A Million Reasons to Love Hong Kong
The best places to enjoy the city’s art offerings, according to Queenie Rosita Law
“Art doesn’t have to be a painting hung on a gallery wall. It can be anything that inspires you to act in a different way.” As an artist, curator and gallerist of the soon-to-open Double Q, Queenie Rosita Law’s cultural acumen extends further than many others’. To her, the ever-changing nature of the city she has called home since birth is a ceaseless source of inspiration; it’s alive, she says, with art.
Law travels all over Hong Kong to enjoy its diverse cultural offerings. The soon-to-open M+ museum serves as a reminder, she says, of the importance of independent spaces. “You’re not seeing art from a commercial perspective, because nobody is trying to sell you anything.”
It’s not just the conventional art spaces that Law turns to for inspiration. “There are so many new spaces opening in Hong Kong that are showing variety and redefining what art and design should be,” she says.
This includes the wealth of new arts spaces that have opened in Sham Shui Po in recent years. Law thinks of the up-and-coming arts district as “Hong Kong’s answer to Brooklyn”. Citing shops around the vibrant Tai Nan Street, she explains, “There’s a sense of community there; you can feel their energy.”
Law is also drawn to heritage spaces that have been given a new lease of life through the world of modern art. She cites The Mills—a recently revitalised textile factory-turned-arts space—as one such example. “Textiles are heavily interwoven with my heritage,” she explains, referring to her grandfather, founder of fashion retailer Bossini. “I have a deep appreciation for what they represent. To see the emergence of textile-inspired art brings me great joy.”
Ultimately, Law sees the city as a perpetually evolving muse. “Hong Kong is the canvas for 7 million souls,” she says. It’s a sensory overload of countless ideas, experiences and aspirations. It is, after all, a city that never sleeps; it’s an artist’s dream.