HKPAX: Asia's New Stage for Global Arts Dialogue

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For all of Asia’s geographical vastness, rich cultural heritage, and burgeoning artistic scenes, there is still a relative lack of large-scale events where performing arts professionals can come together to exchange experiences and ideas. The debut of such a platform, then, is in itself cause for celebration — in this case, the Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo (HKPAX), due to be held from 14th to 18th October, 2024. 
  
Hosted by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC) in the city’s West Kowloon Cultural District, HKPAX aims to be a meeting point for arts practitioners from China and worldwide. 

In doing so, the expo joins a short but hopefully growing list that includes the likes of the Yokohama Performing Arts Meeting (YPAM), the Performing Arts Market in Seoul (PAMS), the China Shanghai International Arts Festival (ChinaSPAF), and the Bangkok International Performing Arts Meeting (BIPAM). 

The fact that the inaugural event is launching a mere three years after the global pandemic and lockdowns — Hong Kong, in fact, only opened its borders in early 2022 — is particularly significant. 

In the past few years, as the world cautiously emerged from the shadow of COVID-19, the arts sector found itself at a crossroads. On the one hand, it is not lost on most arts workers what a privilege it is to have the opportunity to gather again, what more in celebration of a new kid on the performing arts block. (Particularly as the last few years saw the coming to an end of a number of similar arts meets, such as Kuala Lumpur’s Borak Arts Series.)

However, the pandemic has also forced a reevaluation of traditional practices, from touring models to audience