Genevieve Pang

Whether it’s street photography spots or world-class art galleries, Hong Kong is a city that’s bursting with creativity. To narrow things down and help you be well on your way to true culture vulture status (and level up your Insta-feed along the way), here are some of the best ongoing and upcoming art shows to visit around town. RECOMMENDED: Discover Hong Kong’s coolest hidden art spaces or pay a visit to the city’s top museums.

Art lovers are in for a treat this month as Christie’s Asia Pacific gears up for its Hong Kong 20th/21st Century Autumn Auctions, where an exceptional collection featuring the biggest names in modern and contemporary art has been lined up. Answering to the growing demand for artworks by masters and visionaries, the sales are headlined by Pablo Picasso’s Buste de femme, Zao Wou-ki’s 17.3.63, Yoshitomo Nara’s Mumps, David Hockey’s Table with Conversation, Yayoi Kusama’s PUMPKIN [TWAQN], Claude Monet’s Printemps à Giverny, effet d’aprés-midi, J.M.W. Turner’s The Grand Bridge at Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, and many more, showcasing diverse artistic movements.

Christie’s Asia Pacific is commemorating the first anniversary of its new Henderson headquarters with a slew of autumn auctions, among them a sale highlighting Indian, Himalayan, and Southeast Asian Art as part of the launch of this new department. Leading the event is a rare, newly reattributed figure of Avalokiteshvara, the bodhisattva of compassion – an exquisite gilded copper alloy sculpture that is emblematic of a new art style that rose to prominence during the 13th-century Yuan court under the purview of Aniko, the renowned Nepalese artist. Other notable pieces include the figure of Manjushri and a rare thangka attributed to the 10th Karmapa, Choying Dorje, depicting parinirvana. Now’s your chance to see these masterpieces before they head into private collections.

Head to Sotheby’s Maison in Landmark Chater for a limited-time exhibition examining the complex and enduring interplay between desire and death – fundamental forces shaping the human experience. Inspired by the works of French philosopher Georges Bataille, Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud, and Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, ‘Eros/Thanatos’ combines mythology, art history, and psychoanalysis to uncover how artists have navigated the tension between ecstasy and dissolution across centuries. Curated with a memento mori message in mind, ‘Eros/Thanatos’ encourages viewers to reflect on the feelings of desire and death, and the contradictions that define existence.

As part of the celebration surrounding its new gallery space in the Southside, De Sarthe is launching two exhibitions concurrently. ‘20th Century Narratives – In Conversation’, the gallery’s second show, presents a curated collection of post-war and modern paintings and sculptures, featuring the likes of Yayoi Kusuma, Marc Chagall, Giorgio de Chirico, Chu Teh-chun, Joan Miró, Henry Moore, Jack Tworkov, Bernar Venet, and Zao Wou-ki as they are brought together to represent a transcontinental artistic exchange.

De Sarthe is inaugurating its new gallery space in the Southside with a new solo exhibition featuring contemporary Hong Kong artist Lazarus Chan. ‘Poetics Policy’ is an immersive journey that investigates the influence of policy-making on art, reality, and machine intelligence through multimedia and interactive artworks. Adding a dystopian touch, the exhibition features an AI-built living system as an imagined simulation of the future, which is governed by the artist, but used to emphasise that the essence of art is found in the policies guiding its creation, rather than in the generated texts or imagery.

A new exhibition at M+ showcases 12 immersive installations by pioneering women artists from Asia, Europe, and the Americas, including three new works by Asian artists. Dream Rooms: Environments by Women Artists 1950s–Now emphasises the multisensory experience of art and highlights women’s contributions to installation art, a field often overshadowed by male artists. Visitors can actively engage with the environments, which include nine historic pieces that have been painstakingly reconstructed, such as Aleksandra Kasuba’s Spectral Passage (1975), which invites individuals to journey through interconnected nylon structures as a metaphor of the life cycle; Judy Chicago’s Feather Room (1966), an all-white space filled with 300 pounds of feathers; and more. M+ will also host talks with co-curators Andrea Lissoni and Marina Pugliese to discuss the concept behind the exhibition, and a panel discussion with the three Asian artists whose new, commissioned work is part of Dream Rooms. Additionally, M+ Cinema will screen three documentaries about some of the exhibited artists to supplement the show.

