Is it just me, or is Hong Kong starting to experience something of a cultural renaissance? I just received an email from the organizer of Sonatrope, a new music-based film festival taking place August 17th to 25th. Sonatrope combines two of my biggest passions – music and film. Could it possibly get any better? YES! The emphasis is on two genres that were traditionally underground – Hip Hop and Punk.

Glancing briefly at the program I see a feast of cool subjects inclding: Japanese Hip Hop, Korean Punk, international Electro, South African Hip Hop, and China Punk. Several of the films are short and medium length and will be screened together as double features. The ticket price is cheap! A mere $30 HKD per screening will get you a seat.

Opening night is at 9 pm on Friday, August 17th, and features the film Squatterpunk. This award winning film chronicles the punk lifestyle in impoverished inner-city Philippines. Squatterpunk will be followed by music featuring Spermatic Chord, ST, Elle Est ChiNOISE, New Pony, and Kawaki.

The venue for the fest is the 14th floor of an artists’ studio building located at 367 Hennessy Road in Wanchai. For more information and to read a synopsis of the films, check out the Sonatrope website. I can’t wait!

Friday night, July 27th, Steve Aoki will be d.j.ing at Volar. Is this guy a d.j., a clothing designer, or a record label head? It seems that these days, everyone does all three.

Steve Aoki is in good company. He’s down with many other heavily talented, multi-tasking individuals such as Busy P, a man well known to H.K. as: the founder of Ed Banger Records; the French group Justice’s biggest cheerleader; and the former manager of Daft Punk. Have a look at the the splash page for Steve Aoki’s record label, Dim Mak, and you’ll see an ad for the limited edition Ed Banger X Dim Mak t-shirt. Check out his clothing line. I cracked up laughing just looking at the site. The models are like rejects from Napoleon Dynamite, and some of the drawings, or should I say scrawl-ings, look like they were done by Napoleon types as well. BUT, make no mistake, there’s a certain aesthetic being cultivated here, and compared to all the clean, manicured, carefully computer-crafted designs, a shaky hand drawn image has a certain warm appeal. This off-beat aesthetic may also apply to his music. I’m curious enough to catch his set on Friday!

Where can you go to catch a glimpse of the current state of international art and design? Do you miss the instant gratification of purchasing an art book in the real world, instead of the boredom of ordering online, and having to wait for it to be delivered?

Basheer Design Books provides all of that in addition to being an excellent place to kill some time in between appointments, or while waiting for friends to grab some food. Should you decide to share the place, your friends will be impressed. (more…)

(Ana R., Lisa S., and Larissa strike a pose)

Hong Kong’s charity circuit has never seen anything quite like the launch of Most Wanted, the Racks calendar to benefit breast cancer. Top models, Lisa S., Ana R., Rosemary, Liz, Lucy, and several others, collaborated with the city’s newest hotspot to create a sexy, yet sophisticated calendar for a worthy cause. Priced at $200 HKD, the Most Wanted calendar is available at Racks MDB as well as the entertainment chain HMV, who was a sponsor.

The event began at eight, and the place filled up quickly. Guests who purchased a calendar were entitled to an open bar. That should have been the first indication that things were about to get a little crazy. (more…)

Nike has a new exhibition space named 26 Degrees opening on July 27th. The address is 5 U Lam Terrace in Hong Kong’s Mid-Levels neighborhood, just above Soho. Previously, the same building was occupied by a restaurant named Pheonix, and years before that it was Viasge, a bar that catered to local artists. But finding the new gallery can be a little tricky. (more…)

Last year I was too tired to attend the second annual beach party at Big Wave Bay in Sai Kung, but to quote friends of mine it was “one of the best days of my life,” and “the best party I’ve ever been to”. So with that in mind, I decided to make a little effort to check out the third edition on Sunday.

Three years ago, when the Hong Kong club, Volar was brand new, the owners organized a summer beach party out in Sai Kung’s Big Wave Bay (‘Tai Long Wan’ in Cantonese.)

This long, remote beach surrounded by rolling green mountains is known as one of the most beautiful spots in all of Hong Kong. The crowd that first year was a who’s who of Hong Kong’s party scene, in addition to a large contingent of models. Many of the people, up all night from the night before, hit the beach at dawn and continued partying until sunset. With the right mixture of people, an amazing beach, and perfect weather, a new tradition was born!

The anticipation for the third beach party has been building for several months. This year, in addition to the regulars, there was a reported waiting list of over 150 models who wanted to attend!

Despite its beauty, Tai Long Wan is never crowded. The reason? It’s hard to get to. The beach is about a 45 minute boat ride from Sai Kung, the nearest harbor. It’s more than twice that distance to Hong Kong Island. Tai Long Wan beach is cut-off from civilization. There are no snack stands or any structures intruding on the tranquility. Without a boat you need to get there by hiking over a mountain! Waking up too late to catch a ride, and being in the mood for a little adventure, that’s exactly what I did! (more…)

High above Starbucks, on the twentieth floor of Century Square, a new club named Avenue opened on Friday night.

New York d.j. Vinyl Richie headlined the night, supported by a Hong Kong-based d.j. with an equally cool name. (more…)

I made the trip out to Chai Wan Thursday night to check out the opening of the L1ES ONE, C1V1L1ZATION exhibition. I’ve been to the same mammoth building, Chai Wan Industrial City, twice in the past week, taking the MTR all the way out to the last stop on the Hong Kong Island line.

The home of the Six Keyz gallery and the Chancery Lane annex, is also the building that houses many of Hong Kong’s top photo studios. Saturday I discovered that photo studios themselves can be very photogenic! (more…)

When you live somewhere a long time, there’s always a few places right under your nose that for some reason, you never explore. For me, Queen’s Theatre, a cinema I walk past nearly EVERY day, was one of those places. Tuesday night I decided to catch the Robert Rodriguez film, “Planet Terror” at Queen’s Theatre and discovered (belatedly) someplace special. (more…)

French artist L1ES ONE, now residing in Hong Kong, takes over the Six Keyz space for an exhibition of “EVOLUT1ON1ST GRAFF1T1″ on Thursday, July 12th. Starting at 7 pm, the opening party will feature free drinks and a special four-turntable set by French scratch-masters d.j. Doze and d.j. Samir. Also in the mix is a House set by d.j. Swamy.

L1ES ONE is experienced at working on a large scale and it should be interesting to see what he does with the space. Have a look at some of his outdoor paintings here. To view previous Six Keyz exhibitions, click here.

The Six Keyz gallery is located in Chai Wan Industrial City, Phase 1, Unit 603, 60 Wing Tai Road, Chai Wan. The opening party will go from 7 pm til late!