Tech and art festival unfolded in Huaqiangbei

As usual, Huaqiangbei on Friday night, Nov. 8, was full of businessmen and tourists from different corners of the country and even of the world. At the space right next to SEG Plaza gathered a large crowd of all ages who were attracted by a performance at the opening ceremony of the second Huaqiangbei Tech and Art Festival.

At the ceremony there unfolded a series of performances including dances by a youth dance group, a performance based on the combination of audio and visual arts, and more surprisingly, a five-member folk-rock band who sang in the Minnan dialect, which attracted wide attention from the crowd as the melting pot of Shenzhen is also home to many who speak the dialect.

The tech and art festival this year utilizes the small streets and alleys amid high-rise buildings as stages for art performances, turning the most mundane of public spaces into a platform for tech and art and strengthening the bonds between communities.

Scenes in the opening ceremony. Photos from Nanfangplus.

The festival will run till the end of November, presenting a string of performances marrying technology with art, including new media art, music bands, skateboarding, parkour, hip hop shows and street art displays.

Six music bands brought a two-day music performance to the public on Nov. 9 and 10 in Huaqiangbei, including Feishiqi, which focuses on British rock and European and American pop; Walnut, which is skilled at jazz, percussion music and pop music; Green Cave, whose songs reflect the growth experiences of one generation and real-life passion; Renyimen, which stresses rhythm and diversity; Kakaku, which plays pop music, rock and roll and jazz and Cucao, which consists of members from the Chinese mainland and China’s Hong Kong.

For street art performance on Nov. 16 and 17, the public will encounter a living sculpture performed by Johnman from Germany, “Space Girl” by Signe Marie from Denmark, street theater by Goma from Argentina (who becomes well-known thanks to his hilarious comedy improvisations, original material and a remarkable persistence), “Cloud Umbrella” performed by Marisa and Vitor, two artists from Portugal, and a special chocolate cream-covered act by Helena Reis, also from Portugal.

Chen Rui and his partners will perform on a handpan instrument at the closing cermony Nov. 30. Photo courtesy of the organizing committee of the Huaqiangbei Tech and Art Festival.

The closing ceremony performance will be held in Huaqiangbei on the afternoon of Nov. 30. Chen Rui (Ray) and his partners will perform on a handpan-type instrument. Handpans are a group of musical instruments that are classified as a subset of the steelpan. The handpan’s basic form consists of two metal half-shells glued together, which have a center tone field surrounded by a circle of at least seven tone fields on the upper shell and an opening in the bottom shell.

The festival is co-organized by the Futian District Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau, Futian District Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Futian District Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism and Sports Bureau, and Huaqiangbei Subdistrict Office.