Karen Cheung

Občina Žetale

Writer and Editor at Freelance

writes things sometimes / the impossible city: a hong kong memoir (@randomhouse)

Articles

How culture, politics and people inspire this Hong Kong artist

1 month ago | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

Artist Chow Chun-fai first became aware of journalist Sharon Cheung Po-wah from her 2000 interaction with the then Chinese president Jiang Zemin. During a press conference in Beijing, when Cheung quizzed Jiang over the endorsement of Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa for a second term, the Chinese leader famously berated her, calling her questioning, as a journalist, “too simple, sometimes naive”.
Do beauty and spa routines secretly control our lives? This South Korean artist asks the question

Jan 6, 2025 | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

Maybe this is just me, but spas are stressful. Like everything else in my adult life, I blame childhood trauma – my mother used to drag me from one beauty salon to another on her sporadic trips from Singapore, where she lived, to visit me in Hong Kong. She was concerned that I lacked a strong feminine presence, one palatable for a male gaze during my crucial teenage years (I was raised by a grandmother who had an arranged marriage and worked in a factory).
That time St Vincent played with Nirvana - and 4 other stand-out performances

Nov 28, 2024 | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

“In some ways, I think I’m an artist who has to be seen live to be understood,” Annie Clark, aka St Vincent, says during our interview. It is impossible to be bored at a St Vincent performance – Clark is dead serious about putting on a memorable show. She’s often moving through a series of choreographed sequences in whimsical, big-production looks, but she is also mesmerising when she reverts to the form of heart-on-sleeve singer-songwriter at more intimate gigs.
Alt-rock veterans Suede still love Hong Kong - and hate Britpop

Nov 26, 2024 | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

Hong Kong has always loved Suede – perhaps a bit too much. During the band’s third visit to the city in 1999, thousands of fans had packed the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai, and were in such a fevered state that 100 people fainted and four were injured whilst forcing their way into the venue. At least, that is, if you believe local tabloid The Sun’s report about the event, which has since been fondly reposted on the Suede Hong Kong Fans Community on Facebook.
Alt-rock veterans Suede still love Hong Kong – and hate Britpop | Flipboard

Nov 26, 2024 | flipboard.com | Karen Cheung

Hit Marvel show quietly renewed with filming on season 2 slated to begin in 2025It seems a second season of a hit Marvel Disney+ show is set to begin filming in 2025! Since the launch of Disney+ in 2019, there have been 10 …
St Vincent has always crafted her own identity - she reveals how her new album continues the process

Nov 23, 2024 | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

The avenues to becoming a St Vincent fan are endless and varied. A Talking Heads follower may have been introduced to the American musician through her 2012 collaboration with David Byrne, Love This Giant. A lover of soft indie folk perhaps caught her early-career performance with Sufjan Stevens as part of his touring band back in the 2000s – a role she later reprised at the 2018 Academy Awards on the song “Mystery of Love” from the modern queer classic Call Me by Your Name.
The Magic and Mischief of Xi Xi

Oct 14, 2024 | thenation.com | Karen Cheung

Can we count on you? In the coming election, the fate of our democracy and fundamental civil rights are on the ballot. The conservative architects of Project 2025 are scheming to institutionalize Donald Trump’s authoritarian vision across all levels of government if he should win. We’ve already seen events that fill us with both dread and cautious optimism—throughout it all, The Nation has been a bulwark against misinformation and an advocate for bold, principled perspectives.
Musician Olivier Cong’s latest album Tropical Church is an ode to Hong Kong via experimental sounds

Aug 13, 2024 | scmp.com | Karen Cheung

When Jean-René Olivier Yat Tin Cong Shoe answers the door to his studio, he is wearing a shirt with an Albert Camus quote from The Plague (1947), and his head is heavy from the remnants of a nightmare. The airy space in the heart of Ngau Tau Kok is an exercise in maximalism – everywhere, musical instruments, stacks of books and visual references such as a picture of Maggie Cheung Man-yuk in Irma Vep (1996), and a small image of soft trees under the afternoon sun.
The beauty sector is growing and glowing in Asia

Jul 10, 2024 | bdapartners.com | Sarah Chong |Euan Rellie |Karen Cheung |Kumar Mahtani

North Asian countries already comprise the world’s largest markets for beauty and personal care products. China, Korea and Japan together represent 35% of the global market, with above average growth. China skyrocketed to become the industry leader in this region, but has witnessed a troubling market hangover in the last 12 months.
Dominique Knowles: The Solemn and Dignified

Jul 7, 2024 | cultureplus.asia | Karen Cheung

EVENT DESCRIPTION From afar, Dominique Knowles’ paintings look like soft animal hide I could sink my face into. “Just go by what you experience and feel,” he says, when I ask how I should approach his art. Swathes of afternoon orange, marred by flecks of black like small slits of the void. A featureless being plunging face-first into an icy pool. Knitted walls that open up to a sky, blue as a balm against the encroaching fire. A stain of blood against a blinding canvas of light.