O.cult Mag

18/05/2026

Before setting off on an Asia tour, Janice tells us how fried chicken has long been both a blessing and a curse, but it's now the greasy, crispy glue that helps keep the band together

14/05/2026

The Asian Avant-Garde Film Festival is not your standard trip to the cinema - itʼs a three-day exploration of the regionʼs most restless experimental and independent artists working in moving image. M+, WestK is bringing the festival back for its third edition from May 29-31, taking over the M+ Moving Image Centre with an eye-popping lineup of experimental shorts and live performances

The region’s premier showcase of experimental cinema returning to M+ in Hong Kong for an unfiltered weekend of restless indie film, VR and live performances

14/04/2026

From his famous studio in Wan Chai district, Swallow spent 35 years inking thousands of clients with bold designs that combined the thick outlines and vibrant primary colours typical of mid-20th-century Western tattooing with Eastern influences up until his death in 1999.

To mark World Tattoo Day, we look back at the life of a forgotten icon of the golden age of tattooing in Hong Kong

24/03/2026

Art Week in Hong Kong comes to an explosive close this Sunday with OPEN by HE.R, a historic takeover of one of Central district’s most iconic streets for an open-air electronic music, culture and arts festival that bridges the gap between high art and the dance floor
r re-writes the rules for what kind of outdoor events are possible in Central and is presented by the HE.R team of founder Cocoa Zhou and music director Alex N**e - who launched their intimate, by-invitation HE.R .r_asia club night at Mott 32 last May - along with venue partner Hongkong Land .land. Surrounded by some of the city’s most recognisable buildings, the seven-hour festival on Chater Road presents a curated selection of international and local DJs, high-end F&B and the chance to be a part of history

OPEN by HE.R, Mar 29, 3pm-10pm, Chater Road. Tickets via the link in the .r bio

23/03/2026

The distinguished gentleman staring back at you from this portrait may not look like it, but Lai Shue-keung is one of the most important and influential tattoo artists to have emerged from Hong Kong

Better known as Swallow, this master of the Hong Kong Traditional tattoo style started out in the 1950s as an apprentice at the famed Rose Tattoo alongside fellow Hong Kong tattoo legends Pinky Yun and Ricky Lo. From his famous studio in Wan Chai district, Swallow spent 35 years inking thousands of clients with bold designs that combined the thick outlines and vibrant primary colours typical of mid-20th-century Western tattooing with Eastern influences up until his death in 1999

To mark World Tattoo Day - celebrated every year on March 21 to honour the art of tattooing - we bring you the forgotten story of Swallow

22/03/2026

O.cult’s series on the biggest articles of our first year (HBD to us BTW!) continues with a rundown of the top stories from Hong Kong - our home city that gave birth to us, nurtured us, messed with us a bit, but also infinitely inspired us

We recently shared the 15 articles that received the most attention globally during our first year, which unexpectedly gave us tens of millions of views and propelled us to 25k followers. Now, these are our biggest Hong Kong articles of the past 12 months, from indie and electronic music to photography, performing arts and a little bit of kinky stuff

Once again, the O.cult team sends out huge thanks and respect to everyone who’s contributed or supported us in our first year!

20/03/2026

O.cult was launched exactly one year ago this week with a mission of “championing the creatives and visionaries of Hong Kong and Asia”. The idea was simple: to create a modest platform to cover stuff we thought was cool, and to shine a light on artists and events that were being overlooked by local media. But our content unexpectedly started resonating with an ever-growing audience in Asia and around the world, and now here we are

As a little gift on our first birthday, we give you this rundown of the 15 O.cult articles that received the most attention during our first year in the business. Got a favourite O.cult article so far? Want to tell us what you want to see more of in our second year? Have some angry feedback about the stupid mistakes in various articles? Let us have it in the comments

The O.cult team sends out huge thanks and respect to everyone who’s contributed or supported us in our first year! And stay tuned - our list of O.cult’s biggest Hong Kong articles is up next

19/03/2026

Certainly a surprising weekend with lullabies from locally made robots

Cover photo: .s_photography
Model: .in.the.frame
Rigger: ,

18/03/2026

Howie B didn’t just witness the birth of trip-hop in the 1990s - he helped engineer the very blueprints that defined the era’s atmosphere. This restless polymath famously transitioned from the precision of Hans Zimmer’s studio to the heart of a British cultural explosion. His signature low-end magic became part of the decade’s musical DNA, most notably through his early work with Massive Attack and his atmospheric contributions to Björk’s Post and Homogenic albums. He even steered the stadium-sized experimentalism of U2 during their Pop era, proving his reach extended far beyond the underground

After a reflective seven-year chapter on an island off the French coast, the veteran producer has returned to his London roots with a singular philosophy of “surrender”. His current work remains as border-defying as ever, bridging the gap between Western electronic innovation and his extensive film score collaborations in China. His two upcoming gigs at Salon 10 in Hong Kong mark a homecoming of sorts for the artist whose influence stretches from basements in Bristol to the heights of global cinema in China and beyond. O.cult spoke to Howie B .howie before he set off to Asia on his latest journey of sonic storytelling

Howie B, live set, Mar 27, 10pm; DJ set, Mar 28, 10pm, Salon 10, Central, Hong Kong

With support from Mr. Sit and K-MELO , Mar 27; and Paul Bph , Mar 28

17/03/2026

It’s Art Month in Hong Kong - that time of the year when the global 1% descends on the city to attend high-end art “trade shows”, stroke their chins while looking at blank walls and drop thousands of dollars on bottles at upscale nightclubs while awkwardly dancing to Afrohouse

If you don’t feel like spending hundreds of dollars on tickets to these international arts events that parachute into our city and suck up all the oxygen (and the money), then O.cult’s guide to alternative arts events taking place throughout the month could just be the centrepiece of your collection

Cover image: KAI