# Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation

Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) was established by Lindsey McAlister OBE, in 1993. It serves people in Hong Kong aged 5 to 25 years. It is one of the largest youth art organisations in the world.

## History

In 1993 Lindsey McAlister founded the Hong Kong Youth Arts Festival for people aged 5–25 to engage in multidisciplinary arts, regardless of their cultural background, language or ability. Her intention was that she “didn’t want anybody to have to pay for anything”, so needed to find external funding to cover all expenses. Initially, unable to find a sponsor as she had no track record in Hong Kong, she took out a personal overdraft to cover the costs of the first two-week festival. McAlister sent a copy of the festival brochure to everyone she had approached for sponsorship, including Po Chung, the then-head of DHL (Asia). He got in touch with her, asking who her sponsor was. Hearing that McAlister was funding the whole enterprise herself, Po Chung gave her a cheque to cover the first festival's costs, and also paid for the following festival too.
After Chung’s donation, “word about the festival was spreading like wildfire” and other sponsors joined including Morgan Stanley, MTR Corporation, ABN Amro, Standard Chartered Hong Kong and Swire Properties. The first two-week festival took place in 1994.
HKYAF was located at the Hong Kong Arts Centre from 1995 until 2005 when it moved to its current location in Quarry Bay. With the move, their facilities grew to include on-site rehearsal and workshop spaces. In 2006 HKYAF was considered “the world’s largest arts programme for young people”, at which point 94% of participants were from 800 local schools, with most projects conducted in Cantonese.

### Funding and support

HKYAF is supported by corporate and private funding; it receives no direct funding from the government. The first two festivals were supported by Business for Art, which twinned the “commercial world with arts events.” In 1995 Standard Chartered Hong Kong joined as the main sponsor. Long-term supporters of the foundation also include Hong Kong Jockey Club Charity Trust, the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation and Swire Properties. Early patrons were David Tang, Lavender Patten and Rita McAulay.

### International events

Early in its existence HKYAF took three productions to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe:
* Curiouser and Curiouser and Ssshhh…! (1997)
* Who’s Afraid of Monsters? (1998)
* Matilda (1999)

### Social awareness

Over the course of its history HKYAF has run projects and events based on a variety of social and environmental issues, including:
* BEA’s Beyond Environmental Arts Festival
* #BeTheChange, a dance and spoken word film series that tackled social issues including climate change, the need for food banks and plastic pollution
* Eco-art installation at The Loop, Taikoo Place
* Theatre productions dealing with issues regarding mental health, body image, gender identity and social media

## Flagship events

Each year HKYAF runs approximately 100 events for visual, performing and literary arts. Its two annual flagship events are a large-scale youth theatre production and Arts in the Park (formerly Arts in the Plaza), a two-day community arts event.

### Theatre productions

Since 1998 HKYAF has produced an annual youth musical or drama, directed by McAlister. Locations for performances have included Hong Kong Arts Centre’s Shouson Theatre, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, ArtisTree, the Fringe Club and Free Space, West Kowloon Cultural District.
| Year | Title | Venue | Notes |
| 1998 | Matilda | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | Created by McAlister. Music by Nick Harvey. McAlister secured the rights to Dahls’s work through David Tang’s friendship with the Dahl family. |
| 1998 | Godspell | St John’s Cathedral, Central | Adapted by McAlister |
| 1998 | Matilda | Venue 34 at Edinburgh Festival Fringe | |
| 1998 | West Side Story | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 1998 | The Magic Flute | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2000 | Grease | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2001 | Little Shop of Horrors | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2001 | The Secret Garden | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2002 | Bugsy Malone | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2003 | Blood Brothers | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2003 | The Wiz | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2004 | Footloose | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2005 | Fame | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2006 | Disco Inferno | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2007 | Insomnia | Fringe Club, Central | |
| 2008 | Lear’s Daughters | Fringe Club, Central | |
| 2009 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2009 | Storm in a Teacup | Fringe Club, Central | |
| 2010 | Rent | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2011 | Spring Awakening | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2011 | The Story of a Girl | Fringe Club, Central | |
| 2012 | Godspell | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2013 | A Chorus Line | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2014 | Oliver! | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2015 | The Evil Within | CIS Auditorium | |
| 2015 | Blood Brothers | APA Amphitheatre | |
| 2016 | Rent | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | |
| 2017 | Melodia | Queen Elizabeth Stadium | Written by McAlister. Music by Violaine Corradi and Rose Winebrenner |
| 2017 | PROJECT AFTER 6: Cube Culture | ArtisTree, Taikoo Place | Written by McAlister. Music by Nick Harvey |
| 2018 | Fame | Shouson Theatre | |
| 2019 | If Not Me, Who? | ArtisTree, Taikoo Place | Written by McAlister. Part of Theatre Bites series. Music by Violaine Corradi |
| 2020 | #Hashtag | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | Written by McAlister |
| 2021 | Only a Girl | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | Written by McAlister |
| 2022 | I’mperfect | Shouson Theatre, Hong Kong Arts Centre | Written by McAlister |
| 2023 | 24:7:365 | The Box, West Kowloon Cultural District | Written by McAlister |
| 2023 | PROJECT AFTER 6: You Man Tai | ArtisTree, Taikoo Place | Written by McAlister. Music by Nick Harvey |
| 2024 | Gen Last | The Box, West Kowloon Cultural District | Written by McAlister. Music by Amuer Calderon |
HKYAF’s annual Pull Back the Curtain series, showcasing local playwrights and actors, began in 2014. It was started by local director Clare Stearns and was inspired by London’s National Theatre’s course for young playwrights.

