In today’s conversation, I speak with Low Kee Hong – Creative Director at Factory International, a pioneering Creative Company and Charity that commissions, produces, and presents a year-round programme of cultural opportunities and extraordinary artistic experiences, driven by innovation and a focus on sustainable futures.

Responsible for overseeing the work of the Creative Engagement programme which brings opportunities for people from all backgrounds, ages and from all corners of the city of Manchester, where they’re based, Low also leads the international department in collaborating with venues, festivals and other cultural organisations around the world.

Having previously worked as Artistic Director and General Manager of the Singapore Arts Festival, and the Founding Director and General Manager of the Singapore Biennale and Associate Artistic Director of TheatreWorks (Singapore), Low also headeded up the Theatre for Performing Arts at the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in Hong Kong, where he was responsible for formulating the district’s artistic direction and strategies for Contemporary Performance, Dramatic and Theatre Arts.

Now, you may be asking yourself why, on a show that principally explores our relationship with one another, with technology and with the living world, I’m interviewing an Artistic Director… Well, as the challenges we face increase in complexity and unpredictability, I believe that it is precisely our capacity to think pluralistically, laterally and creatively, that will help us to shift the initial conditions from which we operate, so that more fruitful futures might emerge.

I believe that this is particularly true when it comes to redefining how we imagine, develop and deploy public-facing technology. As the dynamics that underpin our current media systems serve to fracture the social fabric and capture our algorythmically-influenced imaginations, it is often the artist – in all their forms – that can dance amidst the chaos, swim against the tide of homogeneity, and whisper into being alternative futures that unfold far beyond our conceptions of the beaten track.

I first met Low at an IBTM travel conference that we were both speaking at in Barcelona last year, and I was so captivated by his thinking and approach that I just had to invite him onto the show. I hope you revel in ths conversation as much as I did.

WEBSITES

• https://factoryinternational.org/
• https://www.onassis.org/people/low-kee-hong-uk
• https://gdi.ch/en

CHAPTERS

7:26 The Power of Art as a Change Maker

11:24 Cultural Memory and Indigenous Knowledge

12:25 Sensory Expansion

18:19 Artistic Collaboration and Community Engagement

32:20 Community Engagement

33:54 Art and Governance

43:33 Financial Sustainability in the Arts

49:18 Corporate Partnerships

51:27 Artistic Perversity

54:32 AI and Creativity

61:31 Conclusion and Future Vision