The Works：Art x sports in "ARThletes", Phoebe Hui @ Tai Kwun & in the studio: Niu Niu & Laurent Perr

In the eyes of many there is not a lot of overlap between the world of sport and the world of art. There are differences in terms of discipline, training, and even – perhaps – the emphasis on competitiveness. But recently, ten Hong Kong artists and eleven athletes join forces for a collection of pieces called “ARThletes”.

The moon has long been a subject for artists. Caspar David Friedrich, Vincent Van Gogh, Henri Rousseau, Paul Delvaux, and Samuel Palmer are among those who have painted its magical effect on landscapes. It has also been a major topic of generations of romantic poets. And that lunar appeal is still with us. In a large-scale installation at Tai Kwun, in collaboration with curator Ying Kwok, Phoebe Hui observes the moon through different time periods for her exhibition “The Moon Is Leaving Us”.

Apart from visual artists and writers who have taken the moon as their subject, the moon has also provided inspiration for musicians, from Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata to Debussy’s Clair de Lune. It also features in the Chinese folk tune “Colourful Clouds Chasing the Moon”” one of the pieces to be performed in an upcoming concert by Chinese pianist Niu Niu and French cellist Laurent Perrin. The concert will include music by Beethoven, Fauré, and Niu Niu himself.