 – and it took more than a few shaky years... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2007921/13-years-and-hong-kong-band-dear-jane-still-punk-rock-heart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2007921/13-years-and-hong-kong-band-dear-jane-still-punk-rock-heart?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Aug 2016 00:00:15 +0000 Hong Kong indie rock legends Chochukmo will embark on an immersive experiment on August 24, ferrying audience members down a veritable rabbit hole of musical expression. For months now, the five band members have been building on the idea of a multimedia concert, culminating in what they have named the Tree Hole Project. The Star Hall venue at Kitec in Kowloon Bay will be transformed into an enclosed tree-hole nest, an effect generated by five monstrous LED screens projecting cutting-edge visual... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2004632/hong-kong-indie-rockers-chochukmo-stage-immersive-multimedia-concert?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/2004632/hong-kong-indie-rockers-chochukmo-stage-immersive-multimedia-concert?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Aug 2016 00:03:31 +0000 Whatever happened to Sean Kingston? The cherub-faced crooner seamlessly entered the pop scene in 2007 with Beautiful Girls, a single from his eponymous debut album that shot to top of the charts in the US, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. The Jamaican-American artist quickly followed up with Fire Burning in 2009, the second single released off his sophomore album Tomorrow. Promoting a profanity-free lyric ethic, as well as cross-blending his reggae and hip-hop roots with... https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/1998684/beautiful-girls-singer-sean-kingston-back-hong-kong-new-attitude?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/culture/music/article/1998684/beautiful-girls-singer-sean-kingston-back-hong-kong-new-attitude?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Aug 2016 00:16:38 +0000 If you asked a random group of people what their favourite song by Elton John was, their divergent answers might surprise you. Everyone has a “greatest hit” from the 68-year-old performer’s influential back catalogue, which he will be performing live in Hong Kong on Tuesday, from the standout Tiny Dancer to Rocket Man. But what that special tune is, and how it weaves into the lives of everyone – everyone from a British octogenarian fond of the monarchy to a New Yorker fascinated with the roots... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1880143/elton-john-will-bring-back-catalogue-no-other-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1880143/elton-john-will-bring-back-catalogue-no-other-hong-kong?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Nov 2015 05:45:45 +0000 Either electronic dance music (EDM) enfant terrible Skrillex  has an indefatigable new publicist or he’s actually going through a revival – an almost unfathomable thought for an artist who is just shy of 28. But then again, Skrillex – aka Sonny Moore  – hasn’t had a typical career. He cut his teeth in traditional band culture, singing and performing with rock outfit From First to Last   across sunny California. He began to experience vocal problems and went solo – but by the late 2000s, he had... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1861419/shape-shifting-career-your-face-edm-star-skrillex?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/music/article/1861419/shape-shifting-career-your-face-edm-star-skrillex?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Sep 2015 00:19:10 +0000 It was in the excruciating moment when EXP member Frankie Daponte Jnr was asked to objectify his bandmates that he recognised the surreal aspect of his professional life. "I was asked to line them up in order of hotness," he recalls of the workshop task. "When I first joined EXP I saw it as a challenge and an amazing experience, but then at the root of everything, I realised we were touching on some really big topics." Daponte could well be speaking for the masses of today's pop stars whose... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1857225/what-does-k-pop-band-no-koreans-say-about-cultural?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1857225/what-does-k-pop-band-no-koreans-say-about-cultural?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Sep 2015 13:00:00 +0000 Hong Kong indie-pop outfit Kestrels and Kites are much like the city they call home — a composite of diverse people scooped up from elsewhere, drawn together by an almost inexhaustible drive to make things work. When the band formed in 2009, they were officially known as Jade and the Stagger Swallows and featured three members. Of that original line-up, only the singer — Tiffany Laue (the "Jade" of the band name) — remains, and there have been many entrances and exits over the years, with... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1826758/hong-kong-indie-rockers-kestrels-and-kites-eye-china-concerts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1826758/hong-kong-indie-rockers-kestrels-and-kites-eye-china-concerts?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Jul 2015 09:00:30 +0000 Emmy the Great sometimes wakes up to voices lingering from her dreams. She then grabs her phone and records brief a cappella lilts in a state of semi-slumber. "I write text messages to myself sometimes, too," the 31-year-old singer-songwriter says. "I make a note of stuff. If an idea keeps coming back to me, I'll look for it wherever it is." These fragments of sounds and words, as close to a flash of inspiration stereotype as most musicians will get, will eventually become Emmy's songs; it is... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1820583/hong-kong-born-emmy-great-embraces-her-chinese-side?