Rob Garratt

6 days ago | zolimacitymag.com | Rob Garratt

When Super Typhoon Saola struck Hong Kong in summer 2023, there were inevitably those that celebrated time off work, those who mourned missed weekend social engagements, and those that were deeply inconvenienced. But few people might have felt the heartbreak of Charles Kwong, the Hong Kong composer who was looking forward to the world premiere of his first concerto, for piano and orchestra.

1 week ago | chinadailyasia.com | Rob Garratt

The 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) leans heavily toward art cinema’s traditional heartland, welcoming three European auteurs to share their work and present masterclasses to the city’s cinephiles. But whatever cultural cues Leos Carax, Albert Serra and Juho Kuosmanen might share, the three filmmakers are worlds apart in their aesthetic sensibilities and thematic obsessions. The one trait they all share? The power to provoke.

1 week ago | chinadailyhk.com | Rob Garratt

The 49th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) leans heavily toward art cinema’s traditional heartland, welcoming three European auteurs to share their work and present masterclasses to the city’s cinephiles. But whatever cultural cues Leos Carax, Albert Serra and Juho Kuosmanen might share, the three filmmakers are worlds apart in their aesthetic sensibilities and thematic obsessions. The one trait they all share? The power to provoke.

3 weeks ago | chinadailyhk.com | Rob Garratt

The triumph of individual will emerged as an eerily prescient theme at the recent Hong Kong Arts Festival (HKAF). Many of the most compelling stories told were solo shows, or productions leaning on the prowess and reputation of a single talent. After absorbing more than a dozen works over the weeks-long festival, these are some of the most affecting pieces this writer experienced. Pina unpackedCristiana Morganti wrote Jessica and Me in 2014 as an act of reinvention.

3 weeks ago | chinadailyhk.com | Rob Garratt

Hong Kong’s art month is back with a robust offering of public art. Any visitor to Tsim Sha Tsui’s Avenue of Stars can scarcely miss the 7.5-meter-high, brightly colored cartoonesque figure towering over Victoria Harbour. On display through May 13, The Lobster Painter is the latest large-scale steel sculpture by Philip Colbert, who describes the opportunity to display at such an iconic location as “a dream”. “I love the idea of the sculpture, with its dripping paint brush, towering above ...