Tai Kwun Contemporary is presenting a two-part exhibition under the theme ‘Stay Connected: Art and China Since 2008’. Centred around an expansive exploration of the transformations and social shifts within 21st-century China brought about by the prolific spread of the internet and digital technologies, the first chapter will take over all three floors of the JC Contemporary art spaces, running for a little over three months. ‘Stay Connected: Navigating the Cloud’ will present more than 50 pieces mapping the creative pursuits of over 35 artists and groups whose practices are influenced by social media, the internet, and digital technologies. Divided into themed segments such as artificial intelligence, information bubbles, online communities, and more, the showcase explores how to ‘stay connected’ in today’s world. Li Shuang, Li Yi-fan, Miao Ying, Wong Ping, Lu Yang, Shao Chun, Zhang Yibei, and the Xijing Men collective are among the many artists exhibiting. Collaborative duo Sun Yuan & Peng Yu – whose claim to fame is the Can’t Help Myself kinetic sculpture with a robotic arm – is also participating.

Urban sketch artist Rob Sketcherman is bringing his unique perspective of Hong Kong’s everyday scenes to the W Hong Kong! From nostalgic pictures of stilt houses in Tai O to depicting the energetic Tai Hang Fire Dragon Dance and evening views of the Star Ferry Pier in Tsim Sha Tsui, Sketcherman’s lively art captures the dynamic spirit of the city through detail-oriented, colourful illustrations. What’s special about this exhibition is that there will be five screens in the hotel lobby showcasing Sketcherman’s artistic process through time-lapse recordings of his drawings, so visitors will not only see his finished pieces, but also all the thinking behind the sketches and the work that went into them.

White Cube Hong Kong is staging an exhibition showcasing the works of the seminal Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. ‘A Feeling’ revolves around the pieces Noguchi created after meeting and studying under Chinese master ink painter Qi Baishi, exploring how the teachings influenced his later sculptural approach.  A selection of Noguchi’s abstract ‘Peking Brush Drawings’ and complex bronze sculptures are displayed alongside Qi’s scrolls in this exhibition, creating a narrative between the two artists. Noguchi’s work pushes the boundaries of sculptural positive and negative space, testing the boundaries of three dimensions, but his use of bronze as a medium reflects his desire to blend ancient and modern.

Witness Hong Kong through a quirky lens at Cordis, Hong Kong’s new ‘Art in Residence’ exhibition, featuring a series of surreal digital art pieces created by Tommy Fung where our city’s iconic landmarks and cultural touchpoints are juxtaposed against humorously impossible scenarios. Fung is known for his whimsical, Photoshop-manipulated images – from transforming the Hong Kong Space Museum into a giant Chiikawa head and inserting a snacking panda into a wet market stall narrative, to creating a Tesla Cybertruck version of the iconic Hong Kong red taxi, nothing’s off limits for the Hong Kong artist. ‘SurrealHK: The City Reimagined’ is part of Cordis, Hong Kong’s 10th anniversary celebrations, so mark the occasion with the hotel while taking in some fun art.

Sadly, this is not a full-fledged exhibition featuring the legendary Zao Wou-ki, but it is a special occasion nonetheless. One of the artist’s ‘Hurricane Period’ masterpieces, created   during the early 1960s as he rose to global fame, is heading to auction at Christie’s, and visitors can see it during the public previews for a limited time only.  17.3.63 is notable for its vibrant, incandescent colour, and is one of only 19 bright red large-scale paintings to be completed by the artist in the 1960s. Expressive, powerful brushstrokes are the leading feature of this vertical composition, masterfully balancing light and shadow to exude passion and confidence. It’s the first time the piece has appeared at auction, so once it sells and goes into a private collection, it may not be seen again in public for a long time. Here’s your chance to lay eyes on it.

Hong Kong has been receiving quite a bit of positive recognition in many areas recently on a global level, and the latest comes in the form of a report ranking talent worldwide. In the 2025 edition of the World Talent Ranking published by the Institute for Management Development (IMD), Hong Kong SAR has secured fourth place on the scoreboard, a major jump from its previous position at ninth place, showcasing consistent advancement. We’ve leapfrogged over the Netherlands (number five), Sweden (number six), Singapore (number seven), and Denmark (number eight) to claim our place in fourth, climbing five spots to achieve our best-ever performance in the annual ranking report, and the third time ever we placed in the top 10. Fourth on the charts also means we’ve come in first place in Asia! While Hong Kong excelled in areas such as talent competitiveness, graduates in science, effectiveness of management education, female labour force participation, and availability of finance skills, ultimately leading to its rise through the ranks, the SAR fell short in several segments, including high exposure to particle pollution, negative labour force growth, low public expenditure on education, and cost of living.  Still, Hong Kong has made rapid improvements according to IMD and positioned itself well in a global talent landscape, making it an attractive place to live and work. More than 520,000 talent admission scheme applications were received so far this year, and over 350,000 of them w

