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Episode 8 “Bamboo Artistry”
2025-05-13
Dim sum is a favourite delicacy of many Hong Kong people. While bamboo steamer is an irreplaceable secret of preserving the original flavour of dim sum, steamer making technique has even been inscribed onto the list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Hong Kong.
Master LUI Ming, now 93, has been working with dedication in the bamboo steamer industry for more than 70 years. He earned his reputation in the market with his skilled craftsmanship and innovative products. Realising that the protruding slip of a traditional steamer was easily damaged when cleaning, Master LUI improved the slip with stainless steel to make the steamer more durable. However, due to the migration of local industrial operations to the Mainland, the handmade bamboo steamer industry in Hong Kong has gradually shrunk, and the craftsmanship has found no inheritors. Fortunately, Master LUI’s craftsmanship is given a new life in another form of art. Young artist Inkgo LAM, who hopes to integrate traditional craftsmanship into contemporary art, met Master LUI in an intangible cultural heritage inheritance programme. They collaborated to create a bamboo steamer in the shape of the Big Buddha. For a bamboo artist, in addition to creation, maintenance of the works is also important. Bamboo, the main material used in the works, is a natural material that is easily worn out. In addition, as the artist has to repair the works in accordance with the damages, more meticulous skills are needed and thus making it more challenging than creating a new art piece.
Inkgo likes to use bamboo in her creations, and hopes to show different features of bamboo in her works. Therefore, she combines bamboo art with contemporary art in her solo exhibition, so that visitors can appreciate various characteristics of bamboo while savouring the artistic enjoyment. She also organises bamboo steamer workshops to let the public better understand this traditional craftsmanship. Bamboo craftsmen from two different generations are as resilient as bamboo, with unswerving determination to pass down the bamboo artistry.
Producer: TSANG Chor-sun
Master LUI Ming, now 93, has been working with dedication in the bamboo steamer industry for more than 70 years. He earned his reputation in the market with his skilled craftsmanship and innovative products. Realising that the protruding slip of a traditional steamer was easily damaged when cleaning, Master LUI improved the slip with stainless steel to make the steamer more durable. However, due to the migration of local industrial operations to the Mainland, the handmade bamboo steamer industry in Hong Kong has gradually shrunk, and the craftsmanship has found no inheritors. Fortunately, Master LUI’s craftsmanship is given a new life in another form of art. Young artist Inkgo LAM, who hopes to integrate traditional craftsmanship into contemporary art, met Master LUI in an intangible cultural heritage inheritance programme. They collaborated to create a bamboo steamer in the shape of the Big Buddha. For a bamboo artist, in addition to creation, maintenance of the works is also important. Bamboo, the main material used in the works, is a natural material that is easily worn out. In addition, as the artist has to repair the works in accordance with the damages, more meticulous skills are needed and thus making it more challenging than creating a new art piece.
Inkgo likes to use bamboo in her creations, and hopes to show different features of bamboo in her works. Therefore, she combines bamboo art with contemporary art in her solo exhibition, so that visitors can appreciate various characteristics of bamboo while savouring the artistic enjoyment. She also organises bamboo steamer workshops to let the public better understand this traditional craftsmanship. Bamboo craftsmen from two different generations are as resilient as bamboo, with unswerving determination to pass down the bamboo artistry.
Producer: TSANG Chor-sun
In the last season of “Master in the House”, we immersed ourselves in the lives of 10 masters to witness their exquisite craftsmanship and learn the stories behind their creations.
The eight-episode “Master in the House 2” will carry on with this journey and take the audience into the masters’ workshops to experience their passion and pursuit towards their crafts. From traditional craftsmanship to modern creative design, each piece of artwork embodies “the artisan’s soul”, irrespective whether it represents the inheritance of age-old craftsmanship or the contemporary innovative practice. The artwork not only demonstrates the master’s craftsmanship, but also tells a story about people and creation.
The programme will continue to focus on the stories of people while introducing the masters’ secret tricks, so that the audience can have a thorough understanding of every detail of the industries. The visuals of the programme will also guide the audience through the production processes, allowing them to experience the artisans’ pursuit of excellence and understand what is good. A seemingly ordinary object, not necessarily costly, may nevertheless embody the beauty of numerous subtleties and be a manifestation of self-cultivation and persistence in itself.
The eight-episode “Master in the House 2” will carry on with this journey and take the audience into the masters’ workshops to experience their passion and pursuit towards their crafts. From traditional craftsmanship to modern creative design, each piece of artwork embodies “the artisan’s soul”, irrespective whether it represents the inheritance of age-old craftsmanship or the contemporary innovative practice. The artwork not only demonstrates the master’s craftsmanship, but also tells a story about people and creation.
The programme will continue to focus on the stories of people while introducing the masters’ secret tricks, so that the audience can have a thorough understanding of every detail of the industries. The visuals of the programme will also guide the audience through the production processes, allowing them to experience the artisans’ pursuit of excellence and understand what is good. A seemingly ordinary object, not necessarily costly, may nevertheless embody the beauty of numerous subtleties and be a manifestation of self-cultivation and persistence in itself.
