.png)
About CUBE
CUBE is a non-governmental organisation established by a group of Hong Kong people who profoundly love their cinematic culture.Initially, it was an idea that came up during a casual chat, while drinking milk tea - two Hong Kong expatriates talked about to share their love of theater, cinema and other creative art forms with the French public, from a Hong Kong perspective" (and not "to share their love for theatre, cinema and other creative art forms from a Hong Kong perspective with the French public. The idea then became an actual project with the help of professionals from the industry, independent artists and intellectuals. Not only is the name Cube an alternative representation of C³ (an acronym of the name – Association des Créations Culturelles et Cinématographiques de Hong-Kong), but it also underlies an ambition of bringing our audiences to re-experience Hong Kong culture from a stereo-dimensional perspective.
CUBE's Founding Background
It's evident that there has been a significant rise in independent art creations in Hong Kong since 2014. This trend, however, is relatively new and unfamiliar to the French public, as well as to the local conventional arts industry and the Hong Kong government. Many artists and creators have faced challenges in promoting and exporting their works abroad. This challenge has been exacerbated since the introduction of the National Security Law in 2020, requiring artists and creators to adapt to new circumstances. In order to support Hong Kong creators in promoting their works and advancing their careers across Europe, we are dedicated to establishing this organization. Our goal is to enrich the art scene in France with Hong Kong identity and provide artists with opportunities to collaborate with diverse communities in France and explore new creative possibilities.
Vision Of CUBE
Our vision (2D and 1C) is simple! It comprises three main categories: Demonstration, Distribution, and Collaboration. Demonstration implies “exhibition” for any static or digital artworks, “show” for any musical or theatrical works, and “screening” for any cinematic works. Distribution implies the “circulation” of any shows or artworks’ exhibition, “distribution” of films including streaming, and “publication” of any printed artworks such as bandes-dessinées. Collaboration implies cooperation with other different art organizations or communities in France or in Europe.
The Objectives Of CUBE
A bridge between Hong Kong and the world.
*
Promote Hong Kong's art and culture.
To promote Hong Kong cinema, theater, contemporary music (both pop and independent), pop culture, language (Cantonese), and other various contemporary artistic creations in France.
*
Favoriser la Sensibilité Multiculturelle des Artistes de HK
To foster multicultural sensitivity among artists and creators from Hong Kong towards diversity through various campaigns in cooperation with artists from different communities and backgrounds in Europe.
*
Priority on Community and Independent Art
*
Empowering Hong Kong Artists' Networking
To enhance networking and marketing for new independent Hong Kong artists and creators in Francophone areas (or possibly across Europe in the future, depending on Cube's development).
*
Prioritizing Unique Artistic Voices
To fully utilize our resources, we prioritize authors with a unique artistic character, specific humanistic concerns, or whose works highlight the specificity of Hong Kong's history, society, or culture.
Therefore, promoting community art, small to medium-budget works, and independent creations will be our top priority, as productions with government support or massive investments will be much more accessible to the French public.
Our Team
CUBE is founded and declared in Paris under the French regulation – la loi du 1er juillet 1901 et le décret du 16 août 1901. The association will be managed by a permanent board, which is currently seated by Lok Kan CHEUNG and YEUNG Kin-Wai, Kenneth, in addition to an Advisory Board in which professionals from different fields of art are invited to participate.
_N.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Fondateur & Director
Lok Kan CHEUNG is a performing artist, an aesthetic nomad who is shaped under the international schools of theatre and art. Her long journey in theatre art began with the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Art (school of drama); she then made her way to France to receive another style of training at the L'Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq (physical theatre training), Laboratoire d'Etude du Mouvement, and L'Ecole Philippe Gaulier de Theatre. The artist made a few stops in between, such as at the Commedia dell'Arte (trained by Enrico Bonavera) and the School of Playback Theatre (UK) (of which she has been a member David Glass Ensemble (UK) ever since). The trip to Indonesia marks a watershed in her life - the traditional Javanese mask (coached by Supana Ponowiguno, the artistic director of the Yogyakarta Palace) and the Javanese classical dance (taught by R.Ay. Sri Kadarjai Ywandjono, the dance tutor and princess of the Yogyakarta Palace of Indonesia) lightened up her artistic spirit and imaginations of "what is art". These footsteps imprinted in her later work of performing art – incorporating the use of masks, royal dance movements, and her former education in Hong Kong to the Western performing teachings. She then explored the possibility of creating truly unique art performances, which then led to her initiatives of theatre productions, culture exchange programs, and community art festivals, including , the cultural exchange program between Siena(Italy) and Hong Kong, Physical theatre Indonesia tour 2018, Hong Kong Tai Po Youth Art festival 2015&2016. All of these experiences culminated in the foundation of Theatre Ash, where she serves as the organization's director. Despite being an artistic nomad, the performing artist has always felt a strong responsibility to dedicate her knowledge to her hometown, thereby serving as an active member of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and participating in jury positions; meanwhile, she is devoted to sharing the love of her hometown's images with the world and thus organized the 1st Paris Hong Kong Film Festival. Lok Kan is now residing in France at L’Ecole supérieure d’art Annecy Alpes.
