Coming Soon...New Vision Arts Festival
21-9-12
I sat down with Esmond Chan to talk about the New Vision Arts Festival. Mr. Chan is the Senior Manager of Festivals for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. We sat down in his office and had a chat about the festival programming, how it's set up and what he's excited about for this year's festival. It was such a pleasure to talk to him. He's so nice. It wasn't like a formal interview, we even went off topic for a little bit and discussed Hong Kong arts education for a little bit. I can't recommend the festival enough as it seems it has something for everyone. There's an avant garde opera by Samuel Beckett, a B-boy group, a world premiere dance piece, Tang Shu Wing's theatre troupe and modern dance pieces included in the festival this year.
According to its website, "The Festival has developed a striking identity with its innovative, cross-cultural programming with an Asian focus over the years. It has brought to local arts lovers leading-edge, highly original programmes from all over the world, with the purpose of enriching the performing arts palette in the region." The NVAF seems to be aimed more at a younger/hipper audience than other festivals in town producing avant garde work that pushes the edge and isn't afraid to have a little bite to it. I love all things new in art, so I'm very happy that the festival is coming to town. I'll try anything once.
The world premiere work they commissioned this year was the one Mr. Chan seemed to be the most excited about. Limited States is a two part performance. Part one of the show is done in the traditional theatre and part two is taken out of theatre and performed in the foyer of the Grand Cultural Center. By taking the performance out of traditional space, they hope to break down the barrier between the audience and the artist. Part two is still in development and does not have a name at this time. Due to partial nudity in this performance I would not recommend Limited States to people wanting to find shows for children. There are a couple of options in the festival that are teen oriented, such as Fakest.
Mr. Chan also stressed the affordability of the festival. The most expensive tickets for this festival are 520HKD. There are also discounts available to students, elderly, disabled and anyone else that qualifies under the government subsidy scheme. Group bookings can be done through the website, group bookings of 20 tickets or more result in an additional 20% percent discount. There is sadly no starving artist discount, at this time. I asked.
For people who are wondering about how the selection of the pieces is done it's actually a two year process. They are now looking for the pieces for the festival in 2014. (Which totally blows my mind...) They accept submissions from local artists and go through an interview process with their board of experts before making a selection. They try to bring a variety of shows in from all across Asia to showcase as many different kinds of talent as possible. They also try to see the production before they bring it into the festival in order to make sure it's good or not. According to Mr. Chan this year's festival is "70% international artists and 30% local" but this number can fluctuate from year to year.
You can find out more information by checking out the festival website.The New Vision Arts Festival events are currently listed in our What's On section. Be a brave audience member and check out something new and cutting edge! We'll also be reviewing several of the shows at the NVAF, so please come back to the site during the runs and check 'em out!
Comments
HKMom
Thanks for recommending affordable shows to moms. It's something we really need in this town. They think because we can afford International school we can afford 600 dollars a ticket. It's not true. We just spent all our money on international school!
23 September 2012Jo
Didn't know this festival was happening! Good to know.
25 September 2012