Zuni Icosahedron
Zuni Icosahedron is one of the nine major professional performing arts groups subsidized by the HKSAR government. [1] Founded in 1982, Zuni is a Hong Kong based international experimental theatre company, and it has produced more than 190 original productions of alternative theatre and multimedia performances. Beside its theatre works, Zuni has also been active in video, sound experimentation and installation art, as well as in the area of arts education, arts criticism, cultural policy research and international cultural exchange. [2]
The name Zuni Icosahedron expressed two essential elements of their theatre works: colour (zuni) and form (icosahedron). While "Zuni" stands for a colour between green and blue, "Icosahedron" is a twenty-sided object as well as a highly infective virus. [3]
Over the years, Zuni has been invited to more than 30 cities in Europe, Asia, and America for cultural exchange and performances. In the year 2000, Zuni co-presented “Festival of Vision: Berlin / Hong Kong”, the first ever large-scale cultural exchange between Asia and Europe. In 2009, Zuni’s Artistic Director Danny Yung was awarded the Merit Cross of the Order of Merit by the German Federal Government in recognition of his contributions towards the arts and cultural exchange between Germany and Hong Kong[4].
Since 2009, Zuni has made venue partner with the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, producing a series of theatre works and outreach education programmes.. [5]
Zuni is currently led by its Co-Artistic Directors, Danny Yung and Mathias Woo.
Important Theatre Works
2011
- One Hundred Years of Solitude 10.0 – Cultural Revolution (Director: Danny Yung)
- Railway is Like a Long, Winding Recollection (Director: Mathias Woo)
- One Hundred Years of Chinese Architecture (Director: Mathias Woo)
- B.O.B.* The Final Cut (Choreographer: Dick Wong)
- Bauhaus Manifesto (Directors: Lai Tat Tat Wing, Cedric Chan)
2010
- Experimenting Traditions Series: Stage Sisters (Director: Danny Yung)
- A Digital Opera in 7 Acts - The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci (Director: Mathias Woo, Libretto: Diana Liao, Composer: Steve Hui)
- Remembrance of Karaoke Past (Director: Mathias Woo)
Art Education
Zuni has outreached to schools and community by setting up an Art Education Unit since 1987. Throughout the years, they have designed and organized various creative education projects, including exhibitions, performances, workshops, cultural exchange activities etc. One notable example is the Black Box Exercise which started in 1995, in which each participating students would be given one 30cm x 30cm x 30cm black box to create their own works. The exercise was brought to Kolkata, Mumbai, New Delhi in 2005 by the India Foundation for the Arts, and around 8000 local artists, teachers and students has participated[6][7].
In 2012, Zuni has launched “Tian Tian Xiang Shang”, a Creativity-For-Community and School Development Programme, which includes a series of sculptures creations, workshops for primary and secondary students and exhibitions. The finale exhibition will be held in the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in November[8][9].
Architecture is Art Festival
The Architecture is Art Festival (AIAF) is the biannual art festival presented by Zuni Icosahedron since 2009. With architecture as the central topic, a series of multimedia performances, traditional Chinese opera, exhibitions, seminars, conference and students workshops were held in Hong Kong Cultural Centre and other venues as well. [10]As Rossella Ferrari writes in her review in TDR, "(AIAF)...is a celebration of architecture and theatre or, rather, of architecture in theatre and architecture as theatre—the first of its kind in Asia and possibly worldwide."[11]
Gay-themed Film Festival
In 1985, Zuni held the first homosexuals film festival in its clubhouse in Causeway Bay, which is probably the first of its kind in Hong Kong[12]. Films selected included Bigger Splash, Boys in the Band, Querelle, Salo: 120 Days of Sodom, Victor Victoria etc..
People
Zuni’s experimental spirit has nurtured generations of talents, with many of them practising in design industry, popular media and cultural infrastructure in various areas. These people include lyricist Wyman Wong, stage director Edward Lam, comic artist Lai Tat Tat Wing, styling and costume designer Tomas Chan, cinematographer Kwan Pun Leung, choreographer Dick Wong, writer and visual artist Craig Au Yeung, singer Anthony Wong, commentator and cultural critic Leung Man-tao, film director Susie Au etc.
External Links
References
- ^ Hong Kong Yearbook 2010 http://www.yearbook.gov.hk/2010/en/pdf/E19.pdf
- ^ Zuni Icosahedron’s official website: http://www.zuni.org.hk/
- ^ Lilley, R. (1990). Staging Hong Kong: Gender and Performance in Transition. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.
- ^ ADC congratulates Danny Yung on receiving the Germany's Merit Cross of the Order of Merit on Ribbon 13.02.2009 http://www.hkadc.org.hk/en/content/web.do?action=pressdetail&id=b5a156f090174965be8be1fa99defeed
- ^ LCSD Venue Partnership Scheme http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/vps/en/partners.php
- ^ Mohile Parikh Center: BLACK BOX EXERCISE: AN ARTS EDUCATION PROGRAM http://mohileparikhcenter.org/site/?q=node/227
- ^ Zuni Icosahedron: Black Box Exercise in India http://www.zuni.org.hk/zuni06/art_edu_bbe_archive_2005_e.html
- ^ firstpost.com http://www.firstpost.com/topic/person/mao-zedong-2012411-video-GXDKo_OgZ_Y-45593-1.html
- ^ CreateHK: Approved Project http://www.createhk.gov.hk/en/1109-0147.htm
- ^ Architecture is Art Festival http://aiaf.hk
- ^ Ferrari, Rossella (2011) 'The Stage as a Drawing Board: Zuni Icosahedron’s Architecture Is Art Festival.' TDR: The Drama Review, 55 (1). pp. 137-149.
- ^ LGBT Hong Kong: [Zuni Icosahedron Newsletter] Cinema & Homosexuals (Jan 1985) http://www.lgbthongkong.com/?p=4384