.png)
Kenneth YEUNG, one of the 1st Paris Hong Kong Film Festival organizers, has a long history with documentaries. The independent documentarian had a profound love for working with grassroots communities, of whom he put in the images for more than a decade. Volunteered in the independent documentarian organization – v-artivist – and in their documentary film festivals, he culminated experiences and furthered his field of work to that of the community artists in Hong Kong. The independent documentarian is multi-faceted, working as a freelance translator in Europe (Cantonese, Mandarin, English, French, and German) and has written essays as a columnist and film critic in several Hong Kong media. Kenneth is doing his PhD research in socio-political philosophy at L’Université de Paris (formerly the University of Paris Diderot) after graduating from L’Université Catholique de Louvain (MPhil, focusing on populism) and his other master’s degree at the Chinese University (major in philosophy). His latest documentary project involves collaborating with an independent American documentarian on the Hong Kong expatriate community in Paris.
Advisory Board Member (Communication & Networking)
Florent DICHY is a professional photographer at the theatre company "La Frappe," a high school teacher, and a film festival and cinematic event regular. After graduating in Latin and medieval literature, Florent pursued his studies in the history of arts and cinema at the école du Louvre. As a movie enthusiast, he dedicates himself to accompanying students on their career paths in film-making, including but not limited to technical support and mentoring their very first movies—Florent endeavors to bridge the gap between students and professionals. In his leisure time, he cooperates with the association Arscipro for movie-making.
.png)
Bruce LAI is a film and cultural studies scholar based in the UK. He is a visiting researcher at King's College London (KCL) after obtaining his PhD in Film Studies at KCL with a thesis on Chinese comedy films and neoliberalism. His current research project concerns Hong Kong comedies in the 1980s and 90s and their trans-local influences on aesthetics, involving formal analysis and archival research supported by the Universities' China Committee in London (UCCL) 's Travel and Study Grants. Bruce has also served as a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and the Education University of Hong Kong in the spring term of 2023. Bruce has been a jury at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards since 2022, the IATC(HK) Critics Awards in 2018, and the FIPRESCI Prize jury at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 2023. Bruce is a member of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society and the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). As a renowned film critic in Hong Kong, Bruce published film reviews in various genres while specializing in contemporary Chinese-language films and religion-affiliated cinema. His film review can be seen in his columns published in Ming Pao, The News Lens, and Christian Times. A forthcoming book focusing on the film and religion of Bruce is expected to come out by the end of 2023.
.png)
Marie YAN (1990) is a multilingual writer with a long experience in performing arts. The written word, the attention to language – whether visual or verbal – and how they shape time is the centre of her practice. She has worked for the past ten years as a playwright and a dramaturge in the U.K., Germany, Hong Kong and France. Her latest plays are: A Tidal Home (2021), supported by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, the New Earth Theatre (U.K.) and the National Theatre Studio (U.K.) and La Théorie by the Compagnie Lou Pantail, selected for the 2021 Festival Impatience (Paris). She is currently working on a first novel and a long-form text about mixed-race Asian identity and political agency titled Hong Kong: Struggling Home, which received the Crossing Borders scholarship (Germany). She lives in Paris and works between France and Germany.
.png)
Taejune Ryu is an emerging Korean artist who has recently been based in France. He was an awarded poet at the Cheongju Jikji Poem Festival when he was 12 years old, and he became a member of the Society of Young Korean Poets. After that, he studied in the école supérieure d'art Annecy Alpes, changed his art path into visual art, and began exploring elements of theatrical art in his works. His recent works included Immersive theater and visual Art project .