Furnishing the Forbidden: Throne, Study and Bedchamber, Liang Yi Museum
What has always been out of reach, suddenly becomes tangible and touchable. Liang Yi Museum brings together 89 imperial treasures from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), organising them through three subjects: The Emperor, the Scholar, and the Consort. The Emperor section is an intimate look into his private world—from leisurely game tables to zitan cases with mother-of-pearl inlay dragon decorations, to armchairs with carved panels. The Scholar section boasts intricate document cases with inlay decoration of semi-precious stones, cinnabar brush dip with lapis lazuli adornments, and screens that propound the integrity and moral principles of officials. Finally, the Consort section includes cases for head pieces, a zitan incense box with phoenix and dragon motifs rendered in mother-of-pearl and a cosmetic case with a standing mirror, among others. Almost none of the objects are kept within glass cases, and certain ones are welcomed for visitors to touch and inspect up close.
When: Until October 12, 2026
Where: Liang Yi Museum, 181 – 199 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan
Luis Xertu: Halfway Across the Rubicon, Podium
Rotterdam-based artist Luis Xertu stages his first exhibition in Asia, giving it the title of the river in north-eastern Italy that marked a decisive boundary in the late Roman Republic. Here, Rubicon is imagined as the boundary between becoming and arrival, setting the stage for a world of fleeting love, lingering connections, and unspoken intimacy—one that exists in the liminal ambivalence of friendship and the affections that lie beyond. Xertu’s musing figures are submerged in dark waters and soak in the sun. In some paintings, they connect like kindred spirits, while dissonance rings through others. With cream, violet, and rose tones, Xertu captures a feeling of tension that is both tender and arresting.
When: Until November 21, 2026
Where: Unit 9D, E Tat Factory Building, 4 Heung Yip Road, Wong Chuk Hang
Housekeeping, Cheng Lan’s Corner
As a continuation of the first chapter, Home, A Fire, Housekeeping looks beyond the domestic environment and extends into a wider investigation of how art-making is rooted in notions of home and belonging for artists across backgrounds and generations. The exhibition is an amalgamation of loaned works and pieces from the Foundation’s collection, including installation, photography, and sculpture by five female-identifying artists. Notably, Shanghai-based artist Xue Ying (b. 1993) created artworks specifically for this exhibition by using found objects, detritus, and natural elements to allude to complicated family dynamics. Pairing newly-constructed works by contemporary artists and those by pioneering artists of the 20th century makes for a thought-provoking dialogue on the themes and attitudes that have persisted or changed.
When: Until November 28, 2026
Where: 3 Prince’s Terrace, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong Island
Myths and Monsters: The Art of Fantasy in Asia, M+
The focus is on ‘fantasy’ at this special exhibition by Asia’s global museum of contemporary art. Spanning the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries, Myths and Monsters: The Art of Fantasy in Asia surveys how artists navigate the world and times they live in through a fantastical lens. The show spans Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock prints to Tibetan scrolls, unfolding across four chapters that end on anime aesthetics in art, design, architecture, film, fashion, video games, and digital culture.
When: October 17, 2026 – April 4, 2027
Where: 7/F Pedder Building, 12 Pedder Street, Central
Kim Lim: Source, Axel Vervoordt
Late Singaporean-British artist Kim Lim (1936-1997) explored nature and natural forces through printmaking and sculpture. A graduate of St. Martin’s School of Fine Art and the Slade, Lim was inspired by Brancusi and Giacometti for their natural and architectural forms, as well as by her travels across Asia, North Africa, and Europe. As noted in the curatorial note, Lim was “highly attuned” to the “densities, textures and internal rhythms” of her chosen materials. The exhibition considers Lim’s works in relation to ancient Chinese cosmological and philosophical understandings such as wuxing (five elements)—wood, fire, earth, metal and water—and qi (breath). In contemplating how the materials responded to her hands—and the dialogue that took form- a world of generative fluidity comes into focus. The curatorial note continues, “Her works ask us to look slowly, to listen carefully and to contemplate the possibility that even the most enduring forms are never entirely still—or entirely what they seem.”
When: Until January 30, 2027
Where: 21/F, Coda Designer Centre, 62 Wong Chuk Hang Rd, Wong Chuk Hang
Soh Souen: My tender passion, tender patience, WKM Gallery
In his first solo exhibition, Japanese artist Soh Souen (b. 1995) dives into the softest part of humanity—exploring its crevices and crannies, and finding its warmth. The pastel series Again and Again are close-up snapshots of different figures—an exposed collarbone and neck that strains with tension, heavy eyelids shielding a tired expression, and the lace trim of a pink skirt grazing the upper thigh. Eggsercise is one of the artist’s principal performance works, where the artist holds a raw egg between their body and another person’s, or between their body and an object in the environment. The rule is to move continuously without allowing the egg, a symbol of life, to fall, and they continue for hours.
When: Until October 31, 2026
Where: 20/F, Coda Designer Centre, 62 Wong Chuk Hang Rd, Wong Chuk Hang
JAMSTYLE JARO solo exhibition, Touch Gallery
Japanese contemporary pop artist JAMSTYLE JARO returns to Hong Kong with his unmistakable figures. Marked by their large eyes, the children he paints started as popular LINE stickers, later taking off as paintings of individual characters that brim with personality. They inhabit simple colourfields, but their uniqueness shines through quirky outfits and city-specific actions, like slurping wonton noodles and sipping a packet of lemon tea.
When: Until October 31, 2026
Where: Shop 202 and 204, 2/F, Block 3, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central
WITHIN, Upper House
As part of their Art Encounters programme, Upper House partnered with internationally renowned creative studio ONE HUNDRED to create the interactive theatre experience titled WITHIN. Conceived by the visionaries behind immersive theatre company Punchdrunk’s acclaimed Sleep No More, the theatre experience unfolds across Upper House locations in Hong Kong, Chengdu, and Shanghai. Each production tailored to the hotel’s architecture and turning the environment into the stage. The Hong Kong experience, titled The Dreamer, calls to mind Christopher Nolan’s thriller Inception, with unexpected twists that highlight the hotel’s interiors and intimate interactions with performers that lead you to imagine an otherworldly dreamscape.
When: October 9-11, 2026
Where: Upper House, 88 Queensway, Admiralty
Editor
Karrie LamCredit
Lead image: Fahrenheit by Luis Xertu (2026)
