Date :
2014.2.27 - 2014.3.1

Location :
M9001, L9, Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre

Developing Common Stage

International Forum I/2014

Opening of the discussion about the development of an advanced transcultural and cross-disciplinary education format in the field of TransArt/Performance (Studies) in the framework of a future ZHdK Study Centre in Hong Kong.

Preamble

About a future ZHdK Study Centre in Hong Kong

Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) is seeking to establish a study centre in Hong Kong. One key objective of the envisaged centre is to explore perspectives for how a 21st-century arts university might advance as an institution in a globalized world. The study centre will also strive to stimulate common research & development perspectives between Zurich, Hong Kong, and partners in mainland China. This calls for generating and undertaking cooperative projects and for providing opportunities for existing and new research & development initiatives, in particular beyond familiar models of ordinary student exchange.

Based on its own experiences, areas of expertise and fields of interest, ZHdK is planning to engage in research & development, teaching and executive education in partnership with other academic institutions and internationally renowned organizations and experts from various fields of the arts and culture. Considering existing initiatives and opportunities between ZHdK/Europe and Hong Kong/mainland China, three focal topics have been defined as a frame of reference for developing projects aimed at initiating the Hong Kong Study Centre:

• Urban (Studies)
• Curatorial (Studies)
• TransArt (Studies)

Common Stage

Common Stage is the main initiative in the field of “TransArt/Performance (Studies)”. For the past five years, ZHdK has been organising an interdisciplinary summer academy called "Common Stage" in collaboration with the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA) in Beijing.

The project is unique as it brings together traditional and modern art forms and involves a wide range of different disciplines from the fields of theatre, music, design, fine arts, and arts education. Central to the project are practical artistic collaborations between various cultures, art forms, and disciplines.

“Forum I”: Programme and Content

Based on its experience of Common Stage, ZHdK will initiate a process with existing partners, other art institutions, artists, and theorists to discuss a long-term perspective for developing a postgraduate educational format (MA level) in the field of transcultural and cross-disciplinary TransArt/Performance (Studies) in Hong Kong. “Forum I,” which will be held in February 2014, will serve as a starting point for establishing a common basis and for exchanging ideas about setting up a collaborative educational format in the period 2015-2017. To start this project as a transcultural collaboration, we are convinced that it is important to address, analyze, and discuss some fundamental questions concerning the topics “cultural references”, “transculturality”, “cross-disciplinarity”, and “tradition/identity”. Thereby it is crucial to connect theoretical analysis and scientific reflection with personal experiences and institutional conditions. Below we outline briefly the four focal topics of the first two days of “Forum I” and ask to which extent this might be productive for the development of advanced art education in the 21^stcentury.

Day 1, 27 February 2014

Fields of References

Artists, teachers, and theorists – we all are oriented toward a field of references. This happens more or less (un)consciously. This framework is obviously culturally and historically shaped. That does not mean that it is homogenous and compliant. On the contrary, a personal or collective framework can also run counter to cultures and traditions lured by so-called “globalization”. It could be important and interesting for our meeting and collaboration to reflect, outline, and discuss these different fields of orientation within which we construct and experience our present. Which cultural and artistic fields are important, which representatives, which kind of philosophical horizon, which culture of critique, which conceptions of a future are we dealing with? Debating these questions may help us discover a fundamental ignorance about what other consider important for themselves and their work; or we might be surprised to discover that we are orienting ourselves toward quite closely related fields of references. Given these questions, it would be interesting to talk about concrete examples of cultural, artistic, and philosophical references and frames of importance to our personal and institutional work.

