The Works：Tai Kwun, Studio performance: jazz quartet, Jazvolution , Tribute to novelist, Liu Yicha

We’re heading to one of the largest heritage revitalisation projects that’s ever been undertaken in Hong Kong. The long-awaited and much-anticipated former police headquarters compound has now been turned into the Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Arts. Three groups of buildings in the compound - the Former Central Police Station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison - have been declared as monuments since 1995 under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance. The Hong Kong Jockey Club took up this massive project in 2007. Lasting over a decade, it involved the conservation and revitalisation of sixteen historic buildings, alongside the construction of two new buildings for art exhibitions and performances, designed by internationally-renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.
Led by Hong Kong bassist Justin Siu with Ted Lo on piano, Laurent Robin on drums and and Janaia Farrell on vocals, the four-piece band Jazvolution has performed around town including the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival 2017 and Freespace Happening in January. Earlier this year, the band released their debut album, “SPIN”, featuring unique reinterpretations of jazz classics by the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole and Rosemary Clooney. The members of Jazvolution are here in the studio to tell us more.
Writer Liu Yi-chang, a giant of Hong Kong literature, died on 8 June at the age of 99. Born and raised in Shanghai, Liu eventually settled in Hong Kong in 1957. In a celebrated writing career spanning more than six decades, Liu published over 30 books including novels, literary reviews, essays, poems and translated works. Among Liu’s best-known works are “Intersection” and “The Drunkard”, the latter of which is considered the first stream of consciousness novel in China. These two works also inspired the award-winning films “In the Mood for Love” and “2046” by director Wong Kar-wai.