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1820583/hong-kong-born-emmy-great-embraces-her-chinese-side?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Jun 2015 02:30:45 +0000 Not too long ago, we lived in a music world that wasn't dominated by electronic dance music (EDM). Now, along with other millennial-driven aspects of contemporary society, the sub-genre juggernaut is impossible to avoid. Diplo tweets a picture and the Twitter-verse goes mad; Skrillex's obscure Instagram photos rack up tens of thousands of likes; pages upon pages of Tumblr are dedicated to gifs of Deadmau5. If it all sounds familiar, here's why: just a few decades ago, rock stars were courting... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1819266/road-ultra-macaus-first-big-electronic-dance-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1819266/road-ultra-macaus-first-big-electronic-dance-music-festival?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jun 2015 14:41:18 +0000 If you've been to a gallery, museum or art event in Hong Kong the past decade, you're most likely to have spotted curator Tobias Berger. He's known for his jovial demeanour and candid views on the city's cultural development, and, of course, his love affair with the visual - he is as likely to be seen peering at a Picasso as at protest art. "I love to see new things. I'm very curious to see what's going on and the most important thing about being a curator is that you have to go out and see... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1814855/hong-kong-most-fascinating-city-earth-tobias-berger?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1814855/hong-kong-most-fascinating-city-earth-tobias-berger?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Jun 2015 22:45:15 +0000 There is no shame in listening to Mika's perfectly crafted tunes. Unlike scores of exiled pop princes and princesses before him, Mika has enjoyed indefatigable popularity: his records aren't relegated to dust-ridden cupboards, he lives less in the shadows of his previous hits and more in the light of his next upbeat single, and his name isn't mentioned as a nod to the past. Mika, born Michael Holbrook Penniman Jnr in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and an American father, is a purveyor of pure pop.... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1810018/mikas-back-more-perfectly-crafted-pop?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/48-hours/article/1810018/mikas-back-more-perfectly-crafted-pop?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 May 2015 03:45:30 +0000 Although Fukuoka native Taku Hirayama studied international law at university, his current lifestyle speaks of the unofficial "degree" he passed summa cum laude: partying. "I majored in that," he says with a high-speed, deep trill of a laugh that is now recognisable to anyone who has passed through the doors of Central club Oma. As music director of the venue (formerly Midnight & Co, and before that, Yumla) in Hong Kong, Hirayama is a familiar face to those who seek out the space's signature... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1783240/hong-kong-dj-who-majored-partying-all-work-play?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/article/1783240/hong-kong-dj-who-majored-partying-all-work-play?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 May 2015 14:52:41 +0000 It's always too late for someone." That's the enigmatic tagline of Hong Kong-based Crime Wave Press, a two-and-a-half-year-old publishing company with a wicked hunger for crime fiction. Founded in 2012 by publisher and photographer Hans Kemp and writer Tom Vater, the press churns out all manner of grisly, quirky and full-throttle murder mysteries, from hard-boiled to noir and "cozies" - community-set stories in which violence and sex is downplayed. Although the two nomads met while travelling in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1768512/local-crime-fiction-publishers-put-stories-profit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/books/article/1768512/local-crime-fiction-publishers-put-stories-profit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Apr 2015 14:39:19 +0000 A dream to open a photography gallery in the heart of Hong Kong inspired French couple Marie-Florence Gros and Cyril Delettre to leave their native Paris for the city in September last year. A few months later, they opened La Galerie, a contemporary fine arts space on Hollywood Road. They've also immersed themselves in the city's fine arts scene, proposing a strong ethos that asks the question: "What is the difference between artwork and ordinary cliché?" This curiosity stems from the couple's... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748527/why-french-couple-chose-hong-kong-art-gallery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1748527/why-french-couple-chose-hong-kong-art-gallery?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2015 14:52:03 +0000 Ysabelle Cheung Ysabelle Cheung How do you define "home"? Is it a sense of domestic stability? Is it the place where you grew up, or the place where you live now? These are the questions new platform and company Third Culture - which encompasses film, writing, festivals and a broader focus of cultural engagement - seeks to explore in a variety of mediums. Third Culture's name refers to a unique demographic: those people who have grown up outside their parents' culture, whose childhoods involve jumping from city to city, and... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1742743/third-culture-where-transient-millennials-can-explore-their?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1742743/third-culture-where-transient-millennials-can-explore-their?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2015 14:57:59 +0000