Workshop on Cultural Mediation

Language: English

Oscar Ho (Director of CUHK’s M.A. in Cultural Management programme between 2006 and 2020) has advocated cultural mediation as a higher-order approach towards arts and cultural management. Cultural mediators are gatekeepers, who define, select, and present the arts professionally, and in so doing, expose the public and (specific) communities to the benefit of the arts. I am particularly interested in how cultural mediators position themselves in relation to the various stakeholders in the arts and cultural sector. The traditional stakeholder theory centres on the organization in its attempt to create win-win situations with both internal and external stakeholders. Cultural mediators, on the other hand, decentre themselves from the organization and navigate between the stakeholders. They base their decisions and actions in recognition that some stakeholders have more dominance over the others. Yet, every new decision/action leads to new issues and this means that cultural mediators must constantly shift their positions within their state of betweenness in response to the evolving power-relations between the stakeholders. To bridge the various stakeholders in meaningful ways, cultural mediators are required to have good grasps of the concepts of culture, cultural development and policies, as well as management competencies.

Benny Lim
Convener, Workshop on Cultural Mediation
Visiting Scholar, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

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In this workshop, five speakers with different roles in the arts share their responses to the concept of Cultural Mediation, and thereafter, engage in a discussion with the convener.

Respondents and Topics

The Cultural Explorer – Mediating the Possibilities in Between and Beyond
Meggy Cheng – Director of Marketing, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra

Connecting the dots – Building the Future through Art Platforms
Rebecca Chou – Head, Division of Performing Arts, Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government

Festivals as Cultural Mediators
Sixin Fancy Fan – Programme Manager, Along the Edge Arts Festival

Creating Safe Spaces for Difficult Topics: Reflections on Passion Made Impossible
John Tung – Independent Curator & Exhibition Maker

Opportunities and Tensions in the Process of Cultural Democracy: Reframing Creative Thought in Community
Isabella S W Yun – Part-time lecturer, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Founder and Executive Manager, Culture Workshop Limited

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Co-organized by Along the Edge Arts Festival and M.A. in Cultural Management programme (CUHK)