Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Kan’s uncle Kan May Tin was a renowned watercolour painter. He offered a watercolour painting class every weekend, and admitted Kan free of charge. Kan started with the basics at the beginning - drawings, pastels, watercolours, etc. Two years later, Kan thought that he should not be confined to one teacher, and felt that the greatest figures such as Beethoven not only inherited from past masters but also had innovative styles. While exploring the new artistic genres, Kan pondered over the great Picasso and then decided that he would learn more from a wider horizon of artists. When the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association established the Circle Art Group, which advocated the separation of literature and arts, Kan had participated in several modern arts exhibitions and international painting salons. He was particularly fond of the works by Cheung Yee, Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, Van Lau, etc. After knowing that Wucius Wong was teaching courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University, Kan enrolled in the courses including basic design and colour science. Kan knew nothing about design at that time. He was devoted to learning the aesthetic theories and the foundational knowledge of arts. And when he studied the history of modern design, Bauhaus and its theory afterward, he stopped looking down on commercial arts but grew stronger interest in it.Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Date | 1960s-1970s |
| People | Kan Tai Keung |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Festival of Hong Kong |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year.-
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
-
Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Kan’s uncle Kan May Tin was a renowned watercolour painter. He offered a watercolour painting class every weekend, and admitted Kan free of charge. Kan started with the basics at the beginning - drawings, pastels, watercolours, etc. Two years later, Kan thought that he should not be confined to one teacher, and felt that the greatest figures such as Beethoven not only inherited from past masters but also had innovative styles. While exploring the new artistic genres, Kan pondered over the great Picasso and then decided that he would learn more from a wider horizon of artists. When the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association established the Circle Art Group, which advocated the separation of literature and arts, Kan had participated in several modern arts exhibitions and international painting salons. He was particularly fond of the works by Cheung Yee, Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, Van Lau, etc. After knowing that Wucius Wong was teaching courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University, Kan enrolled in the courses including basic design and colour science. Kan knew nothing about design at that time. He was devoted to learning the aesthetic theories and the foundational knowledge of arts. And when he studied the history of modern design, Bauhaus and its theory afterward, he stopped looking down on commercial arts but grew stronger interest in it.Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Date | 1960s-1970s |
| Duration | 6m50s |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Language / Dialect | Cantonese |
| People | Kan Tai Keung |
| Collection | Festival of Hong Kong |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
-
Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year. -
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
-
Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Kan’s uncle Kan May Tin was a renowned watercolour painter. He offered a watercolour painting class every weekend, and admitted Kan free of charge. Kan started with the basics at the beginning - drawings, pastels, watercolours, etc. Two years later, Kan thought that he should not be confined to one teacher, and felt that the greatest figures such as Beethoven not only inherited from past masters but also had innovative styles. While exploring the new artistic genres, Kan pondered over the great Picasso and then decided that he would learn more from a wider horizon of artists. When the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association established the Circle Art Group, which advocated the separation of literature and arts, Kan had participated in several modern arts exhibitions and international painting salons. He was particularly fond of the works by Cheung Yee, Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, Van Lau, etc. After knowing that Wucius Wong was teaching courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University, Kan enrolled in the courses including basic design and colour science. Kan knew nothing about design at that time. He was devoted to learning the aesthetic theories and the foundational knowledge of arts. And when he studied the history of modern design, Bauhaus and its theory afterward, he stopped looking down on commercial arts but grew stronger interest in it.Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Duration | 6m50s |
| Language / Dialect | Cantonese |
| Date | 1960s-1970s |
| People | Kan Tai Keung |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Festival of Hong Kong |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
-
Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year. -
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
-
Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Duration | 6m50s | |
| Interview Date | Date | 1960s-1970s |
| People | Kan Tai Keung | |
| Material Type | Audio | |
| Collection | Festival of Hong Kong | |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview | |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project | |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung | |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
-
Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year. -
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
-
Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Kan’s uncle Kan May Tin was a renowned watercolour painter. He offered a watercolour painting class every weekend, and admitted Kan free of charge. Kan started with the basics at the beginning - drawings, pastels, watercolours, etc. Two years later, Kan thought that he should not be confined to one teacher, and felt that the greatest figures such as Beethoven not only inherited from past masters but also had innovative styles. While exploring the new artistic genres, Kan pondered over the great Picasso and then decided that he would learn more from a wider horizon of artists. When the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association established the Circle Art Group, which advocated the separation of literature and arts, Kan had participated in several modern arts exhibitions and international painting salons. He was particularly fond of the works by Cheung Yee, Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, Van Lau, etc. After knowing that Wucius Wong was teaching courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University, Kan enrolled in the courses including basic design and colour science. Kan knew nothing about design at that time. He was devoted to learning the aesthetic theories and the foundational knowledge of arts. And when he studied the history of modern design, Bauhaus and its theory afterward, he stopped looking down on commercial arts but grew stronger interest in it.Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Interviewee | Kan Tai Keung |
| Date | 1960s-1970s |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Material Type | Audio |
| Collection | Festival of Hong Kong |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
-
Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year. -
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
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Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
Took design courses; found interest in commercial art
Kan’s uncle Kan May Tin was a renowned watercolour painter. He offered a watercolour painting class every weekend, and admitted Kan free of charge. Kan started with the basics at the beginning - drawings, pastels, watercolours, etc. Two years later, Kan thought that he should not be confined to one teacher, and felt that the greatest figures such as Beethoven not only inherited from past masters but also had innovative styles. While exploring the new artistic genres, Kan pondered over the great Picasso and then decided that he would learn more from a wider horizon of artists. When the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association established the Circle Art Group, which advocated the separation of literature and arts, Kan had participated in several modern arts exhibitions and international painting salons. He was particularly fond of the works by Cheung Yee, Hon Chi Fun, Wucius Wong, Van Lau, etc. After knowing that Wucius Wong was teaching courses offered by the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University, Kan enrolled in the courses including basic design and colour science. Kan knew nothing about design at that time. He was devoted to learning the aesthetic theories and the foundational knowledge of arts. And when he studied the history of modern design, Bauhaus and its theory afterward, he stopped looking down on commercial arts but grew stronger interest in it.Through the referral of his classmate at Wucius Wong, Kan joined Tamaya Department Store as a designer. He resigned from his tailor position, which he had done for 10 years. By then he was 25 years of age. Kan made this job transfer simply out of interest, rather than using job transfer as a way to improve career prospect. Kan signed up for a 2-year diploma course launched by Wucius Wong from the Department of Extramural Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One of the admission requirements was that the student should have some job experience in design, which Kan did not meet. But as he was a student in Wong’s course and had good results, the department exceptionally admitted Kan and other students who had good performance in the extramural classes but marginally fit with the entrance requirements. Although these students were able to obtain satisfactory results, they were not issued any certificates at graduation because they did not meet the admission requirements in the first place. Kan still felt indignant about this. Fortunately, he got acquainted with several good teachers in the course, including Chung Pui Ching, who had studied in Germany. Kan was invited by Chung to join Graphic Atelier.
