*********************************************************
Presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, a series of talks on multimedia performance art will be hosted by Kung Chi-shing, a local composer, performer and music activist. Kung will invite GayBird, Kingsley Ng and Mui Cheuk-yin to share their creative experiences and insights from their multimedia works from the perpectives of music, the visual arts and dance. These talks aim to enable audiences to better appreciate multimedia performances.
Kung studied classical music and composition in the United States with Allen Trubitt and George Crumb. In his compositions and performances, Kung focuses on experimentation with different formats, including pop, classical and improvisational music, and theatre art. Since 1996 he has created, composed and staged five full-length music theatre pieces: "Destiny Travels Limited", "The Floating Bridge", "City Inside a Broken Sky I & II" and "M Garden".
As early as the 1970s, multimedia performances were already very common in the West, where theatre productions often involved a creative conglomeration of artistic media. While these productions embraced the experimental spirit of the artists and opened up new creative options, they also led audiences into a much wider vision of the arts through the simultaneous presentation of the disciplines involved. But in Hong Kong, multimedia performances have yet to attain a similar reception because the local audience's understanding of this art form is still limited.
This talk series is conceived and hosted by the Kung Music Workshop. The first two talks will introduce the unique features of multimedia performance art and its development over the decades. Kung Chi-shing will be using his own works, as well as those of multimedia performing artists from around the world, such as Robert Wilson, Laurie Anderson, Pina Bausch, Meredith Monk, Robert Lepage and Heiner Goebbels, to illustrate his themes.
Detail of the talks are as follows:
February 7 and 14 (Friday)
Topic: What is multimedia performance art?
Speaker: Kung Chi-shing
February 21 (Friday)
Topic: Multimedia performance art x Music
Conversation: Kung Chi-shing and GayBird
February 28 (Friday)
Topic: Multimedia performance art x Visual Art
Conversation: Kung Chi-shing and Kingsley Ng
March 7 (Friday)
Topic: Multimedia performance art x Dance
Conversation: Kung Chi-shing and Mui Cheuk-yin
All talks will be held at 8pm in the Hong Kong Arts Centre's Eric HoTung Studio. Tickets priced at $50 per talk are now available at all URBTIX outlets, on the Internet and by telephone credit card booking. Half-price tickets are available for senior citizens aged 60 or above, people with disabilities and their minders, full-time students and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients (limited tickets for CSSA recipients available on a first-come, first-served basis). Please refer to programme leaflets for details of group booking discount.
For programme enquiries, please call 2268 7323; for ticketing enquiries, call 2734 9009. For telephone credit card bookings, call 2111 5999. Internet bookings are available at www.urbtix.hk. For more information, visit
www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/multi_arts/program_439.html .
Ends/Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:40
NNNN
