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Header image courtesy of Tai Kwun
Following the success of its “Vital Signs” neon
exhibition last year, Tai Kwun is once again hosting a summer show highlighting a unique facet of Hong Kong. This time, the senses have shifted from sights to sounds, as “Soundtrack of Our Lives: Joseph Koo x James Wong x the Rise of Cantopop” takes visitors on a musical journey from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
As the name suggests, the show is centred around the iconic musical partnership between composer Joseph Koo and songwriter James Wong, known for creating jingles, classic television theme songs such as “A House Is Not a Home” and “Below the Lion Rock,” but also film scores, and music hits over a three-decade-long series of collaborations. The exhibition also highlights the evolution of technology in the musical industry, from cassettes to digital.
Koo and Wong’s influence on Cantopop is immediately emphasised in the first area of the exhibition, the “Calming Room,” where the titles of the staggering 236 works the two co-created are projected on the walls. The rooms that follow feature emblematic settings of different Hong Kong eras, such as a 1970s living room, a 1980s cha chaan teng, and many more recognisable scenes, all with nostalgic melodies playing, corresponding to the decade recreated in each space.
The room “A Workplace Imagined” is especially significant, as the reimagined workspaces of Koo and Wong are combined to form a tribute to the two. It also serves as a celebration of their final collaboration on the 2003 stage musical Sweet and Sour Hong Kong.
Aside from the main exhibition, Tai Kwun will be hosting a series of extension activities to celebrate contemporary Cantopop, offering visitors a behind-the-scenes perspective of Hong Kong music production through songwriting workshops, documentaries, and conversations between modern composers. For more information, click here.
Punita is currently an English major at Durham University. As a longtime bookworm, she is passionate about all forms of storytelling. When she’s not stuck in a bookstore or cheering for a celebrity, you can always find her wandering the streets of Hong Kong on the lookout for stray cats.
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