As the fifth edition of Jockey Club New Arts Power draws to a close, performing artists share with Chitralekha Basu what the support provided by the program has meant for their oeuvre.

Hong Kong’s arts funding bodies are sometimes charged with being too egalitarian — the substance of the complaint being that giving everyone a chance rules out the possibility of offering sustained support to nurture an artist’s career.

However, a shift from project-based sponsorship to relatively long-term endorsement of a particular artist’s practice seems to be in the works. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council-managed Jockey Club New Arts Power program, which completes its fifth edition at the end of this month, has struck a fine balance between recruiting newer artists and continuing to back some of its alums. Artistic director of Théatre de la Feuille Ata Wong, dancer-choreographer Chloe Wong and composer Lam Fung, among others, have returned for the program’s successive editions, utilizing the opportunity to develop and fine-tune their practice over time.

In November, Lam presented a new iteration of the multimedia concert Yet Another Dream — originally staged on the JCNAP’ platform in 2018. "As a composer who works chiefly in ‘art’ (as opposed to commercial) music, it was very helpful to have JCNAP’s trust and support to present and create work freely, knowing that aspects such as marketing and publicity will be well looked after. This allowed me to focus mainly on artistic matters in the projects," he says.

Ata Wong — a three-time beneficiary of the program — is especially pleased that funding from JCNAP allowed him to revisit #1314, a musical theater adaptation of Shakespeare’s sonnets, first staged in Beijing in 2016. An enhanced version of the production was staged at Sha Tin Town Hall in December.

"We are happy that JCNAP gave us the chance to rerun some of our previous productions — to recreate an updated production that aligns with the current situation," Wong says. In the absence of regular funding, support from JCNAP has made it possible for Théatre de la Feuille productions "to reach out to a wider audience base," he adds.

Their L’Orphelin, for instance, is a widely toured production. It’s a gory tale of power struggles and family killings from ancient China, presented from multiple points of view and premiered in JCNAP’s 2019-20 season. The play was staged in the US and elsewhere, to wide critical acclaim.

New horizons

The "new" in Jockey Club New Arts Power refers to both "young and emerging" talents as well as "experienced and adept artists entering the international scene for the first time", explains Lorenex Leung, HKADC’s senior manager of business development and international programs. "Their works have shone through international showcase platforms and gained much recognition in the industry, forming a new arts power on the global stage."

Many of the artists who created new works under the aegis of JCNAP have gone on to develop and present enhanced versions or spin-offs on other platforms. For instance, Chloe Wong’s first foray into using gigantic inflatable spheres with a mirror finish as props in Maybe Tomorrow was commissioned by JCNAP and premiered in its Mobile Theatre series in 2019. Originally designed for open-air, public spaces, the dance piece reappeared in a COVID-themed iteration called Our Atlas at Tai Kwun in 2020, as part of a scaled-down Hong Kong Arts Festival. The piece was staged subsequently, later the same year, on the lawns of West Kowloon Cultural District, next to the promenade — where the polished metallic films covering the rolling globes caught and distorted the images of trees, high-rises, people and the sea to spectacular effect.

Over five editions, the JCNAP festival program has grown more diverse. Increasingly, it seems more open to accepting edgier content that resonates with current realities. The Joseph Lee-directed Unfolding Images: We Are Spectacle(s), for instance, staged as part of the 2020-21 season, takes a long, hard look at the commodification of people’s lives on social media. In this satirical performance piece, the figures of father, mother, child and dog posing for a family portrait are shown to be interchangeable entities who could easily substitute for one another without anyone raising an eyebrow. The actors are made to change clothes on stage to underscore the voyeuristic nature of the audience’s experience.

"It was meant to deliberately blur the line between performative and private events," says Lee. The dramatization also references the social media trend of turning the acts of dressing and undressing into saleable content by "many self-branded users", he adds.

While its administrators are not drawing back from championing meaningful content suitable for adult viewing, such as dance pieces choreographed by Rebecca Wong and Terry Tsang, the JCNAP roster also includes shows designed purely for the enjoyment and participation of small children, such as Jumbo Kids Theatre’s Dot/line/plane@SuperBaby.

"JCNAP brings together established and emerging local artists to produce creative, approachable and engaging arts experiences for all," notes Leung. "Uniting arts groups and various organizations from the social welfare, academic and commercial sectors, the festival held over 624 community and school events, reaching 510,000 participants so far."

There have been instances of finding common ground in unexpected places and through unusual pairings. Leung mentions how the choreographer Tsang — whose recent JCNAP-produced piece, Mo4 Ngaan5 Tai2 – Juk6 ("No Eyes to See — Desire"), was a cheeky caricature of human longing — got to spend time with members of Hong Kong Physically Handicapped and Able-Bodied Association. The idea was to "carry out a body community workshop for PHAB members, which is significant to both the artist and participants, as they could have the chance to communicate".

Joint efforts

One of the standout features of the JCNAP program is its cross-disciplinary approach. This current season, too, has seen its share of alliances between artists from vastly different backgrounds. Composer Lam collaborated with visual artist and designer Stanley Wong (aka anothermountainman) and textile upcycler Toby Crispy to create a new-look Yet Another Dream. For Toolbox Manoeuvre, dancers Wayson Poon and Alice Ma performed to beats created by Toolbox Percussion, led by Louis Siu. Jaffa Lam’s installation comprising recycled drainpipes, meanwhile, was played on by Run-Around Ensemble in the Between Sounds & Silence concerts.

Margie Tong, the founder and lead performer of Run-Around Ensemble, recalls highlights of the collaboration with Jaffa Lam: "She told us the stories behind her installations and where in Hong Kong each piece was sourced." For Tong, each anecdote told by Lam conjured up a musical score. She tried playing on the sculpture in a way that resonated with the feelings the stories had stirred in her.

Leung says the idea of collaborating across disciplines usually comes from the artists themselves. She points out that JCNAP managers act as facilitators, creating a conducive environment for such experiments. "Artists are provided with full-fledged support to be able to focus on perfecting their works, and are encouraged to explore new sectors that they have not tried before."