The Works：Environmentalist & artist, Liina Klauss, Syrian artist Fadi Yazigi, Bert Monterona & mig

We have plenty of thought-provoking topics in this week’s show, all viewed through the lens of art, including environmental issues, war and political conflict in Syria, and “Migrants, people, culture and struggle”, as depicted in a series of mural paintings. On a somewhat less sombre note we’re talking to Charlie Siem, not only a much-respected violinist, but also – away from the concert hall - a model who has become the face of several fashion name brands.
According to green groups, plastic waste and Styrofoam fragments are the most common and damaging marine debris that washes up on our shores. Recently, in just one afternoon German artist and environmentalist, Liina Klauss, working with 40 students arranged by the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation, collected 2,240 litres of waste on a beach in Lantau. But that was just the beginning.
Since 2011, more than 200,000 people have died in internal conflicts in Syria. Four million refugees have fled. There’s a cultural as well as a humanitarian cost. Great artefacts like the 2,000 year-old ancient city of Palmyra, have been vandalised or destroyed. The antiquities scholar Khaled al-Asaad who argued against the destruction was beheaded by members of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or Daesh. But the violence has not stopped Syrian artist Fadi Yazigi from walking to his studio in Damascus every day. For over 25 years, through paintings and sculptures, Yazigi has depicted the lives of the Syrian people besieged by political conflict. Forty of his works are on show at the Yallay Gallery in Wong Chuk Hang until this Saturday.
Vancouver-based Filipino artist Bert Monterona works in a variety of media, including graphic design, illustration, murals and sculptures, reflecting on social, cultural, religious and spiritual issues, as well as politics. For his exhibition in Hong Kong, Monterona collaborated with Philippine-based creative partner Mylene Maranoc to create 16 tapestries and mural paintings at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre and hold a Sunday creative workshop for local migrant workers.
It’s nothing new for the occasional serious musician to be co-opted by the world of advertising, with or without his or her knowledge. Even Beethoven was used to advertise one particular brand of cigarettes. Katherine Jenkins’s image has promoted a watch, and Lang Lang’s a brand of sneakers. Violinist Charlie Siem, in Hong Kong last week for a concert with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong talked to us during his visit here about both his music and his side-line as a fashion model.