Win a 7-Piece Miro Set Worth a Packet

CKI, the fine art investment specialists are giving away a 7-piece Miro suite worth HK$34,000. One lucky NecesCity reader is going to win - why can't it be you? Imagine: you've just come back from a tough day crunching spreadsheets and you see those seven lithographs on the wall staring back at you. Might even require a new wall.

Pop Art Maestro's Exhibition Drawing to a Close

Warhol is a big name. Even your average football hooligan is probably au fait with some of his work, and this weekend is the last chance to see the artist's biggest ever exhibition in Asia. Plus it's nature's antidote to the Sevens. The show is being held in the Hong Kong Museum of Art and comprises over 450 pieces by the pop art maestro. Put it in the calendar today because, however much you like to be spontaneous, culture normally requires some lead time. If you don't prep, you'll probably spend the weekend travelling from SoHo to the SoFa.

Never Seen Before Picasso Show

Collins & Kent International (CKI) is hosting a VIP Picasso exhibition of rare 'Works on Paper' featuring several pieces never exhibited before. The show includes a gallery tour with CKI's Art Director for Asia Pacific, Michael Donnan, who'll explain how you can put together a valuable art collection for less than HK$300,000. If you don't think your lady will accept another set of car keys for your next birthday, surely she can't veto a Picasso?

Win Picasso Etchings & Buy Affordable Masters

Collins & Kent International, the fine art investment specialist, has arrived in HK and they're offering one in five NecesCity readers a Picasso etching. With CKI in town you can start collecting works by the Spanish maestro and other Masters for the most competitive prices in the world today. Take Picasso's "Apples, glass and knife" for instance. One of a series of 50, the signed, original lithograph can be yours for just HK$40,000 - significantly better value than the ubiquitous photos of old Hong Kong that decorate homes throughout the city.

Showcase: Eternal Realm of China’s First Emperor

The world renowned Terracotta Army has arrived in Hong Kong, albeit a small selection rather than the whole. In town until November 26, the archaeological gems are mesmerising, partly because the first Emperor (who commissioned them) was such a nutter. A case in point, many of the 700,000 people who built his tomb were locked into the mausoleum upon his death to spend eternity with his fake army. It can’t have been the end of project bonus they were expecting.

Print Your Memories onto Canvas

RobotPrintr is a Hong Kong company that prints your digital photos onto canvas and we’ve got a few to give away. You’ve probably come across similar businesses before but this one’s based in our city, plus we’re a fan of the wider concept. The fact is we take more photos than ever before but unless you enjoy slideshows or celebrating how great your life is on Facebook, there’s no way to share them. And think of poor old Kodak.

French Graffuturism Artist at The Space

Tonight The Space will unveil a solo exhibition by French artist Benoit Ollive, a talented 24-year-old who mixes contemporary graffiti with architecture into a genre called ‘Graffuturism’. We wonder how the French translate that term, a nation so proud they have an official government body to create new words to retain their language’s integrity. Although they still got stumped by the Big Mac didn't they. That’s just called ‘Le Big Mac’.

1931 Mongkok Gem Opens for Chinese Medicine

One of Hong Kong’s finest historical buildings, Mongkok’s Lui Seng Chun, has been given a HK$28M makeover and is now offering traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Built in 1931, the ground floor of the 4-storey tong-lau (or shophouse) was originally occupied by a Chinese bone-setting shop named ‘Lui Seng Chun’, while the upper floors were lived in by the Lui family who built it. It must have been great for the parents to threaten a trip downstairs if the children misbehaved. “To the bone-setter…”

HK's Biggest Art Event Returns

ART HK takes place from May 17 - 22 and is one of the must-see events of the year. What’s great about the show is that because there’s a mountain of work on display, you’ll enjoy it whatever your taste. To be precise, 266 galleries will represent 38 countries at the 2012 edition which is a bit like walking into Toys”R”Us as a toddler. You can’t conceive of so many toys in one room.

DJ's Music Going Online

John Peel, the iconic British DJ who held a show on BBC’s Radio 1 for nearly 40 years, amassed a record collection of world renown, and now a selection of it is going online. When Peel died in 2004 his musical treasure trove stood at 25,000 LPs and 40,000 singles. Blessedly, each week from now until October, 100 albums will be released on The Space in alphabetical order, starting with Mike Absalom. Bummer if you’re a Led Zeppelin fan.

Former Porn Venue to Host Cantonese Opera

Hong Kong’s seedier past is largely brushed over by its synthetic skyscrapers so we’re delighted to reveal the Yau Ma Tei theatre has re-opened for Cantonese Opera. What’s particularly special about the re-furb is that it was formerly a porn theatre, one of the funnier sides of adult entertainment. The thought of a very public theatre showing very private business, while the patrons get up to god knows what (sitting next to each other) is surreal comedy at its best. Can you imagine being one of the cleaners?

Classic Photos from Famous Archive

The Picture This Gallery has just unveiled a collection of photos from the Getty Images/Hulton Archive featuring celebrity, cultural landmarks and classic sporting moments. They're all instantly accessible, but perhaps even more importantly, they’re also the type of casual pieces you can have on your walls; in stark contrast to the luminous pink, pop-art Chinese faces grinning maniacally from nearly ever gallery on Hollywood Rd.

