The last edition of Hong Kong Library Festival was a hybrid of on-site and online shows. Its flagship project, a showcasing of Hong Kong literature through immersive installations and live performances, moved online as well. Elaine Wong reports.
Among the live shows staged as part of Hong Kong Library Festival, face changing performances proved to be a major hit. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Most cultural festivals scheduled in 2020 had to be canceled or transferred online, owing to restrictions on social gathering, and literary events were no exception. The annual Hong Kong Book Fair, for example, was postponed from July to December until it became clear that it couldn’t be held in 2020. However, the second Hong Kong Library Festival, hosted by the city’s Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL), was held as per schedule in October and November of last year. While much of the program was moved online, a number of events were also held in the physical space. The festival offered a range of family-friendly activities related to reading, with a view to encouraging a wider use of the public library system and its services, and fostering the habit of reading in the local community.
Unsurprisingly, the uncertainty over whether government regulations will force the public libraries to close all over again (like it happened in December when the fourth wave of COVID-19 arrived in Hong Kong) had kept the festival organizers on tenterhooks in the lead-up to the festival. “(Even) after reopening (the libraries), visitors had to be admitted in batches due to the reduced seating capacity and social distancing measures,” a representative from LCSD tells China Daily. “Library books and facilities were cleaned and disinfected more vigorously than ever.”
Although the hosts were trying to enforce fool-proof safety measures and some of the festival events were held in outdoor spaces, there was no stopping the decline in the number of audiences.
“I’m definitely warier when it comes to participating in the live events this year,” said Teresa Wong, a frequent user of HKPL facilities who participated in last year’s festival. “I feel especially worried for the kids in the audience.”
Readers meet a robotic library ambassador at Hong Kong Central Library during the Hong Kong Library Festival. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Online, on course
Going digital was inevitable.
“Aside from having VR games, we began videotaping and uploading events onto the festival website. (The online content) included reading clubs, handicraft workshops, children’s theatre and storytelling sessions, so that the public can enjoy the literary arts in the safety and comfort of their own homes,” the LCSD representative says.
From face-changing and puppet shows, to performances featuring classic fables and legends, several activities that took place both online and on-site, were inspired by traditional art forms with roots in literature, or were adapted from popular children’s books. The predominance of multimedia content in the library festival is perhaps a reflection of people reading across different media.
The extraordinary turn of events in 2020 pushed more people than ever toward trying to source their reading matter online. To move in sync with the demands of the time, HKPL has been looking to develop interactive technology and digital marketing in order to promote a literary culture in Hong Kong. Early in 2020, HKPL launched a one-stop online resources centre comprising electronic books, databases and “15-Minute Reads” — a program made in collaboration with RTHK to encourage daily reading practices.
A young reader checks out the game booth at Hong Kong Central Library during the library festival. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Writing the city
One of the highlights of the library festival this year had to do with a beautifully-crafted digital experience, although that was not how it had been planned. Created by one of Hong Kong’s foremost new media artists, Hung Keung, the It All Begins with a Word project was meant to be a showcasing of works by well-known Hong Kong authors — such as Liu Yichang (1918-2018), Leung Ping-kwan (Ye Si) (1949-2013) and Xi Xi (1938-). Originally, the show was visualized as a combination of physical displays, immersive installations and live performances. It is a large-scale collaboration between Hong Kong Library Festival, ReNew Vision arts festival to which various young local artists have contributed.
In the lead-up to the festival, as the big question mark hanging over the possibility of holding live shows still loomed large, Hung and his team decided to transfer a part of the project online.
“Not only would this solve the logistical issues surrounding the exhibition, but a digital project was expected to attract the young, tech-savvy generation in greater numbers,” says Hung.
Cross-disciplinary artist Hung Keung feels online access to his project introducing 20th-century Hong Kong literature (originally planned as live shows) will attract young audiences. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY )
In addition, the theme of “reading traverses time and space” works at multiple levels when the installations are spread out across the physical and virtual realms, as well as that of the audience’s imagination, Hung adds.
The online show of It All Begins with a Word contains a series of teasers for the live performances, now postponed to 2021. Short video “preludes” of the exhibition were uploaded on the project’s website in November and December of 2020, alongside interactive games, illustrations, animations, Instagram filters and even a Facebook chatbot meant to intrigue users into checking the program out, which will, hopefully, inspire them to pick up a book and start reading.
Short video preludes of Hung Keung’s It All Begins with a Word project were shared online when the pandemic ruled out live shows. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
By inviting audiences to participate in an “adventure” that leads to books, It All Begins with a Word strives to go beyond a mere show-and-tell.
“Traditional art and literature exhibitions usually just put up artworks with their context and meanings explained in plain text right beside them,” Hung points out. “Instead of spoon-feeding the audience like that, I want to create a trans-media platform for people to experience the stories and collective memory of old Hong Kong for themselves.”
“It seems that the Hong Kong government is embracing the fact that mobility and technology is part of the new normal,” says Hung, appreciating the support that made the quick transition from the physical to the virtual realm possible. “Perhaps one day, young artists will finally get to see eye to eye with the STEM majors in Hong Kong,” he adds.
Hung Keung says he wanted to create a trans-media platform where audiences can have a taste of stories as well as the collective memory of Hong Kong. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