Great news for dog parents! On Wednesday, Hong Kong’s chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered his fourth Policy Address, and one of the initiatives announced is the introduction of a new licensing system for food premises to make restaurants more dog-friendly. It’s a huge improvement upon the current system, as legal health and hygiene restrictions mean that only guide dogs are permitted inside restaurants. Under the new measure, licensed restaurants can allow dogs on the premises, and operators must clearly display their pet-inclusive permit to customers. It’s expected that the first group of pet-friendly eateries will welcome dogs to their shops by mid-2026. Government statistics show that 400,000 cats and dogs are kept as pets by more than 240,000 households in the city – it’s a huge consumption market that includes pet food and products, healthcare, insurance, grooming, and more. “Pet-friendly restaurants will create new business opportunities for the industry,” Lee said, expressing alignment with existing examples of pet-friendly arrangements within the business sector.  Just last month, the MTR Corporation announced that its Light Rail routes in the New Territories will continue to allow cats and dogs onboard its trains under a pet-friendly travel programme, which was officially rolled out in September after a trial period earlier this year. Hong Kong bus operator KMB also runs a limited pet-friendly bus service to popular destinations within the city, with new route

Update, September 17, 2025: Well, that didn’t last very long! Just a month ago, we reported that Bing Kee Cha Dong is indefinitely “taking a long holiday” due to staff shortage. What we feared may be the loss of another Hong Kong icon to the mounting challenges of operating in the city’s competitive dining scene turned out, to our great relief, to just be paranoia speaking.  As of early September, Bing Kee Cha Dong has returned from its hiatus with a note that a ‘new team’ is being trained up to keep operations running smoothly. Allegedly, the temporary closure was linked to the retirement of the shop’s veteran milk tea specialist, which posed a significant disruption as the local eatery is well known for its take on the classic Hong Kong beverage. While we’re over the moon that the local business is able to resume operations with new staff members, it seems there’s still some ways to go until Bing Kee’s back on track. Local diners as well as tourists have flocked to the Tai Hang dai pai dong since its reopening, but some have expressed disappointment online that the dishes and beverages now lack the rich flavours and quality standard from before the closure.   Photograph: Cara Hung   August 19, 2025: Say it isn’t so! Bing Kee Cha Dong – an iconic dai pai dong in Tai Hang – announced on its Instagram account last weekend that it is “taking a long holiday” indefinitely due to staff shortage and lack of manpower. Loved by Hongkongers and tourists alike, the old-school, tin-ro

McDonald’s feels like it’s always been part of our lives and childhoods growing up in Hong Kong but in reality, the fast food brand only entered the local market in 1975. In celebration of its 50th anniversary in the city, McDonald’s Hong Kong is taking a walk down memory lane with a nostalgic campaign that’s sure to tug at your heartstrings.  Nicholas Tse, Hong Kong entertainment icon and longtime friend of the brand, has been tapped to star in the special 10-minute micro-film for the campaign. Based on the true story of the fast food chain’s opening day in the city, the story sees him starring as ‘Manager Chu’, the first McDonald’s Hong Kong restaurant manager, and the trials and tribulations of what it was like to launch our city’s first McDonald’s in Causeway Bay.  Photograph: Courtesy DDB Group Hong Kong No attention to detail was spared – the original Paterson Street shop was recreated, the uniforms and product packaging recall true 1970s McDonald’s aesthetics, and the store decor is fabulously retro. DDB Group Hong Kong collaborated with a host of award-winning local creatives such as art director Man Lim-chung, editor William Chang Suk-ping, and composer Chan Kwong-wing to bring the nostalgic story to life as a tribute to the brand, its history in the city, and the McDonald’s community in Hong Kong. After its television premiere on TVB, the campaign micro-film will be widely released on social media, and there will be even more nostalgic content to sink your teeth i

‘Hong Kong’ and ‘high-density living’ are terms that are often used in the same breath – regularly in a negative context – but it turns out, there are places around the world that struggle with extremely high population density even more than we do. A new infographic by Visual Capitalist has ranked Macau as the most densely populated area in the world, far outstripping other global jurisdictions on the list to claim first place. Macau’s population density in 2025 measures 23,167 individuals per sq km, a staggering number that makes us wonder: where do all these people live? A bunch of the usual contenders make an expected appearance, such as Monaco in second place, Singapore in third, and Hong Kong in fourth, though the population density contrast between them is stark. Monaco measures 16,024 people per sq km – a huge jump from Singapore’s 8,576 and Hong Kong’s 6,809 – but considering Monaco spans all of 2.1 sq km, with approximately 38,000 people living in that minuscule area, we’re simply surprised this microstate hasn’t snatched first place. As for how these rankings were calculated, Visual Capitalist used data from the US Census Bureau to tabulate the population density of territories around the world, comparing the total population count against the jurisdiction’s size in square kilometres. Macau has around 710,000 people living across 33 sq km, which puts the city squarely in first place with 23,167 people per sq km. Due to limited land mass, high population density is

