Cover ‘Through the Years to Touch You’ by X-Art (Photo: courtesy of the art group and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
‘Through the Years to Touch You’ by X-Art (Photo: courtesy of the art group and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Looking to do something with the whole family this Christmas? Hop over to Sai Kung for its arts festival, which pays tribute to the island’s flora, fauna, history and culture
Sai Kung is rightly famed for its beautiful beaches and delicious seafood, but did you know it also hosts an annual arts festival too?
Supported by the Hong Kong Geopark and curated by One Bite Design Studio, the Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival returns in its third edition this year under the theme “Joy Again, Gather”. Running from now until January 12, it showcases 27 artworks pieces, including 10 new installations across the four Sai Kung islands by artists from France, South Korea and Sai Kung itself.
Free guided tours on various routes are available, but if you’re the adventurous type, why not explore the place on your own? Read on to learn more about these island art pieces.
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Sai Kung promenade
Above “Hi! Sai Kung” by Ken Lo (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
“Hi! Sai Kung” by Ken Lo (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Start your journey at Sai Kung promenade, where Sai Kung resident and artist Ken Lo’s fibreglass installation Hi! Sai Kung, painted in glossy blue, reflects the shimmering sea it faces.
High Island
“Prismatic Rainbow Mascot” by Ban Zhang (Photo: courtesy of the artist and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Take a kaito ferry to High Island, whose volcanic rock shapes and colours offer a stunning backdrop for four new pieces of artwork inspired by mythology and oral traditions.
Vivian Ho’s The Chronicles of High Island consists of three murals depicting the island’s flora and fauna, and Hakka fishing culture.
Sculptor Ban Zhang’s Prismatic Rainbow Mascot, located in front of the Tin Hau Temple, honours the deity of the sea who protects local fishermen.
Meanwhile, conservationist Fung Wai Keung restored a grocery shop sign, which is made up of 22 characters detailing its products such as oil, sugar, rice, grains and fabrics—a piece that showcases Tung A Village’s livelihood.
Artist Stefan Chui paired the grocery shop with flags decorated with patterns of the Ao fish, a symbol of the power of nature, and the qilin, an auspicious beast in Chinese folklore.
Tung A beach
Above “Rhythm of the Dragon” by Shi Qi Tu and Adrian Siu (Photo: courtesy of the artists and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
“Rhythm of the Dragon” by Shi Qi Tu and Adrian Siu (Photo: courtesy of the artists and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Rhythm of the Dragon by architects Shi Qi Tu and Adrian Siu imitates a dragon’s tail emerging from the tides. The dragon scales, made from recycled plastic and painted by local residents, flutter in the wind, as if the dragon lives and breathes.
Kau Sai Chau
“The Root of Squids” by Kelvin Ho and Jenny Tse (Photo: courtesy of the artists and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Continue your journey at Kau Sai Chau. Here, villager Kelvin Ho and designer Jenny Tse transformed an indoor space into an immersive space with installations of schools of bigfin reef squids.
Beyond Vision International, the team behind Village Whisper, collected stories and daily objects from the neighbourhood to create interactive installations for visually impaired individuals.
Yim Tin Tsai
“Through the Years to Touch You” by X-Art (Photo: courtesy of the art group and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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On Yim Tin Tsai island, which has its roots in salt farming, an abandoned Hakka village house has been decorated with Meet’n Meal, a mosaic piece by art collectives O&O Studio and Rehyphenation which presents traditional Hakka cuisine.
Find your way back to the old pier, where a giant bamboo sculpture created by art group X-Art comes into view against the sea. In this piece Through the Years to Touch You, the art group’s member Christopher Chan, a ninth-generation Yim Tin Tsai villager, draws inspiration from his father’s stories to explore themes of diaspora through this dance work elevated by AR elements.
Sharp Island
Above “It’s Not Here, It’s Over Here” by Galmae and Juhyung Lee (Photo: courtesy of the artists and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
“It’s Not Here, It’s Over Here” by Galmae and Juhyung Lee (Photo: courtesy of the artists and Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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The final leg of the journey takes place on Sharp Island, a snorkelling hotspot. This year, the festival brings in It’s Not Here, It’s Over Here, an interactive installation with a net of ropes that lets visitors use their body movements to navigate through it. Created by the French art team Galmae and led by Korean artist Juhyung Lee, the piece has been performed in 15 countries.
More offerings at Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival
Above A workshop of making traditional Hakka snacks (Photo: courtesy of Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
A workshop of making traditional Hakka snacks (Photo: courtesy of Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival)
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Hungry for more adventures? Why not sign up for the companion stargazing or kayaking tours and traditional food workshops organised by the Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival?
Zabrina is the Senior Editor, Arts and Culture of Tatler Hong Kong. She specialises in performing arts, visual art and film. Her wanderlust was first fuelled by the Mighty Rovers Antarctica Expedition 2010. Over the years, she has interviewed A-list artists and filmmakers, including Oscar winners Chlóe Zhao and Tim Yip, Golden Horse winner Sylvia Chang, In the Mood for Love cinematographer Christopher Doyle, Pachinko author Min Jin Lee, and Coachella’s first Chinese solo singer Jackson Wang. She won gold at the WAN-IFRA Asian Media Awards for her 2021 feature on the waves of hate crimes targeting Asian Americans.
