Before the Screen, Behind the Curtains: Ye Si and Postcolonial Culture. A Conversation about Roasted Chestnuts in Zurich and beyond

Free ticket register available on art-mate website:

“All I bought was a bag of roast chestnuts from a stand / the crisp shells and sweet kernels are like the local scenery of my hometown”  (“Roast Chestnuts in Zurich”)—Leung Ping-kwan (Ye Si) magically connects Zurich and Hong Kong through roast chestnuts that can be found in both cities. Being a renowned writer and scholar in Hong Kong, and a recipient of the Honorary Doctoral Degree conferred by the University of Zurich, Leung Ping-kwan himself is certainly an exemplar of how Hong Kong and Zurich cross path with one another, culturally and intellectually. Leung’s creative works thereby serve as an entry point to explore how Hong Kong literature and culture are perceived, and interpreted in various local and global contexts.   

Following an introduction by Ben Wong who directed Boundary, a documentary on Leung Ping-kwan which was partly filmed in Zurich and Switzerland, guest speakers from Zurich and Hong Kong will give insights on the poet’s relation to the two cities.

Guest Speakers:

• Prof. Chu Yiu-wai, Stephen (University of Hong Kong)

• Prof. Andrea Riemenschnitter (University of Zurich)

• Dr. Wong King-fai, Ben (Director of Boundary)

• Prof. Wong Shuk-han, Mary (Lingnan University)

This event is part of “Zürich meets Hong Kong. A Festival of Two Cities (www.zurichmeetshongkong.org)