Tradition

One special part of these fields of references is the historical dimension of tradition and genealogies. None of us is free of preconceptions, nor do we reinvent the wheel, not even as “avant-gardists”. In the present age, we are characterized by tradition(s). We wonder how we happened to become what we are. Is the “past” of fundamental importance – and if so, how and why? What do we mean when we say “tradition”: Is it a master narrative or a personal invention? Is it possible to bring tradition up to date – or should we annihilate and forget it? Perhaps the tradition(s) to which we refer is/are interrupted or fragmented. Such a perspective also raises the question of “innovation” in art and culture, that is, the question of what is “new”, of what constitutes “progress”, etc. It is important to discuss these problems using specific examples: how and why genealogies and tradition, the memory of our ancestors, are meaningful for our practice (that is, how we do things) – in the arts, in theory, in the urban public sphere. We relate to tradition between the poles of authority and emancipation, burden and chance, obligation and contingency: here, in the in-between, we are forced to position ourselves, also in distinction to others. Which stories can we tell about our becoming subjects? Associated with this is also the question of identity, which we shall discuss on Day 2.

Day 2, 28 February 2014

Transculturality

The economy goes global, and political systems are intertwined worldwide: goods, information, signs, and humans are on the way to (apparent) boundlessness. Trans- and multiculturalism seem to be the order of the day. But what does this “categorical imperative” mean exactly? Are our local or regional orientations obsolete? Are we now always on the road, “in-between”, schizoid and manifold in our identities? How can we gain the skills and the know-how to engage in different cultures, so as to appreciate and to relate to them? Once again, these are of course “big” questions. Nevertheless, we aim to discuss the challenge and our desire to embrace this “transculturality” in our personal and institutional work? Is it about knowledge, experience, critique, about friendship, competition, power, and authority?  Is it possible – based on our experiences – to “understand” each other? And how can we develop ourselves while experiencing yet another crucial revision of our culture? Is it at all possible to speak of “our” culture?

Cross-disciplinarity

The development of the arts and sciences (since the 16th and 19th centuries, at least in the West) is distinguished by differentiation and specialization. This fact also determines education and the art and design market. For about twenty years, however, we can observe a growing focus on “trans-“, “mixed-“, and “cross-“ as countertendencies to any monolithic conceptions of the arts and design. Art practice and education , and their corresponding theories, pursue different strategies and forms of interactions, decussations, and interdependencies. This major shift confronts us with different questions: Is this observed fundamental paradigm change true and if so how has it emerged? How are these transitions related to the development of new technologies and how do they refer to the changes of the social and cultural present? What effects do they produce and which possibilities and new perspectives do they open up? Or: which deficits do they cause? Which experiences are important for us and hence need to be discussed?

Day 3, 1 March 2014

Development of extended education format

Based on our exchange of experiences, ideas, and awareness during the first two days, Day 3 will focus on possible concepts for a long-term educational program that we want to establish as a collaboration. How can we develop the “Common Stage” project and how might this program be integrated into the curriculum of a postgraduate course to be launched in fall 2015. It will be interesting to discuss different educational formats in practice and theory, to exchange corresponding experiences, and to sketch possible forms and strategies of collaboration. With a view to launching the proposed course in 2015, it would be desirable to develop some ideas as specifically as possible at this stage.

Forum II / Next Steps

Clarifying needs and visions. In fall 2014, we shall organize a second forum that we want to prepare this afternoon. “Forum II” should specify the 2015 project and assign the corresponding tasks. Therefore we should prepare the Forum program based on our morning discussion (i.e., distribute the different tasks to participants that are interested to be involved: conception of topics, conception of formats, inclusion of arts, design, and different media: within the contexts of (cross-)disciplinarity, curriculum conception, peer group and institutional collaboration, funding strategies, promotion strategies, and reaching a wider public, etc. ZHdK is interested in developing a long-term partnership with the participants of “Forum I” and “Forum II”.

