West Kowloon Cultural District Authority launches three-year project Freespace Tech Lab in collaboration with experimental theatre company Zuni Icosahedron

The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) is pleased to announce plans for Freespace Tech Lab, a three-year project that explores innovativations in stage technology to prepare for the opening of performing arts venues in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) and ultimately support the long-term development of the performing arts in Hong Kong.  Co-curated with and produced by acclaimed Hong Kong-based experimental theatre company Zuni Icosahedron, the first edition provides a platform for experimentations in lighting, digital programming, sound design and spacial concepts within a special lab setting.
 

Encompassing a diverse range of showcases, thematic talks, workshops, guided tours, screenings and training programmes, the inaugural Freespace Tech Lab takes place from 12 to 26 November 2017 at the Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre.
 

The first Freespace Tech Lab sees acclaimed theatre professional Mathias Woo, Artistic Director of the project, taking inspiration from the central concepts of sound, light and space.  The 2017 edition explores technical elements through four themes: ‘Soundscape: sound effects of theatre’; ‘Kinetic Wench: digital programming of the rigging system’; ‘Projection and Lighting: lights and shades of the stage’; and ‘GiantMirror: theatre space’.
 

A central highlight of the 2017 programme is a series of professional lab work sessions – Lab LIVE – designed for specialist audiences to engage with a range of production devices from the realm of experimental black box theatre. The first Lab LIVE, entitled Wittgenstein, brought together multi-disciplinary artists to examine the appropriation of electronic music in theatre. Following this, In Search of Lost Time will highlight vocals in relation to sound, involving actors from Hong Kong, Taipei and Paris. Finally, Movement Lab will see dancers take on an immersive mirrored environment at the studio to explore the optical illusions created through the human form’s interaction with light projections and space.
 

Catering to industry professionals and theatre fans alike, Freespace Tech Lab is open to the general public through live-streaming and ticketed performances. With the aim of nurturing young talent in this innovative field, a series of education workshops and student internships entitled Lab EDU will also be organised.
 

Freespace Tech Lab is part of the District-wide platform Creation for Freespace, launched earlier this year by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority to bring together initiatives for performing artists from Hong Kong and the region under one umbrella. Creation encompasses a range programmes that drive the production of new works, support artist development, enable artist residencies, and inspire artist-led exchange and research. 
 

“Through our pioneering collaboration with Zuni Icosahedron the West Kowloon Cultural District aims to encourage fresh dialogue in the multi-disciplinary field of stage technology, as well as provide creative inspiration for the programming at our future venues such as Freespace, a black box theatre due to open in 2019. Through creating a platform for innovation, we hope that Freespace Tech Lab will enable new generations to continue to push the boundaries when it comes to experimental theatre work,” says Low Kee Hong, Head of Theatre, Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District.
 

For further information on Freespace Tech Lab 2017, please visit https://www.westkowloon.hk/freespacetechlab.
 

Remarks

About West Kowloon Cultural District
Located on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest cultural projects in the world. Its vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong. With a complex of theatres, performance spaces and M+, the West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances and cultural events, as well as provide 23 hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade. 
 

About Freespace
Located in the Art Park is the Freespace, a place that will offer an exciting new environment for musical performances, drama, dance and physical theatre, as well as provide a platform to nurture local talent and energise the local performing arts scene.  A black box theatre will provide a flexible performance space accommodating up to 450 seated people or 900 standing. There is also a foyer lounge where local live music will be presented in a bar and café environment, and a large lawn, where an outdoor stage will be set up for large-scale events and festivals.  
 

About Zuni Icosaherdron
Founded in 1982, Zuni Icosahedron is a premier experimental theatre company in Hong Kong. Zuni’s theatre has always stayed on the cutting edge of media technology in presenting the interactive relationship between multi-media and theatre, as well as in probing the possibilities of form and content in 'theatre space' through experimentation and exploration. Zuni has been most inspiring in developing the aesthetics of theatre in Chinese society, with its experimental and subversive nature, and this could be seen in the interactive experiments in the narrative (or rather non-narrative), form and space in its early works. The same spirit could be found in the multi-media design in lights, images, sounds and spaces as in the attempts in the area of cross-media performances, to cross-boundary political and civil area, and to cross-region international cultural exchanges. The topics covered stretch from popular culture to social taboos, from the traditional to the contemporary.
 

Annex

General Information:
 

Lab LIVE

Showcases of Creativity and Technologies + Talks on Special Technologies
 

Sound and Kinetic Installation (1) x Digital Music: Wittgenstein
Sunday, 12 November 2017
Creative and Technical Showcase: 2:15pm, 3:00pm, 3:45pm
Creative and Technical Showcase + Thematic Talk (1) [Kinetic Winch]: 4:30pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Sound and Kinetic Installation (2) Human Voice x Text: In Search of Lost Time
Friday, 17 November 2017
Creative and Technical Showcase + Thematic Talk (2) [Soundscape]: 4:30pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Saturday, 18 November 2017
Creative and Technical Showcase: 2:15pm, 3:00pm, 3:45pm, 4:30pm
Creative and Technical Showcase +Thematic Talk (3) [Stage Sound Design]: 8:00pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Impromtu Performance x Space x Lighting: Movement Lab
Friday, 24 November 2017
Impromptu Performance + Thematic Talk (4) [GiantMirror]: 8:00pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Saturday, 25 November 2017
Impromptu Performance + Thematic Talk (5) [Projection and Lighting]: 4:30pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Lab EDU

Talks, Workshops and Training
 

Thematic Talk: The Practical and Experimental Nature of Theatre Architecture
Friday, 17 November 2017
7:00pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Thematic Talk: Technical Design of Freespace
Sunday, 26 November 2017
4:30pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Guided Tours and Workshops for Secondary School
Monday, 20 November 2017
10:00am, 3:00pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Tuesday, 21 November 2017
10:00am, 3:00pm
Studio Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong
 

Workshops and Training Programmes for Tertiary Students
For enrolment details, please refer to the recruitment guidelines for “Creative Playground” on www.zuniseason.org.hk.
 

Team:

Presented and Produced by:
Zuni Icosahedron

Co-organised by:
West Kowloon Cultural District

Creator/ Artistic Director/ Spatial Designer:
Mathias Woo

Technical Director:
Rae Wu

Producers:
Low Kee Hong
Doris Kan
Bobo Lee

Technical Consultants and Designers

Sound:
Frankie Hung
Ha Yan-pui

Lighting:
Mak Kwok-fai

Kinetic Winch System:
Lau Hiu-man

Technical Partners
Christie
d&b audiotechnik
d3 Technologies
C’est Bon Projects
MAD Music
Pro Tec Solutions
ShowTex
S-Tech
Wincomn

Academic Partners
School of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong
School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Faculty of Information Technology, IVE (Lee Wai Lee)
School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University