Arts Impact Fellowship 2023 – Awarded Fellows

West Kowloon is pleased to announce the two awardees of the Arts Impact Fellowship 2023: actor Gabriella So Chi-ching and teaching artist Carmen Wong Ka-man.

Each fellow will develop their project into an individual public programme to be presented at West Kowloon’s 2024 festival for families. Festival details to be announced in early 2024.

Gabriella So Chi-ching

Actor Gabriella So Chi-ching graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Theater, Film and Television. During her studies, she interned as a script developer for actor/producer Will Smith’s company Overbrook Entertainment, and later ran workshops at Harvard University and Cornell University to help foster inclusivity on campus.

As a stage actor So has performed over 60 shows worldwide. Her one-woman show Red Rose/White Rose at the 2016 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was nominated for the Asian Arts Award. Her first on-screen leading role was in Yang Pingdao’s My Dear Friend (2018), which premiered at Busan International Film Festival. Her most recent performance, Request Programme, was supported by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and opened the 2021 Solo Play Series.

Project Outline: Little Thai Forever

Since moving to Kowloon City two years ago, actor Gabriella So Chi-ching has been exploring the district in order to deepen her understanding of its people and surroundings. In particular, she is interested in the stories of the Thai community there, thereby conceiving the project “Little Thai Forever”. “Little Thai Forever” is a theatre research project designed to document the multi-layered experiences of the Thai community in Kowloon City, with a particular focus on the immigration journey, and the potential displacement the community faces due to urban redevelopment plans.

Through a series of theatre workshops and interviews, the project provides a platform for families to share diverse experiences, from traditional songs to stories of struggle. These oral stories will be combined into a documentary theatre piece celebrating the history and culture of the local Thai community. The work will be performed by the children of these families and other young people from the neighbourhood’s Thai community, and staged at West Kowloon’s 2024 festival for families.

“Little Thai Forever” contributes to the ongoing preservation and dissemination of Hong Kong’s multi-cultural heritage by compiling the oral histories of Thai immigrant families residing in the city. The project aims to foster a sense of inclusivity, promote cross-cultural understanding and cross-generation dialogue, and inspire artists and creators to explore the authentic living experiences of ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong.

Carmen Wong Ka-man

Carmen Wong Ka-man is a Hong Kong-based teaching artist. In recent years, she has engaged socially-marginalised communities in site-specific art collaborations through her self-funded community art project Blobs and Brushes. Using her classroom experience, and her experience of nurturing self-expression with children, she creates dialogues and narratives through art jamming, mural painting, and other artistic endeavours. Wong’s aim is to extend her work to include the elderly and their caregivers.

Project Outline: Community Crochet x Elderly

“Community Crochet x Elderly” is a community art project that uses the creative craft of crochet to bring together community organisers, social workers, the elderly, caregivers and local artists from multi-cultural backgrounds. It provides a space for elderly residents to interact, practise the simple-to-learn craft of crochet and share stories in a relaxing community setting.

Through a series of crochet art workshops exploring texture, shapes and colour, elderly participants are encouraged to share memories and express their feelings and creativity. The stories that emerge through the sessions will be developed into materials for a storytelling theatre piece along with the crochet work produced in the workshops.

The project aims to raise awareness of the needs and experiences of the elderly community and their caregivers. It also uses the mindful practice of handcrafting to bridge cross-cultural and inter-generational differences and embrace diversity and differences in perspective.