Things to do in Hong Kong today

The internationally acclaimed Cirque du Soleil is coming to town on the first stop of their Asia tour – this will be the troupe’s first appearance in Hong Kong since 2018. Their Kooza show first started in 2007 and toured in more than 70 cities across 23 countries before being relaunched in 2022 with new production elements. Expect to see high-flying acrobatics and whimsical characters amidst gorgeous sets, highlighted by the lavish costumes and powerful music that Cirque du Soleil has always been known for. This new production also includes a solo aerial silk performance, a repertoire of Icarian games, and a high-octane diabolo act with a triple world champion – all never seen before in Hong Kong.  Since there has been overwhelming demand, the Cirque du Soleil has extended Kooza’s run for an additional three weeks, so the show will be in town until July 13. Tickets run from $450 to $1,998 – VIP ticket holders can enjoy the exclusive bar and appetisers an hour before the show starts and during intermission. 

From now to July 13, Airside is hosting ‘The World of ASMR’ exhibition that was at London’s Design Museum. This will be the Kai Tak venue’s first time collaborating with an international museum since its opening, and we’re so excited that it’s going to be this special exhibition on the euphoria or calm triggered by sound, touch, and movement. This immersive experience delves into the crackles, pops, feather brushes, whispers, and tappy noises that have become a whole culture and community around the world. Showing over 40 works by contemporary artists, ASMRtists, and designers, the Hong Kong edition also features newly commissioned works by local artists which capture our city’s unique auditory identity. The highlight of the show is a sculpture of wavy, bendy pillows woven together to form over a kilometre of squishy comfort, where visitors can lounge while watching various ASMR-related videos. There’s even an entire room dedicated to Bob Ross, who many in the community dub the ‘Godfather of ASMR’.  Don’t forget to try your hand at creating your own ASMR noises before you leave! Tickets to this exhibition at Gate33 Gallery cost $30.

The ‘Van Gogh Alive’ immersive art experience has travelled to over 100 cities around the world, and it’s returning to our shores on March 10. This exhibition stimulates the senses of sight, sound, and smell to fully bring visitors into Post-Impressionist master Vincent van Gogh’s artistic journey.  3,000 paintings and images including famous Van Gogh classics like ‘Sunflowers’, ‘Starry Night’, and ‘Wheatfield with Crows’ are waiting to be experienced in an elevated way, with approximately 30 giant screens working together to project, break down, and enhance the paintings. Projected simultaneously across walls, columns, and floors, visitors can feel like they’re actually wandering through the world created through his bold brush strokes. Apart from a redesigned layout that utilises more of the exhibition space than when the exhibition came to Hong Kong in 2019, this return also presents something new in the debut of ‘AI Van Gogh’; the technology brings the artist back to life and generates paintings in the Impressionist style for visitors to walk into. Classical music from Schubert and Bach will enhance the enjoyment of the artwork, while special scents are also used to heighten the immersive experience, evoking florals when viewing ‘Sunflowers’ or a fresh breeze in ‘Starry Night’. Early-bird tickets are available until February 27 for $160. Thereafter, the standard price will be $190, with concessions available. Note that tickets to ‘Van Gogh Alive’ do not include entry...

The Joyful Miniature Association (JMA) is presenting incredibly detailed dioramas of life in Hong Kong, including seven brand-new miniatures that have never been seen before. Peek into painstaking recreations of Sunday dim sum at Maxim’s Palace in City Hall, chaotic nightlife along Lan Kwai Fong, a moving model of the fifth generation of the Peak Tram funicular railway – and look out for the new dioramas like the legendary old Kowloon Walled City, aquatic animals on sale at one of the many shops along Goldfish Street, the cable car at Ngong Ping 360, and more. These miniature displays will be on show at The Peak Tower from April 25 to June 23 – JMA’s longest exhibition in the city.

Visit this special exhibition at M+ to see more than 60 masterpieces by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso spanning from the late 1890s to the early 1970s. Co-curated with the Musée national Picasso-Paris (MnPP), which holds the largest repository of Picasso’s work in the world, this is the first time that pieces from the MnPP are being shown together with works from an Asian museum collection. By placing Picasso’s work in dialogue with Asian contemporary art – approximately 80 works by more than 20 Asian and Asian-diasporic artists – the master’s enduring influence on art to this day is highlighted. Split into four sections that show how Picasso fits into four artist stereotypes – such as the genius in his self-mythologising works, and the outsider with how he consistently chose to upend artistic styles and traditions – this exhibition explores how Picasso became the quintessential modern 20th-century artist.  Tickets cost $240, with half-price concessions and adult-and-child combo deals available. Visitors with special exhibition tickets can also access the ‘Guo Pei: Fashioning Imagination’ exhibition, as well as all M+ general admission exhibitions starting from March 15.

More than 110 exquisite artefacts from the Hong Kong Palace Museum, The Palace Museum in Beijing, as well as important loans from the British Museum, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and several museums in Hong Kong, will be on display at this special exhibition on Chinese food and drink culture. These pieces delve into the rich culinary traditions and culture of ancient Chinese people, ranging across 5,000 years of history. See how culinary practices and ingredients were exchanged between China and the nomadic peoples of Central and Western Asia; how the Ming and Qing dynasties enjoyed picnics and dining on pleasure boats; and how the importance of food and drink was transferred even from this world to the afterlife through burial rituals and offerings dating back to the Neolithic period. This fascinating culinary exploration is enhanced by multimedia presentations and technology, such as an interactive dining table where visitors can order food in a virtual feast while exploring the evolution of dining utensils and diverse cooking techniques. Out of the displays, eight pieces are grade-one national treasures from the Forbidden City, so keep an eye out. Tickets for this special exhibition are priced at $150, with concessions available. Those who purchase Full Access Tickets for HKPM can access this exhibition, as well as The Forbidden City and The Palace of Versailles and other exhibitions in galleries one to seven on the same day.

The Affordable Art Fair returns to the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for its 12th edition this year. With a mission to prove that art collection is for everybody, and just a hobby for the rich and snobby, the fair gathers 99 local and international galleries to present art pieces that are all priced under $100,000. Some highlights of this year’s Affordable Art Fair includes a marketplace installation where visitors can purchase hand-carved wooden apples and an ATM that you can feed prompts into to get one-of-a-kind, original art sketches. If you’d like to start buying art but don’t know how, then your first step should be heading to this annual art fair.