logo
HKwalls 2025: what not to miss at Hong Kong's street art festival

HKwalls 2025: what not to miss at Hong Kong's street art festival

Hong Kong's annual street art festival HKwalls has returned for its 10th edition, marking a decade of celebrating the colours and paintings that adorn the city's urban landscape.
Advertisement
The Post explores what to look out for this year, including the slate of international artists showcasing their works and their creative processes.
1. What is the HKwalls festival?
HKwalls is a nine-day festival taking place from March 22 to 30. Central's PMQ is acting as a hub for event, while murals and digital artworks enliven the Central and Western district.
'Our vision is to create opportunities for local and international artists to showcase their talent … through the mediums of street art and street culture,' said Maria Wong, managing director of HKwalls.
2. What is HKwalls' cultural significance?
HKwalls aims to act as a catalyst for recognising and elevating street art, while fostering the exchange of ideas through the invitation of international artists.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Why brands and businesses are embracing street art culture in Hong Kong
Why brands and businesses are embracing street art culture in Hong Kong

South China Morning Post

time29-04-2025

  • South China Morning Post

Why brands and businesses are embracing street art culture in Hong Kong

Take a stroll around the streets of Hong Kong a couple of decades ago and the amount of street art you'd have seen would be close to zero. A smattering of graffiti, yes, but almost no walls where businesses had commissioned artworks for commercial purposes. Advertisement Today, the situation couldn't be more different. Hong Kong is covered in street art of all descriptions, with hotspots from SoHo and Sheung Wan – including perhaps most Insta-famous of all, artist Alex Croft's Graham Street mural for homeware store GOD – to Sai Ying Pun's ArtLane, to Wong Chuk Hang and large parts of Kowloon, especially Sham Shui Po and Mong Kok's Public Square Street. Essentially, it's everywhere. Street art has its roots in graffiti, an inherently rebellious art form whose practitioners by definition don't ask for permission, making much of it technically illegal. However, it has long been co-opted for commercial purposes; pretty early on, savvy brands realised that it was something they could use to gain instant countercultural cachet, while the hip-hop culture that produced graffiti has always balanced an emphasis on underground authenticity with a keen awareness of commercial possibilities. Street art has its roots in graffiti. Photo: K. Y. Cheng Consequently, today the term 'street art' covers everything from purely creative graffiti to work paid for by large corporations, and its practitioners similarly come from a diversity of backgrounds – from those who started with tags and spray cans, to those who trained at fine art academies and interiors ateliers. For marketers, it's a particularly effective way of standing out from the crowd, given the diminishing effectiveness of many traditional channels. In Hong Kong, the F&B industry has been a particularly enthusiastic adopter. Says Malique Goldin, head of partnerships at Black Sheep Restaurants, which adorns spaces like the wall of its Central Vietnamese bar Chom Chom with murals: 'We are storytellers and there are many ways to tell our stories; it's another canvas to express who we are. It's also a good creative outlet. It can be funky, it can be fun. It doesn't have to be perfect; it just has to be us.' Partly brands have embraced street art so enthusiastically because of a cultural shift, with the rise of the star graffiti writer, exemplified by Banksy , legitimising the art form and giving it a kind of mainstream acceptability. It's also very photo-friendly, with social media playing a huge role in its growing popularity, while non-profit organisation HKwalls, which works tirelessly to put artists together with companies that can provide them with a wall to work on, has been pivotal in giving it a kick-start in the city. Cultural shifts have encouraged brands to embrace street art. Photo: Handout 'Since 2016 or 2017, with HKwalls and social media, there have been more people wanting to get into the street art scene,' says artist Kristopher Ho, whose spectacular, hyper-detailed animal illustrations crop up all over the city, including as part of HKwalls. 'It pays better: if I'm going to paint something large, I'm going to get paid more. But just because you know how to paint on a piece of paper, it doesn't mean you know how to paint on walls. The scene is definitely more vibrant now, but it's hard to maintain the quality.'

Nicholas Tse fans fume at obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog
Nicholas Tse fans fume at obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog

South China Morning Post

time24-04-2025

  • South China Morning Post

Nicholas Tse fans fume at obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog

Hong Kong's consumer watchdog received 17 complaints regarding obstructed views at the concerts of Cantopop star Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, which began on Thursday night at Kai Tak Stadium, adding to over 230 already lodged concerning other shows at the same venue. Advertisement Lawmakers urged event organisers to be more transparent about seat view details when selling tickets and to consider lowering prices to improve 'expectation management' for fans. As of 5pm on Thursday, the Consumer Council reported 17 complaints specifically about obstructed views for the four 'Evolution Nic Live' shows featuring local singer and actor Tse, the first Hong Kong musician to hold solo concerts in the new 50,000-seat stadium. It added that the maximum value of one case reached HK$6,000 (US$773). The complaint claimed that when purchasing four concert tickets, the system did not indicate that they were obstructed-view seats. They only realised this upon receiving the printed tickets and then reached out to the council for assistance. These complaints are in addition to the 238 similar complaints received as of Wednesday from attendees of the recent concerts by the British band Coldplay, who held four performances between April 8 and 12, with organisers reporting an attendance of around 200,000 people. Advertisement The Post has contacted the organiser of Tse's concerts, Emperor Group, for comments.

Nicholas Tse concertgoers bemoan obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog
Nicholas Tse concertgoers bemoan obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog

South China Morning Post

time24-04-2025

  • South China Morning Post

Nicholas Tse concertgoers bemoan obstructed views to Hong Kong consumer watchdog

Hong Kong's consumer watchdog received 17 complaints regarding obstructed views at the concerts of Cantopop star Nicholas Tse Ting-fung, which began on Thursday night at Kai Tak Stadium, adding to over 230 similar complaints already lodged concerning other shows at the same venue. Advertisement Lawmakers urged event organisers to be more transparent about seat view details when selling tickets and to consider lowering prices to improve 'expectation management' for fans. As of 5pm on Thursday, the Consumer Council reported 17 complaints specifically about obstructed views for the four 'Evolution Nic Live' shows featuring local singer and actor Tse, the first Hong Kong musician to hold solo concerts in the new 50,000-seat stadium. It added that the maximum value of one case reached HK$6,000 (US$773). The complaint claimed that when purchasing four concert tickets, the system did not indicate that they were obstructed-view seats. They only realised this upon receiving the printed tickets and then reached out to the council for assistance. These complaints are in addition to the 238 similar complaints received as of Wednesday from attendees of the recent concerts by the British band Coldplay, who held four performances between April 8 and 12, with organisers reporting an attendance of around 200,000 people. Advertisement The Post has contacted the organiser of Tse's concerts, Emperor Group, for comments.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store