Got a long layover coming up in Hong Kong? No need to spend it aimlessly trundling around the terminal in a bid to burn time until your next flight. If seeing the city is an item you’ve always wanted to tick off your bucket list, Hong Kong International Airport’s new transit initiative will help you do just that, all without interrupting your travel schedule. Launched in partnership with Trip.com, the Free Layover Tour programme is designed as a sightseeing experience for HKIA transit passengers with a layover of over seven hours, covering some of Hong Kong’s most unmissable attractions. Joining the tour is free of charge, and travellers will be taken care of with guides, tickets, and transport included. Currently, there are two complimentary themed routes on offer. The Heritage and Local Lifestyle Citywalk runs from 12pm to 4pm and covers a visit to Wong Tai Sin Temple to take part in a fortune-telling session and admire traditional architecture, followed by a tour of Sham Shui Po. The Victoria & West Kowloon Waterfront Journey takes place from 5.30pm to 9.30pm and brings travellers to the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, with magnificent views of Victoria Harbour to cap off the sightseeing tour. An additional free route, Serenity & Stories: A Harmony Journey, is expected to launch on December 5, and will run from 9am to 1pm, covering Inspiration Lake near Hong Kong Disneyland and Ma Wan village. Trip.com is also offering three exclusi

In a landmark case, the Court of First Instance in Hong Kong has ruled in favour of a lesbian couple’s parental recognition of their son conceived through fertility treatment as the couple seeks to register their names together on their son’s birth certificate. On Tuesday, September 9, Judge Russell Coleman of the High Court handed down a judgment determining that the lesbian couple’s son’s rights to privacy and family are infringed due to the inaccurate depiction of his family relationship, and that recognising only one parent’s name on his birth certificate casts doubt upon his family structure. Identified only as ‘R’ and ‘B’, the lesbian couple underwent reciprocal in vitro fertilisation (RIVF) in South Africa in 2020. Using a fertilised egg provided by R, B carried the pregnancy to term and the boy, K, was born in Hong Kong in 2021. After the boy’s birth, the couple discovered they could not register both of their names on his birth certificate, and only B’s name could be registered as the boy’s mother as she had delivered him. R and B initially filed a legal petition in 2022, seeking a reinterpretation of the Parent and Child Ordinance to officially recognise R as K’s parent, and were only told that R was recognised as a ‘parent at common law’, without further explanation of what rights that might entail. In 2023, after their request to the Department of Justice to amend their son’s birth registration to include R as a parent was denied, the couple sought a judicial revi

Innovative technology is undeniably integral to daily life in the 21st century, and cities around the world are locked in a competitive battle to rise to the forefront of this rat race. Global innovation clusters driving research, inventions, and developments have sprung up as a result and, despite our small size, Hong Kong is not to be left behind in the game. In a new Innovation Cluster Ranking 2025 report released by the United Nations-backed World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the combined cluster of Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou has topped the rankings, following WIPO’s introduction of a new venture capital metric in the 2025 report. Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou occupied second place on the previous year’s list, but shot up to snatch the crown from Tokyo–Yokohama this time. WIPO previously based its annual findings on two key metrics: how many international patents were filed and how many scientific papers were published by individuals associated with each region. With this third metric – venture capital deal locations – WIPO aims to paint a more complete picture of high concentrations of innovation, invention, and pioneers, taking into consideration entrepreneurial activity and start-ups. While Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou shows a stronger performance in venture capital deals and activity, pushing the hub past other competitors to first place, both Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou and Tokyo–Yokohama make equally significant contributions to scientific publicatio

