The Covid lockdowns and restrictions around the world have been bad news for many companies, industries, and occupations, but enforced isolation has been relatively good for video games. Throughout 2020, video game revenue surged 20% to US$179.7 billion. The industry outperformed both movies and sports combined as forms of entertainment. Video game development merges art, technology, interactive design, and – often – storytelling. Not only are a range of artistic disciplines involved, some games also provide new opportunities for artists and art lovers to explore.

The late author, Leung Ping-kwan or Yasi’s collection of poems “City at the End of Time”, includes his 1974 poem “The North Point Car Ferry”. Like many of Yasi’s poems, it attempts to pin down and analyse Hong Kong’s unique identity, far beyond the cliché of the city as a place where “East meets West”. The ferry pier itself and Yasi’s poem are currently providing the backdrop for the multi-disciplinary “Art Walk: Before a Passage”, which includes visual arts, interactive installations, soundscapes, performance, site-specific writing and reading, and, yes, a walk.

Cellist Thomas Hung studied cello at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts before going on to perform with orchestras in places as varied as Latvia, Taiwan and Macau. On the 18th June he will be giving a recital in the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s “Our Music Talents” series. It includes pieces by Schumann, Franck, Mendelssohn, and Dall’Abaco. Thomas came to our studio to give us a preview.