Is there gender bias against women in Hong Kong’s performing arts?
- Men dominate senior artistic positions and festival programmes in the city, with one performing arts director saying the issue is systemic
- But it is women who hold most senior cultural administrative roles, including at the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Hong Kong Ballet
One good thing the pandemic has done for the arts is thrust local talent into the limelight. But has this rare opportunity to grab audience attention in Hong Kong been shared equally?
Despite plenty of female performers featuring on stage, a marked gender gap exists among the principle characters behind most of 2021’s productions.
Take the Jockey Club New Arts Power (JCNAP), an annual arts festival in Hong Kong. Works by seven individual creators or groups were on the 2021 list, all consisting of either male solo artists or groups headed by a male artistic director. (This article is not intended to suggest that any of the male artists did not merit selection by the festival.)
“It is a coincidence that the majority of JCNAP participating artists are male,” a spokesman for the festival said.
A tally of the main performing arts festivals of 2021 shows a dearth of female creative leaders being acknowledged generally. Is it coincidence, a systemic bias in the curation of programmes, or broader issues affecting the availability of female talent in the field?
Opposing views exist among those with an intimate knowledge of the industry.