AAPPAC conference to bring performing arts leaders to Hong Kong as WestK prepares for new venue

Hosted by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority for the first time, the conference will bring together more than 200 leaders from performing arts venues, institutions and companies across the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. It marks AAPPAC’s 30th anniversary and comes ahead of the planned 2027 opening of the WestK Performing Arts Centre, the district’s largest performing arts venue. Delegates will receive a preview of the new centre.

Under the theme The Next Act: Shaping the Future, the programme asks how performing arts organisations can respond to economic pressure, technological change and shifting expectations of the places they operate. Three keynote speakers will offer perspectives from different artistic disciplines: musical director and composer Leon Ko, Australian artist and choreographer Amrita Hepi, and composer, conductor and conceptual artist Huang Ruo.

The first panel, moderated by West Kowloon Cultural District Authority chief executive Betty Fung, will examine funding pressures and future strategies for performing arts organisations. Speakers include Brenna Hobson of Sydney Opera House, Cecilia Ho of the Lee Hysan Foundation and Vietnamese theatre-maker Nguyen Bich Tra. A discussion on technological innovation will bring together participants including Factory International creative director Low Kee Hong and Hong Kong media artist Keith Lam.

On 8 October, a panel on new approaches to programming will feature leaders from Queensland Performing Arts Centre, SMG Performing Arts Group, Hong Kong Ballet and New Zealand’s TĀWHIRI Festivals and Experiences. Breakout sessions will consider the choices between building and refurbishing venues, inclusive and sustainable programming, and cross-border collaboration. Among the speakers are Professor Anna CY Chan, director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and Louis Siu, international partnerships consultant at London’s Southbank Centre.

The final day will look more directly at the future of performing arts centres. Moderated by WestK’s executive director of performing arts, Paul Tam, the discussion will draw on AAPPAC’s three decades of work and bring together representatives of Auckland Live, Canberra Theatre Centre and Singapore’s Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay.

The conference will also give visiting delegates an opportunity to see work from Hong Kong artists. Its opening performance, TS Crew’s No Dragon No Lion, combines elements of lion dance and kung fu with parkour, martial arts and beatboxing. Other showcases include an excerpt from Théâtre de la Feuille’s physical theatre production Book of Mountains and Seas – The Fates of Mountains and Rivers. Alongside the performances, themed small-group discussions, structured introductions and a Connecting Lunch are intended to help presenters and venues develop future projects together.

AAPPAC leads directly into the second Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX), which runs from 9 to 13 October. WestK is working with HKPAX organiser the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to encourage delegates to attend both events. Five WestK productions or presentations will appear in the expo’s Partner Programme, including a Cantonese opera experience curated by Law Ka-ying, dance works by local independent artists, a programme with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and a performance by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s brass quintet.

Together, the conference and expo will put Hong Kong’s artists, venues and international connections before visiting presenters at a consequential moment for WestK. As its new Performing Arts Centre approaches opening, the discussions will also test what performing arts venues need to offer the artists, audiences and communities they serve.