Hong Kong Festival of Arts with the Disabled was a pioneering event, organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service and its constituent NGOs in 1986, showcasing the achievements of people with disabilities from both Hong Kong and overseas in a range of artistic fields, from visual art to music to dance.
Ida Lam Choi-chu, chairwoman of charity Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong, which was born out of the event, explains how it changed her life.
It was the first event of its kind in Hong Kong and also in Asia. I worked on it as part of my first job (with the Hong Kong Council of Social Service), because someone else left their post.
A lot of people were invited from overseas. It took place territory-wide. It was very integrated – people with disabilities and mainstream artists together. There was an exhibition that allowed visually impaired people to touch art. There were dance groups and musical groups from the US and the UK.
There was the National Theatre of the Deaf from the US, doing a mime show, which was very new to Hong Kong. There were also local artists and the City Contemporary Dance Company offering training and workshops to people with disabilities. There was a real “wow” from the community.
The background that made people come together for this was that there was a lot of discrimination at that time. There was a lot of “not in my neighbourhood” resistance to halfway houses for people with mental disabilities.
Disabled people are not aliens; they’re members of the community. Art is a human right – everyone has the right to participate. But through discussions, I found that people seldom thought of it as a right.
My work at the festival was an official duty, but for those two weeks, apart from the very fresh, exciting feeling, I could see the opportunities it created in terms of breaking barriers. I saw the potential for the empowerment of people with disabilities through involvement in the arts.
I remember one incident still today. At one of the workshops for people with visual impairment, they were being taught a very simple movement, and I could see the joy and happiness on their faces, like they’d won the Mark Six. You can tell they feel it’s something very special, using their limbs and hands like that.
I realised that if we provide some simple programmes, we can give people a lot: we can turn a black-and-white TV into a colour TV. Sowing that seed in someone’s mind and body, you can change that person a lot.
The NGO organisers decided we should carry on the momentum from the event, and that led to the creation of the Arts with the Disabled Association. I was involved with setting it up. On a personal level, I identified with its values and also the potential of arts as a tool to make people’s lives better.
I became its chair in 2004. Our mission is not only to create opportunities for people with disabilities but also to create a more inclusive society.
