Inkgo Lam’s journey from apprentice to bamboo artist

Lifting the lid of a round, woven bamboo basket to release a cloud of steam, then using chopsticks to carefully pick up a plump bao or dumpling inside is a defining tableau of Hong Kong’s yum cha tradition. From teahouse fixtures to sculptural installations, the uses of bamboo can be both utilitarian and artistic, uniting craftsmanship and culture across its forms.

Inkgo Lam turns bamboo into sculptures made up of intricate patterns of looping ribbons, each laden with emotional and historical significance. The 33-year-old artist learnt her trade under Master Lui Ming, one of Hong Kong’s last traditional bamboo craftsmen. Together, the duo represent both the old and new guard, proving that bamboo creations belong not only on dining tables but on gallery walls, too.

How Lam began crafting with bamboo

Encouraged by her mother, Lam was drawn from an early age to the beauty of traditional, handmade crafts, and loved creating decorative objects with her hands. She studied art, and her early works included sculptures of seed pods and flowers, and 2D images cut from leaves. In 2020, she joined the Jockey Club ICH Innovative Heritage Education Programme – an initiative that promotes Hong Kong’s intangible cultural heritage through education, revitalisation and research – and met Master Lui, who taught her how to make bamboo steamers.

With more than seven decades in the trade, Lui, now in his 90s, still works every day. His hands remain nimble and strong, his movements are swift and his skills as sharp as ever. “Making steamers requires not just skill but practice and familiarity,” he says. Steamers were once his livelihood, and he admires how younger generations are evolving and elevating the craft into the artistic sphere. “Thanks to them improving and reimagining bamboo work, more people have come to know about it.”

Lam connected to the medium immediately: she liked that bamboo was “soft and strong, highly malleable and full of tremendous creative potential”. After completing her apprenticeship, she collaborated with Lui on the artwork A Blessing (2022), inspired by the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island. Lui crafted the base while Lam fashioned the Buddha figure, showcasing the expertise of both. “She’s very clever,” Lui says. “She used the steamer’s structure for the base, then carved the Buddha’s head, hands and feet from bamboo root. The work is distinctly Hong Kong while capturing the essence of bamboo.”

From steamers to art exhibitions

Lam’s profile is rising, with her work having been showcased at major international art exhibitions and fairs, including Art Basel Hong Kong and London Craft Week. With this recognition, bamboo transcends cheap, workaday usefulness and takes on new significance as a material to be treasured.

When designing a new piece, Lam draws inspiration from her environment as well as her heritage. “My work usually connects to a location,” she says. “This creates deeper resonance with viewers.” Take one of her favourite pieces, Sails (2023): this 2.5-metre-tall sculpture is one of three works inspired by the fishing village of Kau Sai in Sai Kung, where residents once used bamboo to make fishing tools and weave fishing nets. “Working with people from the village to develop the concept and integrating my work with the community was tremendously fulfilling,” Lam says.

Her most recent work, Arrow (2025), on display at the Hong Kong Palace Museum until November, weaves together three infinity symbols using hexagonal and chrysanthemum patterns, with a trio of bamboo arrows inserted vertically. Inspired by an earlier exhibition on bamboo arrows at the Palace Museum, Lam conceptualised the piece by reflecting on bamboo’s uses throughout history, from weapons for hunting to baskets for serving food to contemporary art.

Using her experience to educate

Lam now regularly teaches steamer-making workshops around the world. During one in London, she created a basket that paid homage to the city’s iconic Big Ben clock tower, now added to her Steamer series. Lam opens each session by using a traditional steamer to cook a cake, ensuring that participants appreciate the material’s use as both tool and ornament.

“Simply viewing or making bamboo objects doesn’t reveal bamboo’s mysteries,” Lam says. “I want people to understand what makes it unique as part of our intangible cultural heritage, and why it deserves preservation.”

Where to buy bamboo in Hong Kong

Master Lui Ming is the founder of Ming Sang Steel Bamboo Receptacle; his handmade products are available from both his factory and shop. Hak Dei stocks bamboo wares from international and local brands, while Shun Kee City Housewares offers numerous bamboo goods.

Ming Sang Steel Bamboo Receptacle

Factory: No. 2, Yee Yuen Village, Lam Tei

Shop: Shop F, G/F, 284 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei

Hak Dei

G/F, 618 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok

Shun Kee City Houseware Company

8 Yi Chun Street, Sai Kung