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From a giant rubber duck and Kaws’ Companion to 1,600 papier mache pandas: this man knows what Hong Kong people like

  • Lam Shu-kam brought Florentijn Hofman’s giant rubber duck to the city, as well as Kaws’ Companion and Paulo Grangeon’s 1,600 pandas
  • The founder of design studio AllRightsReserved, Lam has more recently turned to Japanese artists and is currently presenting illustrator Yu Nagaba

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Lam Shu-kam, founder of design studio AllRightsReserved, at an exhibition he curated of Japanese artist Verdy’s works in Hong Kong’s Central business district. Photo: Tory Ho
Bernice Chanin Vancouver

Lam Shu-kam has a knack of knowing what Hong Kong people like.

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In 2013 he brought Florentijn Hofman’s giant yellow rubber duck to the city and the float became an instant Instagram hit. Earlier this year, he did it again with the 37-metre-long (121-foot) inflatable Companion, a character created by popular US contemporary artist Kaws, which became a selfie favourite during Art Basel week in March.
In between he also engineered the appearance of a 1,600-strong army of papier mache pandas at the PMQ arts and design site in 2014, and a huge installation of 25,000 LED-lit white roses at Tamar Park for Valentine’s Day in 2016.

Last month the 46-year-old founder of design studio AllRightsReserved brought Japanese artist Verdy, creator of a long-eared panda character named Vick, to Hong Kong for an exhibition, and now he is presenting illustrator Yu Nagaba, also from Japan, whose “I’m Your Venus” exhibition is a hip and contemporary take on the ancient Roman goddess of love. The show is being held in a small exhibition space on Old Bailey Street in Hong Kong’s Central business district and will run until December 16.

Lam at the “Meet Vick” exhibition of Japanese artist Verdy’s works in Hong Kong. Photo Tory Ho
Lam at the “Meet Vick” exhibition of Japanese artist Verdy’s works in Hong Kong. Photo Tory Ho
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“Hong Kong is such an amazing city, but it’s also such a boring [place] for creativity … we cannot [just] have fireworks five or six times a year, we need something fresh,” Lam says. “At least we give a try and make something new, that’s all. That’s my bottom line.”

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