Schedule

Thursday, 27 February 2014

09.30 Welcome Host: Harald Kraemer, School of Creative Media

09.35 Welcome and Introduction Conference: Daniel Späti, ZHdK

10.00 „Field of references“ / Inputs by (approx. 15 minutes each, on the basis of specific examples):

-   Ceri Sherlock/Gillian Choa, HKAPA
-   Zhao Chuan, Shanghai
-   Hamad Nasar/Anthony Yung, Asia Art Archive, Hong Kong
-   Jörg Huber, Zurich

followed by discussion

13.00 Lunch

14.00 „Tradition“ / Inputs by (approx. 15 minutes each, on the basis of specific examples):

-   Zhou Long, Liu Xiaoqing, NACTA
-   Tian Mansha, STA
-   Frank Vigneron, CUHK

followed by discussion

16.00 Break

16.30 Discussion and conclusion

18.00 End

19.00 Dinner

Friday, 28 February 2014

09.30 „Transculturality“ / Inputs by (approx. 15 minutes each, on the basis of specific examples):

-   Danny Yung, Hong Kong
-   Hans-Georg Knopp, Shanghai/Berlin
-   Daniel Spaeti, ZHdK

followed by discussion

13.00 Lunch

14.00 „Cross-disciplinarity“ / Inputs by (approx. 15 minutes each, on the basis of specific examples):

-   Maurice Benayoun, School of Creative Media
-   Qinyi Lim, Paracite Art Space, Hong Kong – to be confirmed
-   Patrick Müller, ZHdK

followed by discussion

16.00 Break

16.30 Discussion and conclusion

18.00 End and Apero with additional local guests

Saturday, 1 March 2014

09.30 „Program development of extended educational format“ / Inputs by:

-   Patrick Müller, ZHdK
-   Daniel Spaeti, ZHdK

followed by discussion

12.00 Lunch

13.00 "Program development of extended educational format, Planning Forum II & Activities 2014/15"

15.00 Conclusions

16.00 End

 

List of Participants

Confirmed participants

Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK):

Prof. Hartmut Wickert, Board Member and Director of Performing Arts Department ZHdK
Prof. Patrick Müller, Project Lead ZHdK Study Centre Hong Kong, Head of MA Transdisciplinarity
Daniel Späti, Project Lead Common Stage, Lecturer and Research Fellow
Nuria Krämer, Artistic and Scientific Associate, ZHdK Study Centre Hong Kong

National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts (NACTA), 1-2 representatives:

Prof. Liu Xiaoqing, Project Lead Common Stage, Head of Costume Design
Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts (HKAPA):
Prof. Ceri Sherlock, Chair of School of Drama
Gillian Choa, Chair of School of Theatre and Entertainment Arts

City University of Hong Kong (CityU):

Prof. Dr. Maurice Benayoun, School of Creative Media
Dr. Harald Kraemer, Associate Professor, School of Creative Media
Dr. Bo Zheng, Assistant Professor, School of Creative Media
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK):
Prof. Dr. Frank Vigneron, Head of Graduate Division, Dep. of Fine Arts
Guest, PhD Student/Performance Studies, Singapore

Shanghai Theatre Academy (STA):

Prof. Tian Mansha, Vice-President, College of Xiqu
Prof. Dr. Hans-Georg Knopp, Senior Advisor for International Development Strategy (former Secretary General of Goethe Institutes worldwide)
China Academy of Art, Hangzhou:
Dr. Shi Ke, Associate Professor Performance Art, School of Transmedia Art
Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou:
Tao Mo, Provost or other representative confirmed

Experts (HK, Mainland China, Europe):

Danny Yung, Director, Artist, Founder Zuni Icosahedron, Board Member WKCDA, Hong Kong
Zhao Chuan, Director, Writer, Shanghai
Hammad Nasar, Head of Research and Programmes, Asia Art Archive (AAA), Hong Kong
Anthony Yung, Project Coordinator/Senior Researcher, Asia Art Archive (AAA), Hong Kong
Prof. Dr. Jörg Huber, Critical Theory and Aesthetics, Zurich

Translation

LeeAnne Yu, ZHdK Study Centre Hong Kong