Hong Kong\u2019s Asia+ Festival, the annual celebration of the cultural diversity of the region, particularly those countries linked by the Belt and Road Initiative \u2013 China\u2019s plan to develop a global trading network \u2013 is back for its fourth edition under the theme \u201cTraditions Recast\u201d.<\/p>\n
Two headline shows at this year\u2019s festival \u2013 organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department \u2013 which runs until the end of November, perfectly capture that spirit by fusing ancient music with visual art and choreography respectively.<\/p>\n
One of the performances, Canvas of Sound,<\/em> combining real-time calligraphy and improvised music, will make its Asian premiere on stage at Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre on October 23 and 24. It was commissioned by the Aga Khan Music Programme, an interregional music and arts education initiative founded in 2000, which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n Audiences can expect a meditative experience, featuring an artistic, intellectual and emotional dialogue between Pakistani-born Canadian visual artist Tazeen Qayyum and two Syrian-born musicians, Feras Charestan, on the qanun<\/em> zither, and Basel Rajoub, on the duclar \u2013<\/em> a reed instrument \u2013 saxophone and percussion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As the crisp notes of the qanun<\/em> and the sultry melody of the duclar<\/em> fill the air, Qayyum takes up brush and ink to turn the sounds into physical choreography. Her body moves deliberately across a massive onstage canvas, while producing calligraphic strokes of Arabic, Persian and Urdu scripts in response to the musicians\u2019 improvisations.<\/p>\n For each show, instead of traditional rehearsals, Qayyum says she meditates before going on stage \u201cto ground my focus and enter a state of calm\u201d. She describes the resulting work as existing \u201csomewhere between gestural abstraction and calligraphy\u201d.<\/p>\n However, the music is based on predetermined core pieces centred around the system of melodic Arabic modes. \u201cAlthough the performance is unscripted, it is not without structure,\u201d Charestan says. \u201cWe have a shared musical language that gives us the freedom to be spontaneous, while still creating a coherent musical journey.\u201d<\/p>\n Rajoub agrees. \u201cWe prepare by knowing the music, listening to each other and being ready to react to whatever happens on stage,\u201d he says. \u201cThe spontaneity comes from that interaction between all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n No two performances of this production are the same, and no two canvases turn out alike.<\/p>\n For Hong Kong audiences, Qayyum says she hopes the performance will offer a respite from the world\u2019s uncertain times. \u201cIn a world sceptical of independent expression, where we face an incessant and unyielding pressure to harden ourselves, put on a brave exterior and move quicker, this performance invites the audience to slow down, pause and reflect,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n The percussion-focused performance of Taksu \u2013 The Spirit of Gamelan<\/em>, at the auditorium of the Sha Tin Town Hall on November 6 and 7, is much louder, but shares the same respect for spirituality and humanity. It explores the Balinese concept of taksu<\/em>, which means divine inspiration and spiritual energy that ignites artistic expression.<\/p>\n Bernard Goh, founder and artistic director of Hands Percussion, from Malaysia, has teamed up with actor and director Ghafir Akbar and master composer and ethnomusicologist I Wayan Sudirana to create a fusion of contemporary and traditional percussion styles.<\/p>\n Indonesia\u2019s Gamelan Yuganada sets the central theme with shimmering bronze tunes of gamelan, a percussion style born in ancient royal courts and temples of Indonesia\u2019s Java and Bali, while performing artist Zamzuriah Zahari adds a theatrical layer with mak yong<\/em>, a traditional dance-drama from northern Malaysia.<\/p>\n Hands Percussion\u2019s performers bring in the 24 Festive Drums, a tradition created in 1988 in the Chinese community of the southern Malaysian city of Johor Bahru based on lion dance, to dial up the energy.<\/p>\n Goh says combining these two traditions meant \u201cunderstanding and respecting the originality of sound, rhythm and technique required for each instrument then adapting that knowledge to other instruments\u201d.<\/p>\n The staging follows the spirituality of Balinese gamelan, as members of the ensemble perform on a raised platform, appearing \u201cuplifted\u201d while the drummers stay grounded below to provide room for their dynamic movements.<\/p>\n \u201cThe gamelan is made of metal, yet is capable of speaking gently, quickly and elegantly,\u201d Goh says. \u201cLike armour and skin, these instruments move over the same contours in an intercultural musical conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n Achieving a cohesive, dynamic performance has required \u201cunlearning\u201d by both sets of musicians, he says. \u201cMy members were proud Chinese drummers and excelled at dynamic movement and grand hand gestures, [but] the Balinese gamelan requires you to be stationary while playing intricate, intense, fast-paced rhythms.\u201d<\/p>\n Members of The Hong Kong Children\u2019s Choir\u2019s Chamber Youth, the group\u2019s advanced mixed-voice ensemble, will add another layer to the performance, as they sing a reimagined, gamelan version of the Chinese folk song \u201cJasmine Flower\u201d<\/em>, which has been set alongside its Malaysian counterpart \u201cBunga Emas\u201d<\/em> or \u201cGolden Flower\u201d.<\/p>\n As the singers move through across the performance space, their presence will mirror the rhythmic shifts of the instrumentalists.<\/p>\n For choristers raised on a mostly Western classical repertoire, this performance will provide them with both a challenge and a chance to broaden their creative minds. \u201cAlthough these compositions originate from a region geographically not far from us, the cultural context behind them can feel remarkably foreign,\u201d Vivian Ip, conductor of Chamber Youth, says.<\/p>\n The singers \u201chave had to unlearn certain assumptions about performance and instead immerse themselves in the spirituality, energy and communal spirit that this production demands\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n![\"Syrian-born](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/10\/07\/f0a322ff-b24e-4835-8479-0b19787a637a_5b21820d.jpg\" "\\"Syrian-born")
<\/div>![\"Drummers](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/10\/07\/1c860bf7-dd0e-4185-a4c9-2d1b89311108_ec2f5733.jpg\" "\\"Drummers")
<\/div>![\"Zamzuriah](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/10\/07\/de3a5c47-4fb5-4d7a-8aed-42595290a710_bfd0d05f.jpg\" "\\"Zamzuriah")
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