### Standard Chartered Arts in the Park (AIP)

HKYAF produces the Standard Chartered Arts in the Park (AIP) annually. It is Hong Kong’s largest outdoor youth festival. It began as a “small event in Southorn Playground in Wan Chai” in 1993 and 1994. It was developed into Arts in the Plaza and has been held on Hong Kong island (except during the pandemic) every winter since 2001. The first location was Stanley Plaza with “only hundreds” of participants. In 2008 it changed its name to Standard Chartered Arts in the Park, returned to Victoria Park, Causeway Bay and became a two-day event.
| Year | Name | Location | Date/s | Theme |
| 1995 | Arts in the Park | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | November 1995 | |
| 1998 | Arts in the Park | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 1 November 1998 | With the Standard Chartered Wiggly Squiggly Circus |
| 2001 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | | |
| 2002 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | 3 November 2002 | |
| 2003 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley | 2 November 2003 | |
| 2004 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | 31 October 2004 | |
| 2005 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | 30 October 2005 | |
| 2006 | Arts in the Plaza | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | 5 November 2006 | |
| 2007 | Arts in the Plaza Carnival | Village Square, Stanley Plaza | 28 October 2007 | The event also raised awareness of HIV/AIDS |
| 2008 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 8 November 2008 | Including a Gulliver’s Travels themed parade with over 500 performers |
| 2009 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 14 and 15 November 2009 | |
| 2010 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 14 and 15 November 2010 | Inspired by the elements: fire, earth, air, water and metal |
| 2011 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 12 and 13 November 2011 | Inspired by Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland |
| 2012 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 17 and 18 November 2012 | Theme: Circus – A Feast for the Senses |
| 2013 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 16 and 17 November 2013 | Theme: Gallery in Motion |
| 2014 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 14 and 15 November 2014 | The theme was Defying Gravity |
| 2015 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 14 and 15 November 2015 | A classical music theme including Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade and Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale |
| 2016 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park Mardi Gras | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 12 and 13 November 2016 | Inspired by the work of William Shakespeare |
| 2017 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | | Inspired by the world of Roald Dahl |
| 2018 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 3 and 4 November 2018 | Inspired by the Land of Oz. Featuring a night parade for the first time |
| 2019 | CANCELLED | | | |
| 2020 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | Online | 2 – 8 November 2020 | 10,000 art packs were distributed for online art activities |
| 2021 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | West Kowloon Cultural District | 6 and 7 November 2021 | Inspired by Peter Pan. Included a 5-day online programme |
| 2022 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | West Kowloon Cultural District Art Park | 3 and 4 December 2022 | Inspired by a Dickensian Christmas |
| 2023 | Standard Chartered Arts in the Park | Victoria Park, Causeway Bay | 2 and 3 December 2023 | Inspired by Saint-Saën’s The Carnival of the Animals |

## Notable visual projects

HKYAF has created many visual art events including:
| Year | Project | Location |
| 1996 | One thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine postcards | Gallery 7, Central, Adelaide Festival |
| 1998 | Starry, Starry Night | Hong Kong Arts Centre |
| 2001, 2002 | World of Words | Pao Galleries, Hong Kong Arts Centre |
| 2004 | Jockey Club Pop Art Made in Hong Kong | City Plaza, Festival Walk, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Pacific Place |
| 2012 | Aedas Secret Spaces | Shek Kip Mei |
| 2014 - 2016 | Ocean Art Walk | Stanley Plaza |
| 2017 onwards | Hong Kong Urban Canvas – shop shutter art | Various |
| 2019 | East Rail Line – Fun Fun Art | |
| 2019 | Draw HK | PMQ, Central |
| 2020-2023 | Jockey Club Project Silver Intergeneration Arts Project | Various |

## Select performances and exhibitions

* Fame (2019)
* BEA Beyond Environmental Arts Festival (2022)
* Hashtag (2020)
* Standard Chartered Arts in the Park
* Draw HK (2019)
* Standard Chartered Arts in the Park
* Lee Gardens Street Art Festival
* 24.7.365 (2023)
* StArt Up exhibition

## Notable collaborations

Over the course of 30 years, HKYAF has worked with both local and internationally recognised artists, educators and specialists, including:
* Phil Ashcroft, Xenz and Mr Jago – street artists
* David Branson – theatre director
* Lola Clavel - fashion designer
* Violaine Corradi - composer
* Heidi Duckler – choreographer
* PatPatKate - illustrator
* Ralph Koltai – stage designer
* Maysum - visual artist, makeup artist
* Rory Mullarkey - playwright
* Marsha Roddy - designer
* Tracy Lee Stum – artist
* Uncle – mural artist
* Noble Wong – mural artist
The following are some of the organisations and businesses it has collaborated with:
* City Contemporary Dance Company (CCDC)
* Chung Ying Theatre Company
* International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA)
* Lantern Co. – UK prop designers
* National Youth Theatre of Great Britain
* Third Rail Projects - New York site-specific dance company

## Notable alumni

The following people attended HKYAF events as young people:
* Ansonbean (Anton Chan Ngai-san) - singer
* Cletus Chan - actor
* Natalie Hsu - actor
* Sadie Kaye – author, actor, filmmaker and TV presenter
* Matthew Leonhart - actor
* Jade Ma - actor
* Shannon Murphy - TV and film director
* Alistair So - actor
* Isabella Wei - dancer, actor