HKIA Launches “Art, Culture and Music at the Airport 2018”

13 Jul 2018

Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) today kicked off the annual “Art, Culture and Music at the Airport 2018” festival. In celebration of the airport’s 20^th anniversary, the event features a variety of performances and exhibitions in the bustling terminals to greet worldwide travellers with Hong Kong’s unique and diverse local culture.

Hosted by the Airport Authority Hong Kong (AA) for the fourth consecutive year, the five-month festival showcases an array of art and culture events, including local pop music performances, Cantonese Opera shows and exhibitions, displays of astonishing weather images, street music busking performances, visual arts exhibition and more. Some of the events are new joiners of the festival this year, delivering endless surprises to airport users.

Officiating at the kick-off ceremony, Fred Lam, Chief Executive Officer of the AA, said, “Throughout the past two decades, HKIA has won many international awards for its excellent service and high operational standards. While we keep on enhancing the airport’s services and efficiency, we would like to make use of this platform to introduce Hong Kong’s unique culture to a worldwide audience. Through the festival’s exhibitions and performances, we hope to showcase our dynamic city and its vibrant arts scene to travellers from around the world.”

This year, there will be a number of new programmes and debuts at the festival. The AA has teamed up with Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) for the first time to present musical performances by local artists from the JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power, while students from the Chinese Opera School of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts will also debut at the airport. As for visual arts, the Hong Kong Observatory launches its first exhibition at HKIA with stunning weather images and videos selected from works submitted to the “Cloud-sourcing: In Touch with Weather from Land, Sea and Air” campaign held earlier.

Another highlight of this year is a non-stop six-hour live music performance of the popular Airport Proms. More than 30 professional artists from Hong Kong, led by renowned Cantopop artist Dominic Chow Kai-sung presented classic canto-pop songs from the 1960s to the present time, showcasing the development of Hong Kong’s unique pop music culture.

This year’s programme features a wide range of exhibitions and musical activities:

“Our Vibrant Art City” – Under the banner of JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power, the Hong Kong Professional Photographers Network is collaborating with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to showcase 22 photos capturing different art forms.

“Exhibition of Students Visual Art Work” – Presented by the Arts Education Section of the Education Bureau, the exhibition features artwork from winners of the “Exhibition of Student Visual Arts Work (2017/18)” which aims to acknowledge students’ accomplishments in visual arts and offer the public a glimpse of their talents.

“An Artist’s Impression of Hong Kong’s Intangible Cultural Heritage” – Hand-drawn by local illustrator Stella So Man-yee in her signature lively and colourful style, 20 items on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong are featured in the exhibition.

“Comixtream @ Airport – Kung Fu Trilogy” – The Arrivals Hall lift façade and platforms of the Automated People Mover have been covered with paintings of Kung Fu and boxing contributed by three renowned Hong Kong artists – Jerry Cho, Lee Chi-ching and Lee Kin-leung.

“Cloud-sourcing: In Touch with Weather from Land, Sea and Air” Exhibition – Fascinating images and videos about weather have been collected by the Hong Kong Observatory and displayed in the terminal to provoke travellers’ interest in weather phenomena and climate change.

“Backstage Pass” – The exhibition takes audiences backstage behind the performances to appreciate the sophisticated craftsmanship in props and costumes such as tutus, masks and armours created by students from the School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).

“Airport Proms” – Nine days of live musical performances by talented musicians, groups and bands including HKAPA, Yao Jue Music Academy, Hong Kong Wind Kamerata and more. Renowned Cantopop singer Dominic Chow Kai-sung teams up with local professional singers to deliver “Non Stop! HKPOP!” which is a non-stop, 6-hour Hong Kong pop music show.

“JOCKEY CLUB New Arts Power Mobile Stage” – Funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and supported by HKADC, two local music groups, “Musica Viva” and “Music Lab”, will perform at the airport.

“Street Music” – This two-day programme presented by the Hong Kong Arts Centre promotes local music culture with performances by homegrown talent.

“HKAPA Cantonese Opera Young Talents Showcase” – Young talent from HKAPA present 16 excerpts performance including “White Dragon Outpost”, “The Taming of a Princess” and “‘The Farewell’ from ‘The Butterfly Lovers’”. An accompanying exhibition features costumes from Cantonese Opera, and allows visitors to experience the Chinese tradition through Virtual Reality.

Details of “Art, Culture and Music at the Airport 2018” can be found on the designated webpage at https://www.hongkongairport.com/en/relax-fun/art-culture/. Brochures of the exhibition and performances are available for download as well.