Arty Hour@HKAAA (Dec 2014) - Performances in Community Spaces (Centre St, Sai Ying Pun x Lucky Dragon Restaurant, Shek Kip Mei)

Let’s Arty Hour!

‘Arty Hour@HKAAA’ is an arts and cultural salon held every three months by the Hong Kong Arts Administrators Association. The regular gathering will serve as an open platform for everyone in the arts scene to update each other on new happenings, exchange ideas and to facilitate arts and cultural development in the long run. ‘Arty Hour@HKAAA’ will feature a specific topic of discussion in response to the recent happenings and developments of the arts scene. We embrace an open forum with free discussions. Special guests will be invited to share their views and experience based on the topic. The first ‘Arty Hour@HKAAA’ will be held in December 2014.

The topic of the first ‘Arty Hour@HKAAA’ is “Performances in Community Spaces”. Various outdoor performances were held in November, including Freespace Fest 2014, Clockenflap Music and Arts Festival, i-Dance Festival and Adoring Arts - Wandering in the World of Hong Kong Literature, etc. What are the characteristics of performances held in different spaces? And how can urban spaces be used for arts groups to extend arts participation and reach residents of remote districts?

Centre St, Sai Ying Pun x Lucky Dragon Restaurant, Shek Kip Mei

We are glad to have Ms Lucy Lu, Director of Kwang Hwa Information and Culture Centre and Mr Ong Yong Lock, Artistic Director of Unlock Dancing Plaza, to be our special guests. They are going to share with us experience of holding performances outdoor and in a tea dance Chinese restaurant in old communities.

With the theme ‘Old Town Revival’ as one of the key programmes in Taiwan Culture Festival 2014, Ms Lu and her team brought numerous outdoor performances to local communities such as Sai Ying Pun and Lei Yue Mun. Her team has also made a video on Sai Ying Pun, in which local and Taiwanese artists sing to celebrate history and memory, paying tribute to one of the oldest communities in Hong Kong.

Themed “City and Body—Reconstruction”, Unlock Dancing Plaza held dancing performances at Lucky Dragon Restaurant in Shek Kip Mei, a classic venue where people go for traditional tea dance. Experiencing the tea dance culture of the 60s and 70s, young dancers mixed traditional tea dance with modern dance as they performed with the aid of installations and video recordings, delivering a crossover of the new and the old. The young get the opportunity of revisiting lifestyle of the elder generation.

‘Arty Hour@HKAAA’ is a causal occasion for thoughts to collide and wild ideas to flow. We would like to invite all fellow arts practitioners and anyone with an interest in arts & culture to join the gathering.

Come, share your views, and experience with us!

Date: December 19, 2014 (Friday)

Time: 1800 – 1930

Venue: Boom (G/F, 48 Sai Street SOHO, Sheung Wan—Note: next to Sin Sin Fine Art Gallery)