Tai Kwun | "Tai Kwun Blooms" and "Tai Kwun Blooms: Light Sculpture Picture Book" will return in 2025

Description

The highly anticipated “Blooming at Tai Kwun” is returning to Tai Kwun, lighting up the Tai Kwun Parade Plaza with fascinating 3D projection mapping for the fourth consecutive year. "Blooming at Tai Kwun" will present a 3D projection mapping show from 6:30pm to 9pm every night for three consecutive weeks, bringing a wonderful visual journey to the exterior walls of the historic building. At the same time, the Tai Kwun Mentorship Project "Blooming Tai Kwun: Light Sculpture Picture Book" will return to Tai Kwun for the second year. This time, 23 student artists are invited to display their innovative works on the exterior walls of different historical buildings in Tai Kwun. . Coinciding with the Lunar New Year, “Blooming at the Museum” and “Blooming at the Museum: Light Sculpture Picture Book” will be on display from January 26 to February 14, 2025. As part of Tai Kwun’s art and heritage programmes, the show is funded mainly by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, with CLP Holdings Limited as the principal sponsor.

This year, local new media artist Hong Qiang will work with Australia's top projection mapping expert The Electric Canvas to collaborate on the highlight work of "Blooming at Tai Kwun" - "Word View. garden". This work is inspired by Hung Keung’s forward-looking exploration of Hong Kong literature, calligraphy and nature. It explores the fluid relationship between traditional Chinese characters and contemporary digital art, and opens a dialogue across time and space. The works are divided into three themes, each of which breathes new life into the exterior walls of the historic "Baal" barracks building, inviting the audience to think about how to reimagine traditional cultural elements through contemporary technology.

Extending to the Pottinger slope, the new "Zi Guan. Garden 2.0” together with last year’s performance bloomed at the entrance of the Parade Square, becoming a sensory tunnel leading the audience into the “Blooming Taichung”. "Zi Guan" Garden 2.0 transforms the Pottinger slope into a garden path, with a series of magical words wandering among the ever-changing flowers; while another exhibition uses the elements of this year's zodiac, leaping forward in traditional Chinese patterns .

In the second year of "Blooming at Tai Kwun: Light Sculpture Picture Book", Tai Kwun once again confirmed its commitment to the development of local talents, actively collaborating with well-known artists to enhance and cultivate more local creative talents. The project will span the prison yard’s perimeter wall, the exterior wall of Warehouse F and 14 side walls, showcasing nine works by 23 student artists, showcasing the creativity of students and graduates from local universities. Under the professional guidance of The Electric Canvas and local multimedia artist Wu Zikun, these student artists will be able to expand their artistic practice and improve their animation skills, turning the prison playground into a large-scale creative laboratory.
 
"Blooming Taichung" and "Blooming Taichung: Light Sculpture Picture Book" will be open to the public free of charge, performing six dazzling light and shadow spectacles every night. This annual projection mapping extravaganza features vibrant digital projections, stunning animations and immersive moving images with Hong Kong as the backdrop. While celebrating the city’s rich cultural heritage, Tai Kwun Bloom also leads us to embrace an infinite future and is the perfect experience to welcome the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Snake.