Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival | Hong Kong

  • Category: Art & Culture, Placemaking, Storytelling & Communications

    Type: Placemaking | Curation

    Location: Yim Tin Tsai & Sharp Island, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

    Client: Tourism Commission

    Completion: 2022-2023 (first year)

Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival

Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival (SKH) is a three-year programme organised by the Tourism Commission, supported by Hong Kong Geopark, and with onebite on board as the festival’s curatorial partner.

For a limited two month period each year, onebite is organising a unique island-hopping experience using local ferries known as kaito. For the first year of the programme in 2022, visitors got to enjoy specially commissioned artworks and appreciate the rich history, local culture, and natural environment of Yim Tin Tsai and Sharp Island. Another two Sai Kung offshore islands, namely Kau Sai Chau and High Island, will join the second and third year of the programme, adding more artworks inspired by the cultural and natural beauty of these coastal communities.   

For the opening edition of SKH, onebite worked with artists, musicians, guides, and our team of Festival Ambassadors to turn Yim Tin Tsai and Sharp Island into a special “open museum”. There are 9 pieces of artworks spread across the two islands, including public installations like Margaret Chu’s Homeward Voyage, Anthony Ko’s Fragile World, and Breakthrough Art Studio’s Moonrise in Daylight. There are also kinetic sculptures like Water Dragon by Joseph Chan and even video installations by Monti Lai, titled Taste of Memory. 

Accompanying these artworks are thematic guided tours curated by Kaifong Tour, sports and cultural activities for different age groups, as well as dance and music performances suitable for the whole family. Through the two-month long festival each year, onebite worked with collaborators to highlight important themes such as preserving village stories, balancing rural and urban development, and promoting ecological conservation and cultural inheritance.

The 61-day long Sai Kung Hoi Arts Festival 2022, running from 15 Nov 2023 to 15 Jan the following year, concluded with great success with a total of 284 guided tours and 45 programmes and performances. In addition to the 9 artworks unveiled in this year, these tours and programmes sought to enhance every visitor’s sense of participation in the Arts Festival, and to engage their senses to experience the healing power of nature.

The first year of SKH would not have been possible without the team of more than 100 Arts Festival Ambassadors who joined us everyday, regardless of rain or shine, to welcome every visitor to Yim Tin Tsai and Sharp Island. In two short months, staff, guides, and ambassadors have experienced the ever-changing colours of Sai Kung’s beauty and its unpredictable and fast-changing alterations between squalid weather and sunny days. 

What never changed however was the warmth we have received from visitors and villagers. Every smile and encouragement gave us the motivation to keep us going for the first year’s programme, and the eager anticipation to embark on plans for  the following years.

Joy Again, Isle

  • SKH Arts Festival offers a new and unique travel experience integrating arts, religion, culture, heritage, and nature for visitors. Envisioned as a “open museum”, it aims to reach out and offer something unique to local and overseas visitors previously interested in either the accessible natural environment or the vibrant arts & cultural scene in Hong Kong. The festival celebrates the best of Hong Kong’s local heritage, creative energy, and world-renowned natural environment to enrich the city’s tourism offering. Through the promotion of Sai Kung’s natural and cultural islands, SKH Arts Festival introduced positive messaging such as heritage stewardship, environmental protection, and sustainable development which will chart a new path for stronger community involvement and sense of belonging.

    Design for Good Values

    • Reinvent Space

    • Build Shared Value

    ESG/ Sustainability Factors

    • Community
      - Local Economic Development

    • Environment
      - Environmental Management

    • Customers
      - Arts Media & Culture
      - Health & Wellness

  • Artists: Anthony Ko, Breakthrough Art Studio, Dylan Kwok, Joseph Chan, Maoshan Connie & St. James’ Creation, Margaret Chu, Monti Lai, Sherman Sun and Sarah Mui, Stickyline

    Collaborators:     Bloom Dance Academy, Chance Communications, Clara Chan, Coro Allegra, Dorothy Wong, Dream of Tomorrow, Emmanuel, FEED, Gay Singers, Jeremy Cheung, Kaifong Tour, Kowloon K, LARPHK, LS Music and RiS, Peggy Ho and team, Sai Kung District Community Centre, The Salt and Light Preservation Centre, WeeWungWung, WHIZZ, Hattrick Creative

    Photographer: Ho Ka Ho, Tai Ngai Lung

    Videographer: Mike Lin

    One Biters: Alan Cheung, April Kwok, Brenda Hui, Gigi Tam, Kevin Tang, Luana Kwok, Mavis Fung, Raymond Wong, Sarah Mui, Taylor Chow, Venus Lee, Yoyo Wong

  • #art #artsfestival #culture #heritage #natural #hongkong