Photographer's Debut Solo Exhibit

Annie Leibovitz's debut solo show in Hong Kong will be held at the Sundaram Tagore Gallery on Hollywood Road. Taking place from May 10 - June 17, the exhibition will explore the theme of power in public and private spheres. Having said that, all we really want to know is how one of the most famous photographers of her generation, the last to shoot John Lennon (pun intended), could have got into such financial difficulty that she had to pawn away her image rights a couple of years ago?

Walk through World’s Finest Art Galleries

Google has taken its Street View concept and transferred it to some of the greatest galleries in the world. The Google Chrome extension, Art Project, lets you walk through the likes of the Met in New York, the Uffizi in Florence and the Tate Britain in London without leaving the comfort of your sofa. For art lovers it's an incredible collaboration. For private gallery owners trying to make end's meet - not so much.

Sam Gellman is a travel photographer based in Hong Kong whose work has been published by the BBC, The Huffington Post and Wired to name a few. He’s taken some spectacular shots of the city and he's got some sage advice about how to get the best out of your camera in Hong Kong and abroad.

Musicians for HK Events, Studio Time, Lessons & Management

RISE Entertainment is a Hong Kong company that can organise musical accompaniment for pretty much any event. What makes the service special is that they approach the business from the point of view of the artist. It was set up by musicians and is run by them to help their fellow peers. You can imagine they throw a great Christmas party but are stumped by a balance sheet.

Coolest Exhibition in Hong Kong

Dialogue in the Dark is an extraordinary multi-sensory exhibition in Mei Foo, set in pitch darkness. You can’t see a thing so you’re lead around by a visually-impaired guide, an interesting role reversal designed to help raise awareness for the blind. It’s rare we’re taken so far out of our comfort zone – think of the first time you had to fight Bowser on Super Mario – and it has a very profound effect.

Best of the 40th Edition

The 40th Hong Kong Arts Festival is up and running and there are a few highlights worth seeing. In fact, picking the right show is essential because there’ll be 166 performances on 17 stages and there are few things more embarrassing than getting up from the front row to head for the exits. It’s the adult equivalent of wetting yourself in school assembly. Everyone sees. Everyone disapproves. And most of the time you just stay where you are.

Most films never make it to Hong Kong so we’ve compiled a list of the best we’ve missed over the last 12 months to watch over Chinese New Year.

We love kung fu films and the man who's trained most of Hollywood’s stars is Hong Kong legend, Yuen Wo-Ping. One of the most influential filmmakers in history, he’s directed or choreographed nearly every major kung fu scene in the past 30 years, including THAT scene in The Matrix.

We’d like to thank you for supporting NecesCity this year so here’s a rundown of our best stories from the last 12 months

Rare Second Hand Book Shop in HK

Second hand book shops are in short supply in Hong Kong but we've found one on Elgin Street called The Book Attic. A charming little place, the store is particularly valuable because book prices are so offensively high in Hong Kong. If you fancy taking Richard Branson's autobiography on holiday (you won't have to speak to your girlfriend the entire trip) a visit to Dymocks will cost about the same as 10 wonton mei. Or a bowl of olives in Sevva.

HK's Top Design Event Kicks Off

Detour 2011, Hong Kong’s biggest design festival, is up and running until December 11. The theme is ‘Use-Less’ – a combination of less is more and putting to good use items consigned to the scrap heap. While they were at it they should have added the customer service at PCCW. They are truly useless.

Learn from 3-Time Emmy Winner

We’re privileged to tell you about a unique opportunity to learn aerial cinematography with Helicopters HK and three time Emmy award winner, Steve Howell. He’s the man behind film stealing scenes in XXX and Terminator so you’re working with a pro. And someone who likes to blow stuff up - a lot of stuff.

Top Speakers in Town

TEDx, an independently organised TED event, will 'premiere' in Hong Kong on December 2. If you’ve ever walked into a library, seen the shelves of books and thought how wonderful it would be to have all that knowledge at your finger tips, this is the event for you. It’s cheaper than going to an online college and frankly a lot cooler.

World's Best Commercials in HK

Art of Commercials, a celebration of great TV advertising from around the world, will mark its 21st birthday at the Hong Kong Arts Centre at the end of the month. Everyone loves a good advert. In fact we often remember the best (and worst) adverts better than our favourite films. Whether the Carlsberg classics or Honda’s precision, they sear themselves into our brains. It’s enough to make you wonder whether there’s any subliminal foul play going on.

HK Forgets Itself for the Weekend

Clockenflap, Hong Kong’s only genuine music festival, returns in December with a two-day programme spanning five stages and over 20,000 people expected to attend. Unsurprisingly they haven’t managed to squeeze it onto the Island  (it’s taking place in the West Kowloon Cultural District) so most of you will enjoy a very raucous eight minute journey on the Star Ferry as well as a humdinger of an event.

Everybody’s Favourites on the Roof

Next Wednesday the Fringe Club will show 11 short films on its rooftop. Talk about cinema at its artistic best. Not only will you not have to sit through the usual Hollywood rubbish, Michael Bay essentially blowing up everything in sight for 117 minutes - you’ll also get to watch the shorts on a rooftop. And that’s romance.