ACC HK Announces 2017 Fellowship Recipients

Hong Kong, China - The Asian Cultural Council (ACC) is pleased to announce the cohort of leading artists from Hong Kong and China who have received the 2017 ACC fellowship awards.

Headquartered in New York with offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei and Manila, ACC is a non-profit organization that awards fellowships and provides program services for cultural exchange in the arts. ACC believes that the arts are central to the lives of people and offer unique opportunities for the growth of communication, respect, and mutual understanding between those of different cultures. The ACC is funded by the generosity of its private donors from Asia and the U.S.

“The uniqueness of the Asian Cultural Council’s fellowship lies in its long-term and immersive nature, with a high degree of staff support and customization for the needs of each individual awardee. This immersive experience allows precious time and space that often make a profound impact on the awardee. The ACC is privileged to receive many strong applicants this year. Congratulations to these extraordinary and talented artists who will be joining the ACC’s international network of leaders and specialists in the arts.” says Josephine Wai, Director of ACC Hong Kong.

This year’s cohort of fellowship awardees represent a selection of bright artists and arts professionals currently at the forefront of arts and cultural developments in Hong Kong and China. In the field of visual arts, fellowship recipients include art critic Lu Mingjun (魯明軍) and curator Vivian Ting (丁穎茵), as well as visual artist Yang Yuanyuan (楊圓圓). Lu Mingjun is Associate Professor of Art History at the Art College of Sichuan University and a leading art critic. He will investigate two major arts criticism periodicals October and Artforum, interview prominent art critics, and visit art studios and exhibitions in the U.S. Vivian Ting is a Hong Kong curator and art researcher who is currently teaching Museum Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She will be conducting field research on the development of museology in the U.S., as part of her research project on the museum’s relationship with the wider public and civil societies around the world. Yuanyuan Yang is a visual artist based in Beijing, who works with photography, video, performance and artist books. She intends to conduct research on the U.S. immigration history and learn about independent publishing in the U.S.

Three of this year’s fellowships have been awarded to individuals in the performing arts. In the field of theater, Beijing-based theater director Li Jianjun (李建軍) will be travelling to New York for research on conventional theater and the contemporary visual art scene. In music, trombonist and student at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Alan Wai Lun Tam (譚偉麟) has received the Lady Fung Music Fellowship to attend the renowned Aspen Music Festival and School in the summer. Music composer and educator Joyce Tang (鄧慧中), whose works encompass various genres and have been performed worldwide, will visit New York to conduct research on its contemporary music and art scene and attend contemporary music festivals to explore possibilities of music composition.

This year’s fellowship recipient in the field of film is Wong Chun (黃進), an emerging film director whose recent work Mad World has earned him the Best New Director Awards at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards and the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2017. He will visit New York to observe its art scene and participate in the New York Film Festival to explore the possibilities in filmmaking with a global vision.

In architecture, the Tsinghua – MIT Exchange Program supported by the Hsin Chong K.N. Godfrey Yeh Education Fund is awarded to ChenYulin (陳宇琳). Dr. Chen is Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Planning, Tshinghua University School of Architecture, Beijing. She will attend the Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to further her studies in urban planning policies and community planning.

About the Asian Cultural Council Hong Kong

Since the establishment of the Hong Kong office in 1986, the Asian Cultural Council has awarded nearly 600 fellowships to leading arts professionals from Hong Kong and China, for programs of advanced study and research in the United States and other countries in Asia. This group of individuals and organizations are part of a network of approximately 6,000 outstanding cultural professionals across Asia and the United States, who have been supported by the ACC since it was first established in 1963 in New York by John D. Rockefeller 3rd.

Application for 2018 Fellowships

The Asian Cultural Council will begin receiving applications in the fall of 2017 for fellowships to be awarded in 2018. For more information, please refer to the website: www.asianculturalcouncil.org.hk

Editors who are interested in receiving more information from the ACC or in arranging an interview with our grant fellows are welcome to contact: Ms Suki Ching | T: 2895 0407 | E: sching@acc.org.hk