Today marked the fourth and final day of POW WOW Hawai’i. Originally conceived and launched in part by Jasper Wong approximately one year ago in Hong Kong, the event made its second stop in Wong’s native Hawai’i. The event’s basis is to highlight the actual process behind creating art rather than only focusing on the final product. Having said that, over the last few days, the event which took place at Loft in Space was created with an open studio concept in mind. People were allowed to come off the street and watch artists work in a natural and organic environment.

The event incuded a mix of both local and international artists such as Meggs (Australia), Will Barras (England), Aaron De La Cruz (USA), 123klan (Canada), Jeff Hamada (Canada), Yue Wu (France), Suitman (USA/Hong Kong) and local Hawaiian personalities including Jasper Wong, Prime, Kamea Hadar and Ekundayo.

Photography: Hypebeast

Whenever a conversation with any out-of-town personality turns towards Hong Kong’s local creative community, I can’t help but have an air of pessimism towards the local cultural landscape. In a city driven by material wealth and rapid turn-over, it’s a theme that permeates all aspects of the city. The commercial aspect of everything and the inability to take a risk results in a narrow-sighted view that often forgoes the long-term. How and why is one I can’t really point my finger on. In some regards, the way Hong Kong is set-up with its exorbitant rent perhaps requires those to really exercise caution in taking risks, or perhaps another aspect is the inherent Chinese culture of trying to maximize gains in the smallest amount of time. Regardless, what is not important now are the developments (or lack thereforof) regarding the past.

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a series of events thrown by a handful of close friends which operated under the moniker of POW WOW. The pretense was simple and to the point, bring together a series of global artists in one place, in hopes of building, growing and nurturing Hong Kong’s local creative scene. Away from the dollar signs and brand names that proliferate Hong Kong on so many levels was a genuine initiative to unite the community. With a two-day event including two art shows and a DJ session from VERBAL and YOON of AMBUSH, we spoke with some of the artists involved, including Jasper Wong (USA), Yue Wu (France), Will Barras (UK) and Pat Lee (Canada), over a short discussion.

Interview: Eugene Kan
Photography: Cavan Mok
Models: Ajing & Karen Wong, Musee Wu, Avery Yoo

To cap off the artistic side of things, the second day of the Hong Kong event POW WOW last week involved a gallery showing at GARAGEWORKS. A stone’s throw away from the Above Second gallery, the show included the likes of Britain’s Will Barras, Canadian illustrator Pat Lee and Singpore’s Jahan Lohh. The show was capped off by a live performance with the roster of aforementioned artists as well as YUE Wu and The Pink Amigo who had opened their show the night before. An after-party later took place at VOLAR which featured VERBAL and YOON of AMBUSH as the DJs of the evening.