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Now it has been transformed into a monthly event overseen by Low Kee Hong, a Singaporean theatre practitioner who moved to Hong Kong in January. We have expectations that our public space will be vibrant, cultural, free.”įreespace was conceived as a way to express those goals. There’s so many constraints in the city experience. You can’t do anything but move along with the crowd. “ You’re not allowed to do this, you’re not allowed to do that. “You know how bad our public spaces are,” Yu told me in 2012. At one point, a dancer tied to an enormous illuminated balloon danced soared over the crowd, landing just long enough to propel herself up again.Īt the time, the West Kowloon Cultural District’s director of performance, Louis Yu, described Freespace as a “pressure test” that was designed to see whether Hong Kong could shake off the restrictions that burden its public spaces. Groups of friends picnicked on the grass while hawkers sold local produce and handicrafts from blankets arranged along the waterfront promenade. It was a strange beast: part music festival, part arts event, part free-for-all. This is where trees are being raised for the future West Kowloon Cultural District, but in the meantime, it’s open to the public – and every month, its lawns and waterfront plazas are taken over by Freespace, one of Hong Kong’s most underrated cultural events.įreespace was launched as an annual festival in 2012. The summer heat has finally broken and a crowd is streaming into the Nursery Park in West Kowloon.