The Works：Tai Kwun JC Contemporary, Underground Children Festival, Saxophone Quintet led by Au Yin-t

Two weeks ago we took an early look at the newly-opened Tai Kwun, the former police station, court and prison compound that’s now taken on a new life as an art and heritage centre. The space now offers exhibitions, theatre, dance, film, music and lunchtime events for the public to enjoy, as well as several restaurants. Sandwiched in the compound are two new buildings, JC Contemporary and JC Cube. While JC Cube focuses on performance, JC Contemporary is designed to highlight contemporary art, with six to eight exhibitions a year and public programmes.
Every year, many countries around the world celebrate Children’s Day on one date or another. To add to the confusion, there are about 50 Children’s Days in different places.
In mainland China it’s on June 1st, here in Hong Kong and in Taiwan it falls on April 4th. It’s fair to say Children’s Day is not given a particularly high profile here, and also that events to celebrate it will inevitably be arranged and dominated by adults. In the exhibition “Underground-children-festival”, jointly presented by Para Site and Goethe-Institut Hong Kong, seven local artists are reflecting on what that implies for children’s rights and autonomy.
In French, the concept of the term “flânerie” or wandering about aimlessly dates back to the 16th or 17th century. Charles Baudelaire used the word, “flaneur” to refer to an artist who loses himself or herself in the modern metropolis. Five Hong Kong saxophonists are bringing the concept of the flaneur to a recital on Friday. They’re here to tell Billy Lee the presenter of our sister programme 藝坊星期天more about it.