Thank you for watching Steve Hui (aka NERVE)’s Trial: Noise! Your feedback matters to us, and we invite you to complete our online survey after the performance
If you approach the question “What is noise?” from the perspective of a blind person, you will realize that noise has never been just a set of physical waveforms, but rather a relationship. It is entirely relative, subjective, and charged with the projection of the body’s identity and politics within a space.
For instance, in experimental music labeled as “noise music,” creators generate extreme auditory stimuli, pushing the eardrum to the brink of pain. What is sensory pleasure to a specific few is, to the majority, a form of torture—meaningless and unwanted.
Sound, at its core, is a sonic warfare. The specific frequencies of acoustic weapons used for crowd dispersal and the soft background music playing in a shopping mall are, in essence, no different. We cannot actually make noise; we are making the definition of noise.
Over these 60 minutes, nine performers will be on stage with the audience to test the boundaries of how noise is defined. Sound is simply emitting; it is the ears, everyone present, and the underlying frameworks that classify it. Tonight, we attempt to leap in and out of these frameworks, carving a rift in this world of order so that everyone can fall into a peaceful sleep.
Steve Hui, Known as Nerve, is a multi-disciplinary artist trained in contemporary classical composition with roots in the rave scene. He hacks into the existing music system by mixing art forms, crossing disciplines and experimenting with traditions. His practice transcends the boundaries between music, sound, theatre and underground culture.
Born in Shizuoka prefecture, Japan
Join in Pappa TARAHUMARA in 1983, in 2006 started solo works, and in 2008, 2010, 2018 being guest professor of the choreography department at Korea National University of the Arts. Matsushima graduated from the Nihon University of College of Art. He launched his stage career with the Japanese dance theatre company Pappa TARAHUMARA while he was still a student, and won critical acclaim both for his performance in television and on stage.
Lam Yip graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and is dedicated to experimentation across sound art, performance, and interdisciplinary practice. Through collaborative performances and experimental projects, he explores relationships between different artistic mediums.
Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. Performance, installation, and painting are the main mediums in Cheng’s art practice. His experiences in the performing arts have inspired him to incorporate theatrical elements into his sculptures and installation works. He hopes to explore the collective sentiments and experiences shared between himself and urban dwellers through artistic creation.
Graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2024. During her studies, she participated in multiple theatre productions, taking roles as performer, dancer, and assistant producer. She completed a two-year Professional Physical Theatre Youth Training Programme (PTI) by Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio in 2025.
Recent performances include: 2024/25 Showcase: Flowing, Professional Physical
Graduated from the School of Continuing and Professional Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, majoring in social work, and completed The Vibrated Self inter-cultural acting training programme by Blank Space Studio in 2025. Cheung is now a freelance theatre performer.
Recent performances include: Physical Theatre: Dreams…Maze, 18dArt – AliceTheatreLab
Graduated from the Hong Kong Baptist University, with a bachelor’s degree in Social Science majoring in Psychology. Mok later completed the Radix Troupe, Full-time All-round Dramatic Arts Training (2-year Scheme). Cheung is now a freelance performer.
Previously studied physical performance at the Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio and Théâtre de la Feuille. He became one of the participants in Open Research Week run by the Unlock Dancing Plaza, where he learned and practised artistic creation, and received funding to publish his second work. Ray has also studied Japanese Butoh with Vinci Mok.
Recent performances and creations include: I Did Not Dance at Central IFC created for the Choreographer Training Programme 2023 run by CCDC
Graduated from the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (major in Cultural Studies). Wong has been the art administrative coordinator of Cinemtic Theatre.
Recent productions include: assistant producer of Cinemtic Theatre’s the Premiere of the 8th Young Playwright Scheme and executive producer of Beyond the Dream Lens.
“Have you ever seen a ghost?” He only saw
shadows flitting outside the theatre.
“Do you believe in gods?” He refuses to believe that the stage is merely an illusion of the mystical. — Danny Yung, Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icosahedron
If the theatre was once a sanctuary where humans, ghosts, and gods meet, what remains of it today?
For years, Danny Yung, Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icosahedron, has persistently questioned: Where does theatre come from?
And what form could an arts festival take in the future?
In ancient times, the “stage” was originally a sacred ground for communication between humans, ghosts, and spirits. Rituals, as a form of collective action, carried humanity’s understanding of the universe and served as a response to the unknown and the perplexing.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the the Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture (HKICC) and the 20th anniversary of the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, Zuni Icosahedron and the Hong Kong Contemporary Cultural Centre jointly present the newly curated Meeting of Gods Festival & Danny Yung Young Artists Academy 2026.
Guided by the idea of “Meeting of Gods”, the Festival revisits and reflects upon the essence of theatre as both a public space and a spiritual arena, bringing together contemporary and traditional performing artists from across Asia.
