Skip to main content

"Asia Connection: Producers Camp" to cultivate the next generation of producers

  • Date:2021-08-09
'Asia Connection: Producers Camp' to cultivate the next generation of producers

The "Asia Connection: Producers Camp" jointly planned by National Theater and Concert Hall (NTCH), Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, Museum of Performing Arts, National Theater of Korea and Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre will be launched at the end of August, while holding a 3-week online workshop to cultivate the next generation of Asian-minded producers.

Executive and Artistic Director of the NTCH Liu Yi-Ruu (劉怡汝) stated that by bringing together multiple nations, the workshop hopes to foster propositions and viewpoints that belong to the Asian artistic vocabulary.

Through the mentor system of one-to-one guidance, it is hoped that good producers and works that reflect Asia’s abundant creative capacity will be discovered, Liu added.

The five mentors will be producer of Akram Khan Company in the UK Farooq Chaudhry, former artistic director of Singapore International Festival of Arts Wang Jing-sheng, creative director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in the Netherlands Wouter van Ransbeek, artistic director and CEO of Sadler's Wells Theatre in the UK Alistair Spalding, and artistic director of OzAsia Festival Australia Annette Shun Wah.

Liu Yi-Ruu pointed out that the content of the producer workshop’s submission proposal project reflects the diversity of cultures in the Asia region, with one-fifth of the content having undergone planning and change in response to the pandemic, such as through VR, AR, XR, online livestreaming, among others.

There are also new works that come from a place of self-identity, exploration of cultural contexts, or a fusion of traditional and contemporary performance styles, Liu added.

“Asia Connection: Producers Camp” has received submissions from 40 producers with up to five years of experience from countries such as Australia, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam in addition to those who are focused on the artistic development in the Asia-Pacific region from Switzerland or the US. Out of the submissions, 16 producers were selected by the four institutions to participate in the workshop.