Jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Zuni Icosahedron
Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and Zuni Icosahedron
Guest Curators: Freeman Lau, Mathias Woo and Wong Yue-wai
“X-Xperimenting Exhibition – Danny Yung 50 Year Creations” is extended to 1 August 2022. Free admission at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
All good & settled? The new commissioned exhibit “GATEWAY – Flower Plaque Secret Garden” installation by Danny in Heritage Museum’s outdoor courtyard will be gone by May 30th though. Watch out!
“Culture, history & creativity” stand with time, yet, will the ageing flower plaque installation after five months of sunshine and tempering be the same?
Other exhibits including “Video Circle”, “Video Square”, and “TTXS – Creation, Collaboration and Exchange” highlight Danny’s exploration and experimentation in arts, culture, heritage preservation and development through cross-genre experiments in visual, media and performing arts, advocacy in international exchange, cultural policy and arts education in the past half-century.
Danny Yung is a trailblazer in the advocacy of international cultural exchange and development. Before his return to Hong Kong from New York in the 1970s, he adopted crystalized thought in the vital inter-relationship among research, exchange and policy advocacy. Besides devoting himself to theatre-making and Tian Tian Xiang Shang (TTXS), he has initiated a number of international cultural exchange platforms, such as the International Network of Cultural Diversity, Asia Arts Net, the World Culture Forum, the Conference of Asian Foundations and Organisations, and the City-to-City Cultural Exchange Conference, which have helped lay a solid foundation for Hong Kong as a hub of international cultural exchange.
Danny has been an experimental art pioneer for over 50 years. Since the 1970s, he has been keen on cross-media art creations, including film, comics, installations, video, theatre and conceptual art. In 1982, he co-founded Zuni Icosahedron (Zuni), the epitome of experimental art in Hong Kong, and led the team to Taipei for performances and cultural exchange in the same year. The present Co-Artistic Director of Zuni, Danny has established various platforms for exchange and experimental art creations on- and off-stage. For over 50 years, Danny’s devotion to fostering cross-cultural experimentation and exchange has persisted. In return, with the unwavering support he has received from a generous number of invited artists of various backgrounds, regions and cultures, a rich body of works involving cross-media creations and dialogues has been created.
This exhibition is a re-construction and re-imagination of some of Danny’s classic works of art, including Video Circle, which was exhibited in Hong Kong and Berlin; Tian Tian Xiang Shang, a large-scale flower plaque bamboo installation, which was exhibited at the National Mall in Washington, DC, US; and Tian Tian Xiang Shang conceptual comics and figurines, which were co-created and exhibited in Europe, America and Asia.
Renowned designer Freeman Lau, Zuni’s Co-Artistic Director cum Executive Director Mathias Woo, and Zuni’s International Exchange Director Wong Yue-wai are the guest curators of the exhibition. On display will be Danny’s visions and contributions in various areas, including cross-media and experimental art, visual and performing arts, art criticism, cultural advocacy, and the preservation and development of traditional craftsmanship.
Danny Yung is an experimental art pioneer, and a founding member cum Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icosahedron. Yung is widely regarded as most influential artist in Hong Kong and the neighbouring regions, and an advocate in experimental arts and new art forms.
In 2014, Yung is the laureate of the 2014 Fukuoka Prize – Arts and Cultural Prize. In 2009, Yung was conferred the Merit Cross of the Order of Merit on Ribbon by the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his contribution to the arts and cultural exchange between Germany and Hong Kong. In 2008, with Tears of Barren Hill he was honoured the Music Theatre NOW Award by UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute.
Beginning in 1997, Yung has initiated several important cultural and arts networks. Among them are the Asia Arts Net, Asia Performing Arts Network, and World Culture Forum. The City-to-City Cultural Exchange Conference initiated by Yung has been held for more than 20 consecutive years, and is the premier and the only exchange program conducted among Chinese speaking regions and on a city-to-city basis.
In the past 40 years, he has been actively engaged in various fields of the arts, including theatre, film and video, comics, as well as visual and installation art. Yung has contributed significantly to the provision of a platform for both acclaimed and emerging artists to explore and carry out cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural collaboration. As director, scriptwriter, producer and stage designer, Yung has created over 100 theatrical productions, which have widely toured to over 30 cities in North America, Europe, and Asia.
Yung is the creator of cross-disciplined and cross-region Tian Tian Xiang Shang conceptual comics. TTXS has become an iconic figure in creative industry and education sector. It’s exhibition and educational program have reached out to Europe, America and Asia. On- and off-stage, Yung is an enthusiastic protagonist for innovation in cultural policy, cultural exchange, institutional development and creative education.