An upcoming one-day fair will shine the spotlight on Hong Kong — its rich history and disappearing art forms.
The jampacked event includes art shows that explore the struggles and longings of Hong Kongers in Canada, a mini AR (augmented reality) museum that features Hong Kong's lost spaces and a cultural display that attempts to answer the question: “What are the reasons that have motivated so many people moving from Hong Kong to different cities in Canada?”
At the event on Sunday, May 7, you can shop at a market featuring artisans and small businesses, while also taking the time to learn about the epicentre of the region's Chinese Canadian community — Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Organized by HK House, a local grassroots community group, the second annual fair will include origami, canto story time sessions, sugar art workshop and more.
Here’s is a run-down of five cool things to check out at the fair.
Watch a multi-disciplinary show called Adrift
A total of 30 Hong Kongers from the Metro Vancouver area have come together to present Adrift — a multidisciplinary act that features music, choreography, monologue and calligraphy.
“The theme of ‘Adrift’ mainly echoes with the performers' feelings of being 'adrift' and forcefully uprooted due to lots of reasons,” said Raymond Choi, coordinator and one of the performers. “While its Chinese name ‘候鳥’ is a direct translation of ‘migratory birds,’ it actually echoes with what we are — a group of immigrants.”
“Migratory birds fly across borders because of weather and other physical constraints; we Hong Kongers are also being forced to leave our hometown due to lots of different reasons. We hope the audience can experience the ups and downs, excitement and struggle with us during the show,” said Choi.
Play Hong Kongers' childhood board games
If you are from Hong Kong, you probably have heard of "animal chess" or "aeroplane chess" — for those who haven’t, the two chess versions are among the games that many Hong Kongers played in their childhood, as per Heiki Kwan, a volunteer organizer of the fair and HK House.
Board game enthusiasts are welcome to try their hand at chess, mahjong, marble checkers (aka Chinese checkers), big 2 and more, at the fair.
Never heard of big 2? Each game will include instructions on how to play, said Kwan.
Travel back in time
Many Hong Kongers might remember seeing “weighing machines” in Hong Kong’s theatres, the bright neon lights that once lit up the entrance of shops or the engine-less red rickshaws that had to be manually pulled by “drivers” on the streets.
These sights are a rarity, if not completely absent, in Hong Kong today.
But through an “in-depth study of old objects and architecture,” the Hong Kong XR Museum has recreated some of these lost and disappearing cultures in augmented reality. At the fair, you can travel back in time to see Hong Kong’s historic Lee Theatre or its first Chinese-owned department store, Sincere — all from right here in New West.
Make art out of sugar
Just when we thought we couldn’t be bigger fans of sugar, the Vancouver Hong Kong Fair brings along a workshop that shows that it’s possible to use it to create beautiful works of art. Imagine a duck or a flower entirely made of moulded sugar.
Artist Yeechan, who majored in sculpture from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, learned Hong Kong’s 600-year-old traditional sugar art (in 2019) from the last two remaining traditional sugar art masters, according to the fair's website.
She is now in pursuit of preserving the art by passing on the technique to others through workshops like the one at the fair.
Make origami dumplings
Sure, you can make a paper plane, but how about a paper siu mai? At this workshop by Tim Chan, a master’s student at Simon Fraser University, a user experience designer and an origami expert, you’ll learn to make the traditional Chinese dumplings with folded papers.
With some patience, you might be able to craft a bowl of delectable-looking paper dumplings that, be warned, might get you craving for the real thing.
Vancouver Hong Kong Fair is on Sunday, May 7, between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the Anvil Centre, 777 Columbia St. Check out the Vancouver Hong Kong Fair website for details.
