The Works：Sugar & bamboo artist Louis To, Vivian Maier@f22 foto space & in the studio: guitarist Eug

Sugar art is the art of making centrepieces or sculptures entirely with sugar or sugar derivatives. The finished works can be both edible and decorative. Sugar art is said to date back to at least 3,500 BC in Egypt and possibly even further to 4,000 BC in Papua New Guinea when islanders in Papua New Guinea cut sugar cane for its sap. It was highly popular in Europe in Medieval times, and also has a long history in China, We’ve been talking to one man in Cheung Chau who makes sugar art, and he is known as the Sugarman.

In 2007, two years before she died, former nanny Vivian Maier failed to keep up payments on storage space she had rented in Chicago. The goods she’d stored were auctioned. Three individuals bought some of her possessions, most going to John Maloof. They included 150,000 photographs, negatives, prints, hundreds of rolls of film, home movies, and audio interviews. John Maloof eventually discovered more about her only after reading a notice of her death in March 2009. Maier was born in New York City to an Austrian father and a French mother. She was unknown as a photographer during her lifetime, keeping her work to herself, but the images she had stored soon revealed her to have been a rare artist, specialising in capturing the life she saw on the streets. She sometimes even photographed herself. You can currently see a series of her self-portraits at f22 foto space as part of Le French May Arts Festival.

“Jazz in the Neighbourhood” is a series of concerts funded by the government’s Venue Partnership Scheme. The organisers aim to promote jazz performances and educational programmes in Tsuen Wan Town Hall over the coming four years. The opening concert is next week, with guitarist Eugene Pao headlining. He is also releasing his first studio album in over 20 years. Joining him right now to tell us more are Clarence Chang and pianist Ted Lo, who’s also having a new solo album.