The Works：Japanese puppetry by Koryu Nishikawa, Christian Schwarzwald & Kurt Chan@Hanart & in the st

Traditional Japanese puppetry dates back to ancient times when it was often part of shamanic religious services. By the17th century, during the Edo period, three main forms of puppet performance had developed and the art had become highly popular. In June, a century old Japanese puppetry troupe came to Hong Kong for the first time to introduce their artistry.

Artists Christian Schwarzwald and Kurt Chan have a common interest in words, and that interest is featured in a current exhibition “To Paint the Written World” at Hanart TZ Gallery. For Schwarzwald, the writing of words is an act of drawing and a gestural practice. Chan takes a more abstract approach, concentrating on Chinese ideographs.
The exhibition features not only their individual works, but also a painting created on site that involves the collaboration of the two artists and the public.

With an academic background in music composition, Ron Ng plays the guitar. A versatile musician, he performs with different groups and in different styles, including jazz, blues, rock, funk, classical and contemporary music, but jazz is closest to his heart. He teaches jazz ensemble improvisation at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He’s here with the other members of his trio to tell us more.