Hong Kong art exhibitions to catch this week

Digital art exhibition Arte M Hong Kong arrived on Hong Kong's shores from South Korea in the fall of 2022, bringing a surreal immersive experience through a combination of visual effects, sounds, and even aromas. Sadly, the exhibition has just announced its closure and will be wrapping things up on December 31, 2024, before heading off for a new venture in Shenzhen. When asked about their original plans to set up the Arte Museum at 11 Skies, the organisers replied saying that the project has been put on hold. To bid farewell to Hongkongers, Arte M is dishing out special closing discounts with ticket prices going for half price (applicable to online purchases only). Regular adult tickets are $64 on weekdays (original price $128) and $74 on weekends and public holidays (original price $148). Discounted tickets for children aged three to 11, students, and seniors aged 65 and above are priced at $49 on weekdays (original price $98) and $54 on weekends and public holidays (original price $108). Admission is free for kids under the age of three.

M+ will host the first full-scale retrospective of renowned Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei, his life, his philosophy, and his works, presented through various mediums. Better known as I. M. Pei, he is the mastermind designer behind some of the world’s most recognisable works of modernist architecture, including the glass-and-steel Louvre Pyramid, the Miho Museum in Shigaraki, and Hong Kong’s own Bank of China Tower. Sorted into six themes that place Pei’s architecture within sociocultural contexts, the exhibition will consist of over 300 items on display, most of which have never been exhibited before. Several international photographers have also been commissioned to photograph Pei’s buildings, and architectural models of some of his most significant projects have also been made.  It’s fascinating to see how Pei incorporates his love of Chinese aesthetics, his determination to improve public spaces, and his respect of the natural surroundings of each site into his projects. Visitors might also find it interesting to learn that Pei was also behind aother iconic Hong Kong location: Sunning Plaza in Causeway Bay. The exhibition will open on June 29 with a free public talk featuring Pei’s son, Sandi Li Chung Pei, as well as Pei’s close collaborators Calvin Tsao and Aslıhan Demirtaş – they will discuss the relevance and impact of Pei’s life and work across various cities. Tickets for this special exhibition are priced at $160, with concessions available. Ticket holders

Created by American architectural group Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Joyful Trees (Arbores Laetae), is an art project at Oil! featuring 16 Chinese Junipers, three of which are placed on turning planters at a 10-degree tilt. As the trees rotate, the movement channels a rhythmic rustle and evokes discourse about human’s role in nature from Anthropocene’s perspective. Planting a movable landscape, the installation also reinterprets nature as ever-changing and never static, creating an unusual artistic perspective. The three-dimensional installation can be viewed from eye level on the ground; by the adjacent pedestrian ramp; on the footbridge across the site; from the gallery window in the Oi! Glassie building; or even from the skyscrapers above. 

The world-famous RedBall Project is bouncing into town from December 6 to 15. Created by American artist Kurt Perschke, the RedBall Project is known as the world’s longest-running street art and has made its way across the globe popping up in cities like London, Paris, Tokyo, Tainan, and more. Each day, the giant red ball will appear at 10 culturally significant locations, wedging itself into various local architecture from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. As part of 'BODW in the city', RedBall Hong Kong will also see various collaborations with local artists and brands to get everyone interacting and engaging with this giant oversized ball. Open daily from 11am to 6pm, the installations are free and open to everyone. Check out the full schedule of when and where the installation will appear in our guide.

Japanese artist Seiju Toda, one of the country’s leading art directors, is holding his first solo exhibition in Hong Kong. A lot of Japanese aesthetics and ideas of beauty hinge on minimalism, and in a similar vein, Toda’s body of work focuses on ‘subtraction’ and keeping things simple to allow room for viewers’ imagination. A hint of a fish swimming along a wooden edge, carefully concealed figures in alcoves, light hints of colours – even the very name of the exhibition which, apart from referencing an era in Japan’s middle age, literally means ‘peace’, evokes a sense of calm and quiet. This gallery is open by appointment from Monday to Friday, and available for drop-in visits on Saturdays.

Japanese creative Jun Takahashi is putting on his first-ever solo exhibition in Hong Kong. Though most well-known as the founder of clothing brand Undercover, Takahashi has actually been creating paintings for decades and only began showing them publicly in 2023. This exhibition is his largest to date with all-new works, offering a peek into the dark and surreal world of his mind – a manifestation of modern-day chaos and the artist’s desire for peace.

After a year of preparation, Sun Museum finally opened the doors to its new Sai Ying Pun venue in October with its launch exhibition. Featuring 132 works by 92 Hong Kong artists, this show features the diversity and cultural traditions of our city’s arts scene through various mediums such as ink, charcoal, and mineral pigments to oils, watercolour, and marker pen drawings. This is a great chance to soak in the creativity behind local artistic minds and discover fantastic talents for yourself.

This exhibition features more than 40 haute couture pieces from the fashion artist Guo Pei, including Rihanna’s show-stopping yellow gown that she wore to the 2015 Met Gala. It marks the first major exhibition dedicated to this celebrated Chinese couture artist in East Asia. With a practice that has spanned almost four decades, Guo is among China’s first generation of contemporary fashion designers, with work reflecting Asian and global trends over the past century. You’ll often see traditional Chinese embroidery in her pieces, and this exhibition shows works inspired by fantasy dreamscapes, Eastern folklore, architecture, and space-time. The designer herself will hold a talk on September 21, and M+ will also host two screenings of Yellow Is Forbidden, which documents Guo’s journey in a predominantly Western field as she prepares a show for Paris Haute Couture Week.

This latest exhibition in the M+ Open Gallery examines the process of making things as a creative expression, and how this has a lasting impact on individuals, communities, and our ecosystems. Drawing from the works of the M+ Collections, visitors are invited into the inspirations and techniques behind the processing of conceptualising, research, design, and fabrication that go into the objects and architecture we see around us. Split into four sections, it covers the broad themes of ceramics with its layered history; innovative uses of materials like neon, resin, and bamboo, including a restored Hong Kong neon sign; how computing, machine learning, and AI have impacted the making process; and the effects of consumerism and mass production on contemporary society. Tickets for ‘Making It Matters’ cost $120, and allow same-day entry to the other paid exhibitions in M+.

Hong Kong’s annual design festival deTour returns to PMQ to showcase creative works from local and international creative communities. This year’s theme highlights the underlying connections between design and inner strength, inspired by Erich Fromm’s book To Have or To Be, in which he argues that true value lies in what we are and not, as society would have us believe, what we own. Throughout PMQ, there will be 17 installations that prompt visitors to think about how design has affected our lives and environments. deTour has also collaborated with Seoul-based Kimchi and Chips to create large-scale immersive installations that blur reality and illusion – take the time to examine Reworld Type 2, which constructs images by remixing fragments from our surroundings and cityscape. Look out also for the interactive scale by Wich Chau and Match Chen, which speaks to achieving balance and equilibrium in life; 3D-printed vessels and soilless foam which supports various plant growths in Air-Scape; a look at post-modern feng shui by Yoojin Chung, and much more. Apart from the installations and exhibitions, there will also be a series of talks and workshops, so if you’ve ever wanted to dabble in coffee ground sculpture or learn about the connection between design and psychology, then here’s your chance.  Entry to deTour 2024 is free. See more details about the programme on the official website.