Celebrity Life
Inside FIF and Lee Garden’s Furrytales Charity Art Event
’Tis the season to reflect on the past, mull over the present and hope for the future, as we find out how four local personalities will be spending the holidays...
4 Hong Kong Personalities on the Festive Season
Jessica Jann, Actress
What’s your Christmas family tradition?
Lots of time together. I always used to go back home to California and be with my parents. We’d have a lot of meals together, spend time together, watch holiday movies and just be with each other.
What’s your favourite Christmas memory?
Years ago, when I was home for the holidays, I remember having a lovely family meal out with everyone. Then my cousins, my sister and I went to Downtown Disney in Anaheim. We ordered hot chocolate, sat by a fireplace, chatted nonstop and then got doughnuts afterwards. This year will be the third Christmas holiday when I won’t be back home.
Which moment from past holidays still makes you laugh?
Once my sister got us all, the entire family, these ugly, ugly Christmas sweaters but we absolutely loved wearing them! We laughed and took so many pictures!
What’s your Christmas wish?
I’m so lucky because my grandma (Abu) is in Hong Kong with all of us. I miss my parents, sister and nephew, but I’ll definitely be calling them. This year, I might still be in the hospital as my due date is really close to Christmas Day. My husband, Kenneth, and I are so excited, anxious and nervous. Christmas has always been my favourite holiday and I really can’t wait to hold my baby girl for the first time. I just wish she’s happy, healthy and I can’t wait to meet her.
Richard Ekkebus, Chef
Which Christmas tradition from your youth do you remember most fondly?
Back home in the Netherlands, my mum put a lot of effort into decorating the house and it was a true collective family effort – dad did the lights and fixed the tree, and my sisters and I would decorate the tree with garlands and hang Christmas baubles. But the most important part was the family reunion – grandparents, uncles and cousins all meeting. Large dinner tables and extended meals. We were allowed to sip our dad’s glass of wine to get a taste. The laughter, the happiness and, of course, the festive decorations and gifts.
What was your most memorable Christmas gift?
When I was 10, I got a concave skateboard to learn to ride in half-pipes. I was super into skateboarding but my skateboard wasn’t great, so my mum ordered one from a skate shop in Amsterdam – the real McCoy.
What’s your Christmas wish and hope this year?
Christmas is always a little awkward for me. I’m super-stressed, as it’s an important day for my guests. So we’re the family that unwraps gifts very early in the morning before I head off to work, to look after other families. With the pandemic, it will be a challenge this year, just as it was last year. We’d normally have our kids in Hong Kong but this year there’s an empty nest and – that’s somewhat sad. I want to make sure they all have a great Christmas, and my wife and I have organised parcels to be sent early so they reach them in time. We’ll probably do a thing on Zoom on Christmas Day.
Nick Buckley Wood, Art Connoisseur
What’s a favourite Christmas memory?
I don’t have many favourite Christmas memories in Hong Kong. I grew up in the city till I was 13 and then was in the UK. We don’t really celebrate Christmas that much in the Wood family. We all get together, and I suppose that’s the best memory – everyone being under the same roof. Otherwise, everyone’s scattered around the globe. I do like tropical Christmases more than snow-capped ones, probably because I’ve had more Christmases in Singapore and Hong Kong than elsewhere. So, sandcastle over snowman any day.
So a favourite Christmas meal for you would be?
Hainan chicken rice – with a giant chicken. And all the trimmings.
What’s the best Christmas present you ever received?
A puppy when I was a boy. A puppy really is the greatest present ever, at any age. I named him Tiffin.
Money no object, if you could bid for any artwork as a Christmas present for yourself, what would it be?
Maybe a Caravaggio. What’s a good Christmas-y painting? Maybe a giant pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama. What’s your end-of-the-year plan? I’ll be in Cambodia this year for Christmas. I bought an apartment and spent most of the year there, I was basically exiled – there’s no Covid where I stayed and I worked remotely. I’m also working on a non-profit project there. So this year I’ll be working on my apartment and the charity.
Elly Lam, Influencer
What’s your Christmas family tradition?
I have a big family, lots of brothers and sisters, and we all sit and watch old Christmas movies while sipping on homemade mulled wine.
What’s your favourite Christmas memory?
Cooking Christmas dinners together with loved ones every year is always a favourite. Oh, and I love Secret Santa!
Which moment from past holidays still makes you laugh?
