Europe's biggest cultural festival lines up Chinese performances
Hong Kong is represented in the China theme of Europe's biggest cultural festival, which highlights the best of a country's art, theatre, dance and music.
Europalia was founded in Brussels in 1969 to showcase the arts and culture of member states of the European Union. This has been broadened to include countries way beyond the European continent.
This year Europalia celebrates its 40th anniversary and China is the showcase nation in the four-month event being held across Belgium.
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Ensemble will be giving three performances next month, while Hong Kong experimental theatre is represented with a Kunqu opera production by the Zuni Icosahedron company called Tang Xianzu's Dream on Dreams. Kunqu is the oldest existing form of opera in China and characterised by sung melodies accompanied by flute.
A selection from Flagstaff House's Museum of Tea Ware will also be on show at Europalia in a special tea house exhibition devoted to what the organisers describe as one of the pillars of Chinese culture.
Belgium's consul general to Hong Kong, Michel Malherbe, said that securing a Hong Kong presence at Europalia ranked as an achievement by the local Belgian community and the consulate.
A spokesman for Europalia said the event offered European audiences an insight into dimensions of Chinese culture beyond the usual cliches. Interest has also been spurred by the success of last year's Beijing Olympics and anticipation ahead of next year's Shanghai Expo.
Europalia has been collaborating with the central government's Ministry of Culture and a network of local partners to form a committee of professionals from the mainland and Europe to organise the event.
'The traditional Chinese viewpoint, in all its complexity and originality, fascinates us but it also forces us to take another approach,' the spokesman said.
In order to link the rich culture of the past with more contemporary art and culture in China, concepts were drawn from the Chinese characters for the sky, earth, human beings, energy, mountain and path.
The Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Ensemble is billed as the only professional orchestra playing traditional Chinese instruments. At Europalia, an ensemble of nine musicians will present a programme focusing on poetry and calligraphy.
Zuni Icosahedron is behind the creation and production of the opera, with Nanjing's Jiangsu Kunqu Opera House interpreting the work in two performances.
