Role model
Anna CY Chan, who took office as the director of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts last month, reveals her ambitious program to promote the institution on the international stage to Chitralekha Basu.
Four-pronged policy goals
There can be no doubt that Chan has been entrusted with leading a fine institution comprising students and faculty that are above par. The HKAPA was Asia's No 1 in the Performing Arts category per the QS World University Rankings for six years in a row until it slid down by one place quite recently. Chan, however, would like to seize the moment, and lay the groundwork for "where we can take the academy in the next 40 years".
She has drawn up an ambitious, and well thought-through, plan with four-point policy goals. The first of these has to do with opening up more channels of communication and networking between the HKAPA graduates and potential hirers from around the world. "The skill sets of our graduates are first class," she says, though that information may not always be articulated, or comprehended, to the extent that it can yield results. Under the guidance of Chan — whose international network of associates in the creative fields extends from Australia to Austria — the HKAPA's student counseling facility is looking to "close this gap".
Extending the institute's global reach would necessitate projecting it as a socially responsible brand, adhering to conscious lifestyle practices. "I want to explore the idea of putting on green productions and developing the concept of green theater," Chan says. "In Asia, we do not have too many performance arts schools, or stage productions, doing this yet, so I think for us it could be a very good opportunity. If we as an educational institution can inspire better sensitivity and mindset changes in artists of the future, I think it's a contribution to overall societal development."
The third item on her agenda takes its cue from Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu's 2024 Policy Address, in which he mentions "adopting an industry-oriented approach to promote the development of the cultural and creative industries". Chan says she wishes to develop the HKAPA as "an incubator for innovation" — create a free space for developing new ideas that may not necessarily lead to stage productions, but in case they demonstrate potential "our students can have a go-to platform" rather than having to seek out a producer. "I really believe that if we can create a space for new ideas to flow, with no pressure on the participants to show results, they will be able to achieve more."