Serving salty eggnog! It was ridiculous because it’s so easy to make. I was frantically trying to finish making Christmas dinner and, in the rush, I used salt instead of sugar in the mix! My helper served it thinking that’s how it’s supposed to taste. It was slightly embarrassing for me to serve failed eggnog – we still laugh about it.
For 2021, what’s your Christmas wish?
To be able to travel somewhere cold and snowy for Christmas this … well, I guess next year. I miss having a White Christmas.
The post Inside FIF and Lee Garden’s Furrytales Charity Art Event appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Amanda Cheung of FIF on its Upcoming Art Exhibition Featuring Botticelli and Other Masters
Despite the Renaissance artist’s fame, not everyone in Hong Kong has heard of Sandro Botticelli.
That, however, is set to change this month, with the opening of an exhibition of 42 works by Botticelli and other masters at the Hong Kong Museum of Art, and the launch of a four-month long programme of activities by First Initiative Foundation (FIF) in partnership with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, the Consulate General of Italy and a host of others.
As the community partner for the exhibition, whose official title is The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Botticelli and His Times – Masterworks from the Uffizi, FIF has planned a series of workshops and activities designed to encourage the public to learn more about early Renaissance art – and to visit museums and galleries in general.
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Amanda Cheung is the managing director of First Initiative Foundation.[/caption]
FIF managing director Amanda Cheung, whose mother Michelle Ong set up the foundation almost 10 years ago as a way of supporting Hong Kong’s creative community, says that the aim is “to make this exhibition very inclusive and family friendly. FIF is known for bringing unique and accessible educational and community outreach programmes to Hong Kong and we’re beyond excited to devise this special hands-on programme to complement this exhibition.”
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Sandro Botticelli - Adoration of the Magi.[/caption]
Through a lengthy programme of activities that it’s put together, FIF hopes to empower the public to approach art by giving them the tools that provide a new lens through which they can learn to appreciate the beauty of everyday life. “The three key messages that I hope to foster and encourage,” says Cheung, “are that museums are for everyone, that art can be fun and easy to understand, and that it’s everywhere. I did a lot of research on the gap between art and the community and, after narrowing down my vision and identifying the key messages of the outreach, I enlisted help and expertise from the fields of art, education and public relations, who are all friends of FIF. I also put together a young committee consisting of a handful of my peers, so I can run ideas by them as well as make sure that we have diversity and different perspectives.”
Francesco Botticini - Madonna in adoration of the Child with Saint John and five angels[/caption]In total, Cheung and the FIF team have devised various community outreach initiatives, the first being fun and accessible guided tours for visitors to the exhibition. Second, FIF is offering a programme of weekend workshops for the duration of the exhibition, which provide fun, interactive and engaging activities for visitors of all ages that range from coding and science-meets-art workshops for children and parents, to cocktail-mixing for adults – and all with themes or topics linking back to the exhibition. As well as the works of art themselves, the exhibition also features a wall of cards that provide a unique, role-playing unaccompanied guide. Visitors can pick the most appropriate character that matches their mood, with each providing a specially designed itinerary.
Beyond the museum, FIF has also created an illustrated storybook, an activity book and an audio book, as well as soft toys depicting two fictional characters – Sandro, a lucky boar from Italy and Trio, a three-legged toad from Hong Kong. Together, the pair work to solve a mystery that takes in a disgruntled portrait, museum magic and even delicious local cuisine. Based on the exhibition, the charming and educational story touches upon the importance of teamwork, exploration, curiosity and friendship, and will be read aloud to the public during community reading sessions.
Sandro Botticelli - Madonna and Child.[/caption]Moreover, film industry all-rounder Andrew Lau has produced a documentary that follows the journey of the Renaissance paintings from the walls of the Uffizi to Hong Kong for this once-in-a-lifetime exhibition. Directed by Jessey Tsang, the film offers an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of the knowledge and expertise necessary, as well as the immense amount of work involved, in putting together a large-scale international exhibition such as this. The film, which is to be screened as inflight entertainment by Cathay Pacific, stresses the importance of cooperation, as well as highlighting Hong Kong’s own talent.
From curation to design concept to production, each phase of putting together this exhibition has created a building block for the next stage, leading to the opening at the Hong Kong Museum of Art in late October.
The post Amanda Cheung of FIF on its Upcoming Art Exhibition Featuring Botticelli and Other Masters appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.