Re/composing Sai Wan

Re/composing Sai Wan

To walk uphill is also to trace time in reverse. Since the 19th century, people have carved terraces into the hillside, creating layer upon layer of ground on which different trades and communities could take root. Situated on the western edge of the city’s coastline, this area has, across different periods, borne the traces of public facilities, everyday working-class life and entertainment culture. Today, old shops and new businesses, old routines and new scenery stand side by side along its streets.

Through interviews and research, artists move between memories from different eras: “Zaat Hap” presents the contemporary transformation of traditional bamboo craft; Swing Lam traces the lingering echoes of Shek Tong Tsui’s entertainment past; Larry Shuen explores the past and present transformations of historic buildings; and Yim Sui-fong reconstructs the sound memories of the neighbourhood.

9 - 10 Yu Lok Lane

Tucked into the hillside of Sai Ying Pun, Yu Lok Lane retains several pre-war tong lau (tenement buildings). Its narrow alleyways served as a vibrant communal gathering spot for neighbours. Today, this revitalised heritage site serves as an exhibition venue, presenting two artworks that engage in a cross-temporal dialogue with the collective memory of Sai Wan.

The artist collective “Zaat Hap” has long explored contemporary interpretations of bamboo craftsmanship. Taking the dragon as its vehicle, Rhapsody in Scales connects traditional symbolism, legends of the land and local observation, transforming bamboo strips into a three-dimensional landscape.

Beginning with Shek Tong Tsui’s history of entertainment, artist Swing Lam presents Promenade Journal. The artwork takes the form of a walking map for exploration, using play as a way of reading history, and inviting audiences to reimagine the former geography of leisure in Shek Tong Tsui through walking, searching and discovery.

Hong Kong Resource Centre for Heritage

This century-old white-walled, red-brick building originally housed the Western Public Dispensary and later served as staff quarters for Tsan Yuk Hospital, standing as a testament to the community’s public health history. Now home to the Hong Kong Resource Centre for Heritage, the venue presents two artworks, activating the neighbourhood’s history.

Artist Larry Shuen visits a number of heritage sites, translating what he sees and hears into images, video, sound and movement records, and gathering them into a book. More than a personal artistic observation, the book Informal Methods of Heritage Research: Observing, Recording and Taking Part in Sai Ying Pun also invites audiences to try adopting these “research methods” to piece together their own understanding of the neighbourhood.

Through interviews, workshops with residents, field research and collaborative songwriting, artist Yim Sui-fong transforms the everyday memories of Sai Wan residents into three children’s songs, and presents installations, sounds and self-made instruments, inviting people to encounter Sai Wan again through a child’s eyes. Through singing, listening, playing and improvisation, it looks back on the past while creating new sonic memories together.

Additionally, Rooftop Institute has invited ten artists to produce ten Sai Wan Event Scores. Visitors are invited to pick up a set on-site and venture into the surrounding alleyways, activating their own field observations and local encounters.

Second Street Public Bathhouse

Distinguished by its eye-catching pink facade, this public bathhouse was built in 1925 as Hong Kong’s sole surviving pre-war public bathhouse, before officially closed in June 2025.

Outside the bathhouse presents an extension of artist Larry Shuen’s artwork Informal Methods of Heritage Research: Observing, Recording and Taking Part in Sai Ying Pun. Here, visitors can uncover the site’s history before borrowing the artist’s proposed "research methodologies" to engage in their own field observations and site recordings.

King George V Memorial Park

Established in 1954, the park has served as a filming location for numerous well-known Hong Kong films and television dramas.

The park presents an extension of artist Larry Shuen’s artwork Informal Methods of Heritage Research: Observing, Recording and Taking Part in Sai Ying Pun. Here, visitors can uncover the site’s history before borrowing the artist’s proposed "research methodologies" to engage in their own field observations and site recordings.

Window Room

Extending from the hillside down, artist collective “Zaat Hap” takes over a street-level shopfront window in Kennedy Town to present their second contemporary paper crafting installation, evoking forgotten stories from the neighborhood’s edge.

Using the hexagonal palace lantern as its prototype, Shades of Phantoms transforms subtle memories of the Western District’s streets and alleyways into a floating matrix of time and space. Inspired by the film Rouge, the work draws on the way love and the traces of the old city are interwoven in the film. Bamboo frames and translucent paper create layer upon layer of light and shadow, as if one had suddenly stepped into a dim alleyway. 

Belcher Bay Promenade

Along the former Cargo Working Area at Belcher Bay Promenade, the waterfront captures the changing face of Sai Wan.

Stretched across the harbourfront fence are song scores from artist Yim Sui-fong’s project Songs Wandering through Sai Wan. Walk along the promenade, sing along and improvise your own tunes to weave together old and new sonic memories of the neighbourhood.