Kan Tai Keung recalled working at Tamaya Department Store. The boss let his designers enjoy much autonomy in artistic design. Despite the limited budgets, the four-man design team did all the work by themselves and so they could apply what they had learnt into the design projects. He was given much opportunity to try graphic design and dimensional design, through which he had greater interest in artistic design. At the same time, he always read design magazines and fashion magazines, and had paid particular attention to the trend of arts.
| Date | 1960s-1970s |
| Material Type | Audio |
| People | Kan Tai Keung |
| Source | Hong Kong Memory Project Oral History Interview |
| Repository | Hong Kong Memory Project |
| Note to Copyright | Permission for use is given by Kan Tai Keung |
| Accession No. | TW-KTK-LIFE-004 |
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Background in the Mainland; Migration to Hong Kong
Kan Tai Keung was born in San Shan Village in Panyu. He lived with his grandparents, wife of father’s brother, mother and younger brother while his father worked in a tailor shop in Guangzhou. Kan’s grandfather was a craftsman specializing in lime plaster craftsmanship. He made embossment-type or stereo statues, and did some garden design and mural creations. In his retirement, he sold foreign groceries for a living. As pastimes, he did painting, seal craving and so on. Kan found that influenced by his grandfather, he loved arts since childhood. Kan often imitated the pictures from one of his grandfather’s collections, the “Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden”, and fell in love with drawing. Kan grew up with his younger brother. They studied and practised painting together at San Shan Primary School. Yet, Kan regarded himself academically less capable than his brother.
Kan was born in 1942. During his childhood, he was educated under the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Government. In 1949, the new China was founded. He saw the changes brought about by the change in political rule and witnessed the political revolutions in the country. When he was 11, Kan went to Guangzhou to go to senior primary school and junior high school. His younger brother also went to study in Guangzhou for school the next year. Shortly, Kan’s mother migrated to Hong Kong through legal channel for the reason of reunification with Kan’s father, who was then working in Hong Kong. After Kan and his brother finished Secondary 2, they came to Hong Kong also through legal channel for the reason of paying visit to family relatives. They became new immigrants in Hong Kong that year. -
Worked as a tailor after arriving in Hong Kong; no more exposure to art
When Kan made the move from Guangzhou to Hong Kong, his father considered his academic capability (especially English proficiency) was up to the standard of other students, and therefore sent Kan to learn tailoring as an apprentice. Kan’s younger brother entered the Chinese University of Hong Kong after joining tuition classes. And then they set foot on two different paths of development. Kan learned to suit blazers during his 3 years apprenticeship. After the apprenticeship, he had worked as a tailor in Yee On Tai Tailor shop for seven years. Kan had dreamt to be a painter, as his love for arts had been influenced by his grandfather since his childhood and he did quite well in Fine Arts at school. But due to the heavy workload in the tailor shop, he had to stay at work all day and no time to pursue his interest. Fortunately, as he became more senior in the shop, he was relieved from doing chores in the shop. He could spare time for learning English but he had no time for cultural and artistic activities. Besides, Hong Kong did not have a good aura of art at that time and so it was hard to rely on artistic work for a living. As a result, Kan remained a tailor for a living.
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Admiring brother's achievement in art; decided to pursue his own dream in art
Kan loved listening to classical music for leisure and he learned musical theories and the art of appreciation for music by reading books himself. He would think about the vision of life when reading the biographies of some musicians. He also enjoyed movies and literary magazine such as the “Chinese Student Weekly”. Upon his pen pal’s introduction, he became interested in reading some avant-garde literary magazines of that time, such as New Ideology and The Cape of Good Hope published by the Modern Literature and Fine Arts Association. Through these readings, he gained much knowledge about stream-of-consciousness novels, existentialism and so on, which inspired him of thinking deeply about the value of life. Because of health problem, he saw the importance of life.
In contrast, Kan’s brother worked well at school, and graduated from university a few years later. Kan’s brother was recommended by his school to learn fine arts under the supervision of some master painters and calligraphers during the university years, and so he was able to build a solid foundation on fine arts. Later, Kan’s brother entered an open competition in arts held by Ng Yuen Gallery, and won the championship of watercolour painting. Kan envied his brother’s success in fine arts, and reckoned that he should be able to make similar achievement as what his brother did, as they had similar upbringing when they were young. In pursuit of a meaningful life, he felt he should not give up the dream that he had made since childhood, so he was determined to become an artist.
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