Supporting Culture and the Arts

Our Arts Month returned in 2019, with events held across our developments in Hong Kong during March and April.

Highlights included:

• LUMENous GARDEN, an interactive artwork at Pacific Place with two kinetic sculptures that react to the movements of people nearby.
• You Are My Other Me, a 700-pound recycled clothing sculpture displayed outside Three Pacific Place designed to raise awareness of textile waste.
• Urban Playgrounds, an exhibition at ArtisTree in Taikoo Place combining visual arts and photography, with pop-up performances in public areas that immersed the audience in an interactive and high-energy experience.
• Spectrum, an imaginative VIP lounge installation at Art Basel Hong Kong.

This dynamic multi-purpose space in Cambridge House, Taikoo Place is a destination for world-class arts, exhibitions and performances which welcomes new art forms, fresh ideas and avant-garde performances.

Highlights of events held in 2019 included:

• Beyond Fashion, a 37-day exhibition and series of immersive events which introduced new ways for audiences to explore fashion photography by bridging art, fashion and food.
• ArtisTree Selects: Theatre Bites, an 11-day programme featuring 20 performances of five “bite-sized” British theatre productions combining comedy, musical and physical theatre. If Not Me, Who? is a piece of eco-theatre designed to motivate audiences to explore veganism, fast fashion and the environmental impacts of climate change.
• ArtisTree Selects: Moving Pieces, a series of over 20 performances by renowned dance companies from Norway, Wales, France and Hong Kong complemented by several interactive dance workshops held in August and September.

In 2019, we cooperated with the Beijing Music Festival for the tenth year to organise a range of musical performances for Beijing’s music lovers. Our aim was to bring innovative and inspiring experiences to Beijing so that more people could appreciate music and to also inject new vitality into the community.

Highlights included:

• Taikoo Li Sanlitun North hosted the Asian premiere of EIGHT, Michel van der Aa’s virtual reality music experience, for 18 consecutive days.
• A series of concerts called English Traditions and Russian Retrospective by Vladimir Ashkenazy, Shenyang and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
• INDIGO welcomed the BMF Children Festival Orchestra and the Beijing Philharmonic Choir in a performance of Offenbach’s classic opera, Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

In 2019, Taikoo Hui in Guangzhou launched the Canton Culture Summer Camp project. Our Community Ambassadors partnered with professional journalists and Jinan University students to host various events and activities related to five aspects of Cantonese culture, namely, dress, cuisine, architecture, customs and recreation, and arts and crafts.

Designed to illustrate how we are actively involved in preserving and enhancing local arts and culture, we promoted the following:

• designs inspired by Cantonese culture showcased by our tenants in the fashion industry;
• activities involving our F&B tenants and Cantonese cuisine;
• an introduction by the General Manager of Taikoo Hui on the architectural features of the development which was inspired by Cantonese culture; and
• several Chinese New Year campaigns at Taikoo Hui featuring Cantonese arts and crafts.

The Canton Culture Summer Camp was featured in a local mainstream newspaper, and five short videos were shared on our SD 2030 WeChat account.

The Sanlitun Festival of Arts and Culture, a tradition led by the Sanlitun Street Office, celebrated its 18th anniversary in 2019. Since Taikoo Li Sanlitun became an active contributor to this annual event, we have worked hard to help this festival present artistic and stylish public-focused activities. This year, in addition to providing the venue for this festival – The Red, Taikoo Li Sanlitun also welcomed an array of comedic and musical talent to help bring the theme of the festival – “Fashion and Culture at Sanlitun” – to life.

The performances included:

• An entertaining Peking Opera featuring local primary school students.
• A fusion dance performance blending flamenco with traditional Chinese dance.
• A line-up of special talks on arts and culture presented by local and international experts.