Danny Yung: From New York to Hong Kong, From Basement Workshop to Zuni Icosahedron

- Eleanor Yung

In 1969-70, with the founding of the Basement Workshop, Danny Yung created a space inclusive of diverse voices, which inspired the development of many programs and the creative growth of many people. Although he left New York in the late ‘70s, Basement’s programs, in the hands of New York’s many talented cultural and artistic activists, flourished and blossomed into generations of activities decades after.

In 1982, Danny co-founded Zuni Icosahedron, an international experimental theatre company in Hong Kong. His deep interest in art making and cultural advocacy steered the organization in many fronts, including art-in-education, performances, exhibitions, city to city conferences and international collaborations.

Through mentoring and cultivating creative thinking, Danny founded the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity¹, the only arts high school in Hong Kong. He created the “Black Box Exercise” project which he brought to Germany in 1999. And later Tian Tian Xiang Shang (TTXS) also became a major project.

Danny encouraged artists to question tradition and the norm, to explore limitations and boundaries, and to experiment and innovate. To him, the underlying basis for art making is critical thinking versus creative craftsmanship. The artists’ newfound voices often resulted in new art forms², most notably, the Kunqu artist from Nanjing, Ke Jun, who had since written and published books on his artistic and personal journey in the growth and maturity of his performing art form.

Danny continued to “build bridges,” as he did at Basement Workshop by creating communication and cultural exchange channels. In Hong Kong, he not only “built bridges”, but also built art institutions both within Hong Kong and outside. He initiated or was part of the formative years of many cultural organizations, e.g. World Culture Forum, the Asia Arts Net, the International Network for Cultural Diversity, the Conference of Asia Foundation and Organization (CAFO), and others.

By advocating for art and culture in Hong Kong, he positioned the city as a cultural hub of Asia. And through the local and international network and institutions he helped form, he initiated and facilitated collaborative works not only in the arts, but also advocating for reforms and redefining issues on cultural matters faced by institutions, both government and non-government. Advocating for the arts and art making comes hand in hand with the building and strengthening of the cultural industry.

From “Festival of Vision,” a Hong Kong-Berlin cultural and artistic exchange, to the “Munich-Hong Kong Joint Cultural Conference” organized by the Goethe Institut, Danny began expanding networks and programming to involve other cities throughout Asia, resulting in 2017’s “Hong Kong Belt Road City-to-City Cultural Exchange Conference.” While Xi Jin-Ping created the phrase “Belt Road” for political and economic outreach, Danny was devoted to cultural and artistic expressions and exchanges. Using the network he had established, more than five thousand artists and forty cities throughout Asia collaborated in performances, educational workshops and roundtable discussions³.

From doodles in high school, to the creation of comic strips which evolved into the iconic cartoon drawing of Tian Tian Xiang Shang, this creational process is exemplary of Danny’s work to provide a platform for others. From a two-dimensional drawing, TTXS became a three-dimensional figurine inspired by Mao Tse-Tung’s saying that bears the meaning of “Everyday Striving Forward,” and provides a blank space for creativity. In the classroom, students use it to color, attaching objects, and express themselves. In the professional world of artists⁴ and designers, their TTXS creations have become memorable artworks. In public spaces, the monumental size inspires imagination and awe. For me, this particular project is most reflective of the nature of Basement Workshop, an organization where many diverse and creative ideas began and thrived.

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TTXS Comic single frame

 

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TTXS 4 frames

 

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TTXS 4 frames

 

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TTXS 4 frames

 

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Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

children art on 5 inches height TTXS 2019

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Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

children art on 5 inches height TTXS 2019

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Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre 2018

children art on 5 inches height TTXS

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Artwork by Elicser Elliott

20 inches height TTXS

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Artwork by Jessica Volpe

20 inches height TTXS

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Artwork by Kyle & Angeline

20 inches height TTXS

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Artwork by Justin Pape

20 inches height TTXS

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Smithsonian Folk Arts Festival

Washington DC, 2014, 20 feet height TTXS

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Today Art Museum, Beijing 2010

20 feet height TTXS

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From the days of Asian American Dance Theatre when Danny and I collaborated in choreographing the piece “Identification in Progress #1, #2, #3” (1974), he continued his exploration in theater making. These theater pieces were almost always multimedia productions, utilizing written and spoken languages, texts and subtexts, music, sound, and innovative and dynamic sets and design. In more recent years, the use of advanced and innovative visual technology has become an important vehicle for a complete immersive experience of sound and sight, conveying Danny’s artistic/social/political messages that are always implicit and open-ended, encouraging imagination, discussion, and interpretations⁵.

Danny’s works like the collaborative theater project “One Table, Two Chairs,” the cross-nations and cross-regions performances and conferences in the “Belt Road” project, the use of innovative technology in the “GiantMirror Performance,”⁶ and the monumental installation of “Bamboo Sheds,” inspired by traditional village theaters, focus on cultural exchanges, collaborative creativity, and artistic advocacy. All of these works deserve separate pages of discussion.

From the Basement Workshop he started 50 some years ago locally in New York’s Chinatown, Danny expanded his ideas regionally throughout Asia, extending peripherally to Europe and the Americas. His New York Chinatown became Hong Kong, then included all of China, Taiwan and Singapore, and further expanded to most of Asia promoting art making that wasn’t limited or restricted by boundaries of language, heritage, identity, geography, or social/political/national/ideological differences.

His creative work from 1970 to 2020, was chronologized and exhibited at Danny’s “50 Years Retrospective X-Xperimenting Exhibition,”⁷ from November 2021 to August 2022 at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. The exhibition paid tribute and showcased Danny’s creative works stemming from the time of Basement Workshop in the early ‘70s, to new commissions in theater, film, video art, installations, visual, and multimedia presentations currently.

Danny is the recipient of multiple awards. In 2008, he was honored with the Music Theatre NOW Award by UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute. In 2009, he was conferred the Order of Merit by the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his contribution to the arts and cultural exchange between Germany and Hong Kong. In 2014, he received the Fukuoka Prize for Arts and Culture in Japan. And in 2015, he received the Award for Outstanding Contribution in Arts from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council.

Danny continues to generate spaces and opportunities for individual and collaborative works centering on identity in the framework of creative thinking and cultural heritage. He continues to advocate for the importance of research and reform of the creative industry, and encourages cross-culture, cross-discipline and cross-region exchanges. He continues to inspire discussions, pushing people to create and raise their voices.

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