International Festival of Arts & Ideas features four Yale-China Association arts fellows

June 15, 2016

This year’s International Festival of Arts & Ideas will mark the debut of Yale-China Association’s first two HKETO-NY Arts Fellows from Hong Kong and offer a sneak preview of what fellows will create for next June.

The 18-month long Yale-China Arts Fellowship was established in 2014 in partnership with HKETO-NY (Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, New York) to bring two emerging professional Chinese artists to Yale and New Haven to “strengthen the creative voice in the U.S.-China relationship through the collaboration and dialogue of future leaders in the arts in both cultures,” according to the fellowship’s website.

Fellows spend six months in New Haven developing an art project that they will implement in Hong Kong — taking courses at Yale, working with New Haven artists, and attending the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in June. They will then return to China to work on a project for a year to showcase at the next festival.

The inaugural fellows, Yang Hao and Parry Ling, will showcase the culmination of their work under the fellowship during the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, while Cai Ying and Phoebe Hui will offer a preview of their intended projects for next year’s festival. Their events and projects at the International Festival of Arts &Ideas are:

2015-2017 HKETO-NY Arts Fellows showcase

June 16, 12:30 p.m., Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St.

Ying and Hui will share perspectives about creating art in the New Haven community and offer a sneak peak of their research, groundwork, and cultural experiences as international artists living in New Haven. T.L. Cowan, the Canadian Bicentennial Visiting Lecturer in the MacMillan Center and a Digital Humanities Fellow, will moderate the event.

Ying is an independent dance artist based in Hong Kong. She received her B.F.A. in Chinese dance from the Beijing Dance Academy and her M.F.A. in choreography at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. As a choreographer, Ying has been commissioned by a number of international entities, including Singapore National Arts Council, Korea International T&C Dance Festival, and Hong Kong Dance Festival. As a performer, her recent credits include “Returning Spirit” (2015), “A Dialogue Between ‘women’” (2015), and “Umbrella” (2014). Her upcoming dance piece, “ mén,” will premiere at the 2016 Hong Kong Arts Festival.

Hui is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher primarily working in the intersection between language, sound, and technology. Most recently, Hui was a lecturer in the Visual Arts and Culture Program at the Hong Kong Design Institute. She is the recipient of a number of grants and awards, including the Hong Kong Arts Development Council Young Artist Award (Media Art), Asian Cultural Council Altius Fellowship, and the Bloomberg Emerging Artist Award. Hui earned a B.A. in creative media from City University of Hong Kong, an M.A. in fine art from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, and an M.F.A. from the UCLA Department of Design Media Arts.

Parry Ling: “I Have A Dream”

Workshops: June 17, 7:30 p.m.; June 18-19, 5 p.m.

Performances: June 18, approx. 10 p.m.; June 19, approx. 8:30 p.m.

Workshops will be held on the New Haven Green and performances will follow the headline concerts.

An inaugural fellow, Ling will debut his interactive installation that explores a solution to climate change and a path to environmental sustainability. His installation, titled “I Have a Dream,” invites the public “to create sustainable energy, illuminating the installation — and also the hopes and dreams of the audience,” according to organizers.

Ling is a sculptor and cross-disciplinary visual artist based in Hong Kong, who has explored topics such as social identity, politics, and the environment in his art. A graduate of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist University, Ling has received awards and exhibited multiple works, including video installations, performance art, and other visual art in a variety of locales in Hong Kong. In addition to lecturing at the Academy of Visual Arts at Hong Kong Baptist University, Ling has exhibited at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hui Gallery at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University.

Yang Hao: “Pied À Terre” and “Middle”

June 21-22, 8 p.m., Whitney Humanities Center Auditorium, 53 Wall St. Tickets $25.

Hao’s latest work, “Pied à Terre,” premiered at the Hong Kong Festival and will make its American premiere on June 21. The piece responds to Jessica Rizzo’s poems with dance and pedestrian movement while speaking to Hao’s experiences at the crossroads of East and West.

“Middle” is inspired by Hao and Alice Rensy’s interest in movements in Chinese ancient culture. Starting with a selection of movements from traditional dances and martial arts, Hao and Rensy stage these moves in their own style, editing the usual fast pace and using various music records to create a new form of Chinese dance.

Hao is a contemporary dancer based in Hong Kong. He grew up in Chongqing and studied in Beijing until he moved to Hong Kong to study at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2007. In addition to teaching dance in Hong Kong, Hao has toured with the Chinese Opera and Dance Drama Theater, China Song and Dance Troupe from Guangzhou, Guangdong Modern Dance Company, and the City Contemporary Dance Company. Most recently, Hao has choreographed several pieces, including “Cube” (2013) at the Seoul International Dance Festival, “Outspoken” (2014) at the Hong Kong Arts Festival, and “Nothing … but something” (2014) with Rensy.

For tickets and more information, visit the website for the International Festival of Arts & Ideas.

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