Things to do in Hong Kong today

Portuguese artist Joana Vasconcelos has unveiled her first-ever immersive installations in Hong Kong as part of Swire Properties’ Arts Month celebrations. The artist is known for working with textiles and this new commissioned work is no exception. Enchanted Forest occupies a large room that has been left in the dark while large-scale installations shaped like liquid droplets hang from the above. Showcasing sewing, knitting, and crochet work on leftover fabric from the House of Dior, these elongated orbs illuminated by LED lights resemble textile stalactites and took a team of 60 over six months to create. In a lobby nearby, Valkyrie Seondeok hangs from the ceiling – while the overall shapes of the forest installation is present here, this sculpture is on an even larger scale, and is named after the women warriors of Norse mythology and the first reigning queen of Silla (before Korea was founded).

The annual SummerFest is back! This year, the annual programme will be held at the Wan Chai Harbourfront Event Space from April 5 to July 3, before heading over to the Central Harbourfront Event Space for its second round (dates TBC). As with previous years, visitors can expect an exciting mix of events and activities spanning from arts and music to outdoor markets and sports. Thematic events will also be held on weekends, public holidays, and specific dates during this period. Together with the A-Maze-ing Harbourfront themed mazes, along with the illuminate! Run Beyond outdoor light installation, everyone is welcome to chill, play, and simply enjoy a great summer by our gorgeous waterfront. Don't miss highlight events like the Hong Kong Dance Competition 2024, K-Wave Fiesta, Balance Bike Carnival, the Awaken Your Inner Warrior: Fit & Well Festival, Lanka Fest Hong Kong, and many more.

Broadway International Group brings the International Tour of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music to make its Hong Kong stage debut. Catch the heartwarming tale of governess Maria as she joins the family of Captain Von Trapp and his seven children, and ignites their love of music, all set against a pre-World War II backdrop. The original Broadway musical has won Tonys and Grammys over the years, and will be celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2024. Audiences will also get to hear perennial favourite songs such as My Favourite Things, Edelweiss, Do-Re-Mi, and the title track The Sound of Music. Having been sold out for its seasons in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and the soon-to-open Shanghai, make sure to catch the Sound of Music stage production at the Xiqu Centre from April 16 to June 9.

As part of the large-scale outdoor art project Art@Harbour 2024, the international art collective teamLab will present teamLab: Continuous at Tamar Park as well as the Central and Western District promenade. The installation will consist of hundreds of luminous ovoids that continuously change colours based on how visitors interact with them. Dozens of trees in the park will also be lit up to change colours and play sounds in response to the ovoids. See this stunning installation on the lawns of Tamar Park, where they will extend out onto Victoria Harbour to highlight Hong Kong’s vibrant waterfront.  Art@Harbour 2024 will also see the Science in Art exhibition along the Central and Western District promenade, featuring two interactive art installations called Harbour Cup and Schrödinger’s Bed. Visit the waterfront from March 25 to June 2 to experience these art exhibits for yourself – if you want to enter the lawn and interact with the exhibits instead of viewing from a distance, then registration is required.

Step into the weird, wacky, and wonderful world of acclaimed British artist Gary Card at his first large-scale solo exhibition in Hong Kong titled People Mountain People Sea. Gary's diverse talents span painting, sculpture, illustration, graphic design, and set design, having worked with some of the biggest artists and designers from around the world. For this exhibition, Gary was inspired by the vibrant fusion of East and West cultures in Hong Kong. Using various objects and elements he's observed during his visits to the city, Gary has crafted a series of bold and unique artworks to transform the historic Oi! Warehouses into a multimedia art space, where animation and sound merge to create an immersive visual and sensory experience. Visit Oi! Street Art Space between now and July 28 to his works and be sure to snap pics of the giant outdoor sculpture on the Oi! Lawn.

Celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT) with their exciting Spring Programme 2024, Factory of Tomorrow. From now to July 14, immerse yourself in a fascinating group exhibition that showcases CHAT's contemporary art collection and newly commissioned works. With artworks by 19 Asian artists, the exhibition explores the role of textiles in Hong Kong's past while delving into the present and future. Through textile works, sculptures, immersive installations, and videos, artists examine themes such as technology, diversity, climate change, and our collective future. Additionally, be sure to experience new elements like the Misfitted: Unspoken Stories of Tailoring display, the interactive Illumin-Loom, as well as the reopening of the CHAT Lounge.

We’re delighted to see Sophia Hotung, one of our Future Shapers interviewees, exhibit her latest works in a solo show. Having been bedridden as a result of her autoimmune diseases, Hotung slowly began to re-explore the city’s roads, sidewalks, traffic junctions, and walkways, and was struck with inspiration one day when the song 42nd Street from the eponymous musical came up on shuffle. “It made me imagine the people around me launching into intricate tap dances or sweeping waltzes,” she says. Hotung’s 10 original artworks combine her love for musicals with her love for this city, transforming passers-by into the cast of musical theatre ensembles set against the backdrop of locations all over Hong Kong, such as the Happy Valley Racecourse, Cheung Chau, and the steps on Duddell Street. If you’re anything like us and have always wanted to randomly break out into a huge song and dance number in real life, no doubt you’ll enjoy this exhibition at Wyndham Social as well.  Read our interview with Sophia Hotung here.

Using archival materials as a starting point, this exhibition brings together new works from six groups of local artists and collectives, focusing on one specific day in Hong Kong’s past. Another Day in Hong Kong was inspired by Oscar Ho’s One Day in Hong Kong exhibition back in 1990, which collected photographs taken by Hong Kong citizens on a single day. This new show expands upon its predecessor by exploring new dimensions to capture the diverse people and events that occur within 24 hours.

To open the French May Art Festival, M+ museum will be presenting its first special exhibition on photography in collaboration with the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF). See more than 250 significant photos from BnF’s world-renowned collection alongside over 30 works from M+’s own collection. If you like the melancholic and dramatic quality of black-and-white photography, you’ll definitely enjoy this exhibition. Standard tickets are on sale for $140 while discounts are available for M+ members and guests of M+ patrons.