HONG KONG, June 13, 2024– “The era of global warming has ended; the era of global boiling has arrived.” These were the words of the United Nations Secretary General at the end of 2023. The unseasonably warm winters, frequent hot nights, typhoons and thunderstorms in Hong Kong are the warning signs. Climate change is not a future problem; it is making an irreversible impact on our world, which we cannot ignore.
The third Beyond Environmental Arts Festival (BEA Festival) returns this summer with a series of fun and free activities on the theme of “Climate Change”. The programme includes open-air music and films, a theatrical performance, creative arts workshops, an installation art exhibition and dance video screening, and more. The art activities are designed to encourage changes in everyday life, the adoption of low carbon living, and the promotion of sustainability among the next generation to combat this global challenge.
Free arts workshops, theatrical performances, exhibition, open-air music and films
Organised by Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation, sponsored by The Bank of East Asia Charitable Foundation, and powered by The Bank of East Asia, Limited, this year’s BEA Festival kicks off on 28 June with Voices of Change: Open-air Music and Films at Café 23, The Bank of East Asia Building, Central. More activities will be held during 2 to 7 July at BEA Tower, Kwun Tong. The first four days are reserved for students, while the weekend sessions are open to the public. Participants can enjoy the second session of Voices of Change, as well as a theatrical performance The Eco Heroes, and five arts workshops where they can get creative and make their own clay coral magnets, energy saving reminder plaques, “Be the Change” badges and paper craft ecosystems, or learn how to transform waste items into percussion instruments.
Between 1 July and 2 August, visitors can also enjoy an exhibition of five sets of artworks on the theme of climate change. The featured works are The Bloom of the Shield, a large rope net installation contemplating the Earth’s depleting ozone layer; Empathise with 52-hertz, a 4-metre-long whale and coral installation reflecting on the effects of climate change on the world’s marine ecosystems; Prophecy of the Future, a 3D optical illusion painting; Echoes of the Earth, a shadow dance film; as well as a series of reverse glass paintings created at Hong Kong Wetland Park by BEA volunteers and youngsters from community services programmes. The exhibition will take place at 2/F, BEA Tower, Kwun Tong. No registration is required.
