An experimental art pioneer and one of the most influential artists in Hong Kong, Yung is a founding member and Co-Artistic Director of Zuni Icosahedron. In the past 40 years, Yung involved extensively in multifarious fields of the arts, including theatre, cartoon, film and video, visual and installation art.

Endeavours in Experimental Arts

In the past 40 years, Yung has been involved in over 100 theatre productions as director, scriptwriter, producer and/or stage designer. His theatre works were staged in cities across the world, including Tokyo, Yokohama, Toga, Singapore, Taipei, Shanghai, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Brussels, Berlin, Munich, London, Lisbon, Rotterdam and New York. In 2008, Yung created the commissioned theatre work by Hong Kong Arts Festival, Tears of the Barren Hill which reflects on the innovation of traditional Chinese theater and the institution of cultural exchange. It won him the Music Theatre NOW Award given by the International Theatre Institute of UNESCO. At the Shanghai Expo in 2010, he presented in cooperation with the renowned Japanese theatre director Makoto Sato The Tale of the Crested Ibis as a cultural exchange project, which combined for the first time the elements of Noh and Kun theatres, as well as traditional arts and cutting-edge (robot) technology. Yung developed on the concept of the Crested Ibis, or Toki, and has curated the annual Toki Festiva” since 2012, as an effort to enrich young Kun performers’ experience, and to promote exchanges between contemporary and traditional performing arts in Asian regions.

Yung is among the pioneers of Hong Kong experimental film and video artists. His short film, video and installation art pieces have been shown in Berlin, New York, London, Rotterdam, Copenhagen, Tokyo and Hong Kong since 1980s. His Tian Tian Xiang Shang conceptual comics, figurines and sculptures have been exhibited in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, Taipei, Singapore, Ann Arbor, Paris, Milan, Washington DC, Seattle, Toronto and Mexican City and etc.

Policy, Research, Planning and Education

Yung keeps a close watch on the arts and cultural policy and education development in Hong Kong as well as in the Asia Pacific regions. Yung currently serves as Chairperson of the Hong Kong–Taipei–Shenzhen–Shanghai City-to-City Cultural Exchange Conference, and a member of Design Council of Hong Kong. He was appointed the inaugural Dean’s Master Artist in Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts in 2013. He currently sits on the Management Board of HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity, the advisory boards of Department of Cultural Studies of Hong Kong Lingnan University, School of Drama of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Cultural and Heritage Management of City University of Hong Kong.

Cultural Exchanges

In 2009, Yung was bestowed the Merit Cross of the Order of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his achievement and contributions on cultural exchanges between Germany and Hong Kong. In 2000, Yung organized the Festival of Vision – an 11-week program of cross-cultural festivals and conferences held in Berlin (Haus der Kulturen der Welt) and Hong Kong (Tamar Site) respectively. The festivals engaged the participation of over 1,000 artists and cultural practitioners from 35 cities in Asia and Europe. In 2014, commissioned by the 48th Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Yung designed the “Gateway – Tian Tian Xiang Shang” broad-scale flower plaque bamboo installation, featuring the Lingnan cultural heritage of flower plaque. The installation, which measures 35 meter broad, 10 meter high and 6 meter deep, stands on the National Mall of Washington DC during the Festival.