Xiqu Centre and Freespace at West Kowloon | Freespace Dance 2025: Future Dictionary

Description

Have you ever struggled to translate an expression from your native language, only to feel that its essence is just out of reach in another tongue? In the global arts community, this sense of “lost in translation” is all too commoFuture Dictionary invites Asian artists to introduce terms, concepts and practices from their native languages that are difficult to translate. Through an exhibition and an artist sharing session, artists and audiences are brought together to co-create, explore artistic lineages, and rediscover the diversity of language and creativity. The project builds a “thinking toolbox” for exploring plural forms of knowledge.

The exhibition will showcase entries collected to date in Future Dictionary, including new contributions this year from Hong Kong and East Asian dance and movement-based artists Mui Cheuk-yin (Hong Kong), KT Yau (Hong Kong), ErGao (Guangzhou/Shunde), Gu Jiani (Beijing) and Ayaka Nakama (Kobe). These artists will also participate in a presentation to share and reflect on their entries. The project preserves and celebrates regional cultures, rekindles the spirit of art as a space for exchange, difference, and the discovery of joy in ambiguity, imagining a multicultural shared future for dance.

Visit the Future Dictionary official website and explore the complete dictionary entries.

Future Dictionary is a research-curatorial project initiated by Ophelia Jiadai Huang since 2023 in collaboration with Kyoto Experiment. The exhibition, artists’ presentation and new entries in Freespace Dance 2025 are presented and co-curated by WestK Performing Arts, Hong Kong.

Xiqu Centre Rehearsal Studio 1

Artist Presentation: $100

Sunday, 23 November 2025

5:00pm

Approximately 2 hours

Freespace Lobby

Exhibition: Free admission

21, 27, 28 November 2025

5 December 2025

3:00pm – 7:00pm

22, 29 November 2025

6, 7 December 2025

2:00pm – 7:00pm

23, 30 November 2025

4:00pm – 7:00pm

Initiator / Co-curator: Ophelia Jiadai Huang

Participating Artists:

Mui Cheuk-yin

KT Yau

Ergao

Gu Jiani

Ayaka Nakama