Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Fu Kuen, my family name is Tang. I’m an independent producer, curator and dramaturg for theater and also a visual arts. I’m originally from Singapore but I’m based in Bangkok. I often travel between Asia and Europe and also within Asia. A lot of my work is independent with individual artists in different contexts and also making artistic work, producing and advising other artists.

You have been working a lot with different performing arts festivals. What kind of intercultural collaboration have you done in that field?

As a curator for festivals, I’m mostly responsible for identifying current practices and productions in Asia that are interesting and could be transferred for festival audiences in Europe.

What kinds of trends can you see in the cultural sector in Thailand?

In Thailand, as in many other developing countries, globalization is rising. It’s very hard to identify what the audince is looking for. but there is a general trend towards entertainment and lifestyle genres. Also musicals are in rise, and films – the Thai people are really into Blockbusters.

You talked about new circus at EARS on Helsinki. What kind of market is there for circus in Thailand?

Thailand doesn’t have a very big tradition in circus compared to the neighboring countries such as Vietnam and Cambodia where there are many circus troops. I think that European new circus as a genre has a lot to give to Asia. There’s also a lot of potential for collaboration – how it would look like is hard to say. Young people in Asia are very open-minded and connected via social media and all sorts of virtual experimentations these days. So it could well be an online circus for example! We’re talking about a very vibrant, dynamic young audience and creators. They are game to try many things.

What do you think about China as a market for contemporary arts?

I think that China as a case is quite specific. Since the country opened its doors for globalization, the huge population of China is exposed in a way like never before. China is a huge potential market from a cultural industry point of view. The consumers are very curious and the demographic is very broad. Even if you are a niche kind of practice, you can find your audience there because it’s such a big market. I would like to think that the Chinese market is not always mass-based. There are individuals and sectors that want something else but can’t find it.

What kinds of differences in performing artists’ training methods have you noticed between Europe and Asia?

In Asia it’s always been that the body and mind cannot be separated. So when they do their training, they do a lot of meditation and holistic exercises. It’s not just about building muscles, strength and body but also making sure that mind and body are working in a holistic way. For example yoga as a kind of maintenance and internal strength exercise, is a part of a scheme for training process. I see that this kind of body practicing is increasing in Europe as well.

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Hey, who are you and what do you do?

I’m Tay Tong and I’m from Singapore. Here in EARS on Shanghai I’m wearing different hats: I’m a producer in Singapore and I have my own company called TheatreWorks. We have a center that is called 7213 which presents international artists and holds residencies. I’m also the director of Arts Network Asia which basically is a grant giving body to support Asia to Asia exchange and dialogue. We also have a program called Creative Encounters that supports Asia–Europe conversations. I’m also the aid to the festival director Ong Keng Sen of the Singapore International Festival of Arts.

What is the history of Arts Network Asia?

The network was established in 1999 when a group of us, managers and artists from Southeast Asia, felt that we were not meeting fellow Asian artists in Asia. We were meeting each other in New York, in London, in Paris and Rome. The main reason for this was that there was no mobility grant that would allow Asian artists to come together in Asia. So we all got together, put together a paper, a brochure for foundations and asked for money to create a mobility grant for Asian artists to meet other Asian artists. That’s how we got started, this is our 14^th year.

Is the grant for performing arts only?

The ANA – Arts Network Asia grants are actually beyond performing arts. We have supported film makers, visual artists, new media artists and artists working with environment. We have also created very separately networks that we call peer communities. They  are to support organizations building artistic communities within their own local areas.

How has the performing arts field developed in Asia under the years?

As a whole, many interesting developments have evolved in the performing arts field in Asia. Our art from the traditional art to the contemporary has always been rooted in the day to day life. Art is very multidisciplinary, it’s about dance, it’s about storytelling, it’s about music. And what we can see now across the continent is that many directors and performance makers are rethinking and relooking at the classics and how to make them more connected with contemporary life, day to day living. But at the same time there are new languages that have been created and there are deeper ways where artists from different countries and cultures are coming together. Artists are also rethinking what a performance is. The study of the body is a real interest now in terms of dance – you look at the body and what can the body do. It’s interesting to think what does this mean for an Asian dancer who is trained in classical way to perform contemporary dance. So I think there are many paths of development, which makes the entire scene very alive and interesting, I’m constantly curious!

How could the field develop further in Asia?

I don’t think there is just one thing that needs to be done. We should allow the different art forms or scenes to develop. Asia is so diverse, there is not one scene, there are many scenes, many worlds that have been created.  The individual scenes are constantly evolving based on the people’s, artists’ interests. In order to develop the field, we should work with those individuals: what motivates them, what are the new ideas or concepts that they have. The fact that the field is so diverse makes it such a great platform for the arts, especially in Asia. We are all realizing that there is so much to celebrate in terms of engaging with the others – who ever the other is. It’s not geographical, it could be mindset, we can be in the same room but think differently and be motivated differently.  So what I am looking forward to is closer engagement and conversation in a way to agree and disagree. We should recognize this huge diversity and just enjoy it and celebrate it.

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