We invite the audience to be present at the theatre together. Across seven performances, post-show talks, and dialogues, let us collectively perceive the theatre as a sacred place of present-moment gathering.
During the festival, from 5 to 9 July 2026, five “One Table Two Chairs” forums will be held at the Studio Theatre of the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. Hosted by Singaporean intercultural theatre director Liu Xiaoyi and curated by architecture and culture scholar Melody Yiu, the forums bring together artists and participants from diverse fields to explore intercultural issues relating to arts festivals, arts education, cultural institutions, and arts practice.
01 | Arts Festivals -How do experiments in the forms and content of cultural exchange inspire future arts festivals?
02 | Creative Education – How can reforms and innovations in educational institutions cultivate independent and forward-looking values?
03 | Cultural Insitutions – How do cultural institutions recognize and challenge conservative tendencies within their own organizational culture?
04 | Arts in Practice – How do arts practitioners respond to external forces of politics, economics, society, and technology?
05 | Prospective Seminar – Academy and Arts Festival / Reviews and Challenges
Danny Yung Young Artists Academy 2026 is the second edition this year developed from the 3-year collaboration between Nanyang Academy for Fine Arts, University of the Arts Singapore. 19 final year students of the BA (Hons) Contemporary Chinese Theatres program come to spend 2 weeks in this program curated by Danny Yung for training and exchanges.
Artistic Director, Chief Curator, Director: Danny Yung
International Exchange Director / Producer: Wong Yue Wai
Co-curator, Director, Course Instructor: Liu Xiaoyi
Music Director, Director, Course Instructor: Steve Hui (aka NERVE)
Director: Steve Hui (aka NERVE)
Contemporary Performing Artist: Makoto Matsushima
Sound Artist: Lam Yip
Performers: Cheng Pak Leung, Cheung Cheuk Mei, Cheung Man Yung, Mok Dick Long, Ray Tang, Wong Lok Ki
Artistic Director, Curator, Director: Danny Yung
Co-curator, Director, Course Instructor: Liu Xiaoyi
Cross-cultural Artists, Course Instructors:
Makoto Matsushima, Rady Nget, Park Hobin, Xiao Xiangping, Ren Jiale, Yang Junfeng, Steve Hui (Nerve)
Coordinators: Cindy Cheung, Chloe Li, Jane Cheuk, Martin Choy
Students (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts | University of the Arts Singapore):
Chang Xiya, Chen Jing, Chua Yin Ling, He Xinyan, Huang Jinghan, Karen Lie Kai Ting, Li Kaiyang, Li Yiran, Lin Jing, Liu Yanqi, Ni Ke, Pan Huishan, Shen Yang, Wang Bo, Wang Juner, Wang Sining, Zhou Chenyi, Zhou Qianhui, Ma Xiaoyu
Young Artists (Hong Kong)
Yeung Sin Tung, Li Sixian, Chuk Ka Lok, Hu Jiashu, Mok Pui Yan, Hui Ka Ling, Wong Fai Ying, Vivian Lin, Curtis Si Tou, Grace Tam, Tang Pui Shan, Arwen Cheung, Zhao Zihui, Chloe (Observer)
Zuni Resident Stage Manager: Chan On Ki
Production Manager and Stage Manager: Leo Siu
Deputy Stage Manager: Carvid Ngai
Lighting Design and Operator: Cheng Lai Chiu
Sound Design and Operator: Fong King Lok
Video Operator: Ziv Chun, Yu Pui Ho
Stage Crew: Keung King Hang, Fung Kwan Tai
Light Crew: Lo Wing Yi, Mok Chi Yeung,
Sound Crew: Zeng Jiaxin
Advisor: Poon Tat Pui
Filming and Editing: Leung Minami Hoi Lam, Hung Ka Hei, Yip Chun Ting, Leung Tsz Ki, So Wing Shun, Yuen Ka Nok
Assistant Artistic Director: Cedric Chan
General Manager (Administration and Finance): Jacky Chan
General Manager (Programme): Doris Kan
Senior Manager (Programme): Bowie Chow
Senior Manager (Production and Technical): Gavin Chow
Administration Manager: Colin Cheng
Stage Manager: Chan On Ki
Marketing and Outreach Manager: Niki Luk
PR & Publicity: Luka Wong
Ticketing & Digital Marketing: HO Yin Hei
Programme Assistant: Yumi Hui
Graphic Design & Video (Promotion): Ricky Cheng
Graphic Design (Display Board): Coco Cheung
Video (Promotion): Vanilla Guo
Photographer (Documentation): Tree Lo
Yun Yuan
Edward Lam Dance Theatre