SPARKS, HK's first festival of ideas, launches today at Tai Kwun

SPARK: The Science and Art of Creativity, Hong Kong’s first festival of ideas, launched today at Tai Kwun with an opening ceremony hosted by the British Council, which organises the event.

Guest of honour Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam, made an inauguration speech and, along with Director of the British Council in Hong Kong, Jeff Streeter, and Andrew Heyn, the British Consul General to Hong Kong and Macau, kicked off a series of unique events that celebrate creativity across multiple disciplines and cultural exchanges between Hong Kong and the UK.

‘SPARK reflects Hong Kong-British cooperation at its finest. SPARK is about creating connections, about finding innovative ways for the people of Hong Kong and the UK to excel. I look forward to many more cultural exchanges between us,” CE Lam said of the festival.

Some of the most prominent events to look out for include “Prison Break,” an augmented reality experience from the Hong Kong Design Institute and Coventry University; “Litcraft,” by Lancaster University and the British Library, which uses Minecraft to shed new light on literary classics and “Gender Perspectives,” a leadership session with experts from the Women’s Foundation and other local organisations to take a look at gender equality and future challenges.

During the opening ceremony, CE Lam also unveiled the “Frail Silver of The Climbing Stars,” a neon artwork conceptualised by British Chinese artist Faye Wei Wei and made by one of Hong Kong’s last surviving neon light masters.

“I have always been drawn by things in pairs. My compositions often end up being heart-shaped: two lovers dancing, two boxers fighting, a tulip caressing another tulip, a horse in duet with its rider. I guess it’s also to do with the nature of things having an opposite – every flower has a shadow, every moon has a sun,” Faye said of her exclusive artwork.

SPARK is free and open to the public between January 18 and 20 at Tai Kwun and other selected venues across Hong Kong Island. For more information and to register for events visit the British Council website

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