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Hong Kong’s East Kowloon Cultural Centre opens first venue with ‘art tech’ show

The Theatre at the EKCC kicks things off with Remediation Ensemble, a mixed-media musical performance in which appliances become instruments

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Japanese sound artist Ei Wada (left) and Hong Kong new media artist Keith Lam ahead of their performances of Remediation Ensemble at The Theatre at the East Kowloon Cultural Centre in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The show will also feature musician Akira Ataka, rapper Gold Mountain and drummer Kitt Lau. Photo: Edmond So

Following a three-year construction delay, the East Kowloon Cultural Centre (EKCC) in Kowloon Bay is finally opening its first venue with a production that will set the tone and vision of the new hub – in art tech.

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The Theatre, a 550-seat venue that is one of five theatres and concert halls planned for the arts complex, will kick things off with Remediation Ensemble, a stage performance that combines arts and technology and runs between October 17 and 19.

The EKCC is a HK$4 billion (US$515 million) arts complex that sits on part of the former Lower Ngau Tau Kok Estate. It broke ground in 2016 and was originally slated to open in 2021 before being delayed to 2023, and then to 2024.

When it was conceived in 2006, the project was to serve as a multipurpose performance venue for residents of East Kowloon neighbourhoods spanning Kwun Tong to Wong Tai Sin. In the years since, the EKCC has adopted an “art tech” focus, in line with the government’s 2015 announcement that it would turn Kowloon East into a “smart city pilot area”.

The exterior of the East Kowloon Cultural Centre in Kowloon Bay. Photo: Edmond So
The exterior of the East Kowloon Cultural Centre in Kowloon Bay. Photo: Edmond So
Though a grand opening date has not yet been set for the EKCC, the public caught a glimpse of what it might offer in March when the centre debuted a HK$500,000 light art installation featuring LED roses. But the display, which was organised by the Home Affairs Department, quickly drew criticism from social media users, who noted its resemblance to a funeral parlour.
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