HK33: Alison Friedman – Bringing Countries & Cultures Together Through Performing Arts

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

“𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟. 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑖𝑡 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑠𝑒𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑖𝑎 𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒.”

𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬:

► “𝑀𝑦 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑗𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑡𝑡𝑙𝑒 𝑜𝑓 ‘𝐴𝑛𝑑’ 𝑣𝑠 ‘𝑂𝑟’. 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑢𝑝, 𝐼 𝑓𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑠𝑒. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 ‘𝐴𝑛𝑑’ 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑢𝑚𝑝ℎ 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 ‘𝑂𝑟’. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑 𝑎 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑏𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠.”

► “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑙𝑖𝑓𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑑𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒.”

► “𝑀𝑦 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒𝑠.”\

► “𝐻𝐾 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑙𝑦 𝑠𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑.”

► “𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑛𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑛 [𝑎𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝐻𝐾].”

𝐆𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐞:
Alison Friedman is Artistic Director – Performing Arts at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA), one of the largest arts and cultural developments in the world, since October 2017. She leads the dance, theatre, xiqu, music and outdoor teams of the Performing Arts Division to ensure WKCDA’s performing arts programs are conceptualized, curated and implemented in a forward-looking manner that realizes the Authority’s vision to be a regional and global leader in the performing arts.

Originally from U.S.A., Ms. Friedman has spent nearly two decades in Greater China. She has worked closely with Chinese and international governments, non-profit and private organizations, as well as established and emerging independent performing artists across genres.  She was board member (2013-2018) of the International Society for the Performing Arts, one of the largest international alliances of leaders in the performing arts. Fluent in Mandarin, she founded the successful cultural exchange organization Ping Pong Productions (PPP) in 2010 after studying as a Fulbright scholar at the Department of History in Peking University and the Beijing Dance Academy in Mainland China from 2002 to 2003. Prior to PPP, Alison held producer and general manager roles at dance and music institutions including the Beijing Modern Dance Company as well as famed composer / conductor Tan Dun’s production and management company.