Cleanliness is next to godliness, they say, and if there’s any place besides religious sites of worship and medical facilities that ought to be kept spick and span, it’s probably major airports, which see hundreds of thousands of passengers entering, exiting, and transiting on a daily basis. What that means is there’s a lot of germs from all over the world passing through its public facilities, so it’s in everyone’s best interests that airports are kept spotless. Skytrax, the international air transport rating organisation, seems to think so as well. It has released the results of its annual Skytrax World Airport Awards, among which there is a category honouring the cleanest airports in the world. Hong Kong makes the top 10 once again this year, coming in at a respectable number five position on the list. Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) seems to have taken its 2024 ranking of eighth place to heart, and managed to move up three spots on this year’s list. Meanwhile, Tokyo’s Haneda retains first place, while Singapore’s Changi, Doha’s Hamad, and Seoul’s Incheon jostle for position, with Incheon moving down to number four from last year’s second place, and Singapore Changi and Doha Hamad moving up to number two and three accordingly.  Predictably, four of 10 airports recognised in the 2025 Skytrax World Airport Awards in the major airport category are in Japan – Tokyo Haneda, Centrair Nagoya, Tokyo Narita, and Kansai. It probably comes as no surprise that the majority of a

When Tazmania Ballroom announced that it had closed down for good earlier this year in March, it was impossible to predict what would move into the landmark space that’s been left behind on Wyndham Street. Is it a restaurant? Is it a retail destination, perhaps?  No, it’s a private membership club, and the vibes are giving science-fiction space capsule. New private members club Eko has taken over the space left behind by Tazmania Ballroom, and the transformation from old to new is remarkable.  Photograph: Courtesy Eko Gone are the gold-plated pool tables, the hanging globe lights, the exposed ceilings, and the 2010s club aesthetics – the space is now unrecognisable in its new form as Eko, with undulating walls, futuristic banquette seats, and brushed bronze finishing turning the venue into a cave-like escape that looks like it was beamed down from Mars. Glass-reinforced gypsum was used to create the soft shapes of the interiors, set against a muted colour palette of mineral charcoals, blue-greens, and subtle metallics, with understated light signatures contoured against the flow of the walls.  Photograph: Courtesy Eko Evenings from Wednesdays to Saturdays will begin with smooth jazz music before the LKF club energy sets in, but members can also find respite in two private rooms or browse through Eko’s curated selection of cigars and wines for a quieter night out. Creative cocktails are at the heart of the Eko experience – opt for the Drunken Cherry Old Fashioned with bour

Cantonese institution Duddell’s is finally back after a head-to-toe revamp, and the result sees the much-loved restaurant step into a new era of modern gastronomy and design, elevating the award-winning dining destination to new heights. What used to feel like an eclectic art salon with mid-century modern touches has given way to a more cohesive and elegant appearance, upgraded to embody an art collector’s private maison. Designer André Fu drew inspiration from Lingnan culture and the East-meets-West style of Guangdong’s Diao Lou watchtowers from the 1920s to create a space that honours vintage sensibilities and contemporary comfort. Photograph: Courtesy Duddell’s As part of the extensive makeover, Duddell’s has reimagined each of its two floors into distinct dining experiences. On the third floor, the restaurant will continue to serve refined Cantonese gastronomy by master chef Chan Yau-leung – think mouthwatering dim sum, various weekday lunch sets, tasting menus, and a wealth of à la carte selections.  Chef Chan’s signature sautéed prawns with chicken essence ($498 per person) is a time-intensive creation that sees whole chickens slow-steamed into a concentrated broth and served with plump prawns. Also popular among guests, Duddell’s crispy fried chicken ($368 for half; $698 for whole) – which sees marinated, air-dried Longjiang chicken poured over with hot oil more than 300 times to achieve a crisp skin – makes a grand return.  Photograph: Courtesy Lit Ma / Duddell’s

We all know that managing the high financial cost of living in Hong Kong is no walk in the park, but it sure doesn’t look good for our city when we’re among the top 10 in a list ranking the most expensive cities globally for expatriates to live in.  A recent study conducted by the Asia Competitiveness Institute (ACI) at Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy has revealed that the most expensive cities in the world for expats are clustered in the US and parts of Western Europe, with the exception of Singapore and Hong Kong. Out of the 45 major cities studied by researchers, Singapore comes in fourth place in the 2025 report, rising up one spot from the previous year, and Hong Kong has been ranked 10th, remaining in the same position as 2024. Listen, that’s one competition we’re not sorry to lose to our friendly rival Singapore! New York, Zurich, and Los Angeles lead the list, with Singapore and Geneva close behind. Singapore and Hong Kong are the only two cities in Asia to find placement in the top 10. Researchers have concluded that developed economies consistently rank higher than developing economies in terms of high cost of living – no surprises there – but for expats, that cost can be even higher, based on global inflation and exchange rates. Hong Kong’s 10th-place position in the study reflects the city’s reality of becoming increasingly unaffordable. For expats, housing market costs – driven by the imbalance between supply and demand, and the need to rely on t