1. About the brand
Per.Platform: The Only Live Art Platform in Hong Kong
WHAT:
Per.Platform is the Hong Kong based live/performance art platform established in 2021, and it is the only platform in Hong Kong that catered solely for live artists.
WHY:
They want to make performance art, which is considered a niche in the contemporary art field, to become much more accessible.
HOW:
The brand targets audiences and live artists of 16-50 year olds to perform, develop, and exchange ideas.
Through open calls, the brand regularly hosts bi-annual 3 to 4-days festivals in Hong Kong and participants can experiment with any medium they prefer.
WHAT’S GOING ON NOW:
They have just successfully held their 3rd festival in collaboration with Tomorrow Maybe in Eaton Hong Kong: “Per.Platform #3 x Tomorrow Maybe: Fluidity and Impermanence” on 22-24th July 2022.
They now actively host performance workshops and planning for their 4th festival in 2023.
2. About the founders
Florence Lam
Creative direction, Live art education
(hosting workshops)
A live artist for 10+years
Performed 80+ shows around Europe including UK, Iceland, Germany, Denmark etc.
Juliana Chan
Administration, management and opportunity sourcing
Pursuing a gallery career
Administration, management and opportunity sourcing
Common Vision
They met each other in a local art show.
Both of them realised their common aspiration to promote live art performance to the public knowing how widely unknown and misunderstood the art form is.
3. Challenges and opportunity
Socio-Political Hurdles Turned into Opportunity
Challenge
The founders had difficulties securing big to mid-sized venue sponsors. A lot departed from their initial support due to fear and mistrust towards the art.
The freeflow and improvised nature of performance art is often misunderstood as “mischevious”, “uncontrollable”, and “unskilled”.
It is hence considered politically sensitive to public art organisations upon enactment of the National Security Law.
Solution
It became an opportunity for Per.Platform to become an independent curatorial project.
Florence noted: “It became a strength as we gained a lot of freedom in the curatorial aspect and were able to do experimental approaches more freely, though with much less support.”
4. Brand Development Timeline
Jan – August, 2021
The founders did an open call and recruited relevant and qualified artists for their first festival.
They attracted private donors to fund its operation.
They finalised artists’ art proposals through discussion and mentorship, and locked on performance sites in various art spaces and studios.
September, 2021
Per.Platform launched their first 4-days live festival called “#1 Entropy: Arrow of Time” to allow artists to explore the concept of time.
December, 2022
Per.Platform launched their second 3-days live festival called Last Days of Chiron Retrograde, a theme of self-discovery, healing and exploration in the context of performance art.
July, 2022
Per.Platform hosted its 3rd 3-day festival at Tomorrow Maybe, Eaton Hong Kong from 22-24 July called “Fluidity and Impermanence” with guest performers from Japan.
5. The Future
Future: International Exchange, Artist in Residence, Workshops
Under Per.Platform, Florence has started her own art performance workshops to promote the brand and nurture more art performance talents.
Section 6: Appendix
1. Florence Lam’s website
http://florencelamsoyue.com/
2. Florence Lam’s interview with RTHK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvOqDReNGoE
3. Florence Lam’s art performance in para-site
https://www.para-site.art/programme/florence-lam-voice-work/
4. Florence Lam’s interview with mindy journal
https://www.mindlyjournal.info/single-post/florence-lam