HONG KONG – The West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA or the Authority) is pleased to announce that it will host WestK Shanghai Week 2025 (WestK Shanghai Week) in mid-June, collaborating with six renowned cultural institutions and venues in Shanghai to present seven leading WestK cultural and artistic programmes to Shanghai audiences. WestK Shanghai Week is the first cross-disciplinary showcase of cultural and creative programmes curated or co-organised by WestK outside of Hong Kong since WKCDA’s establishment in 2008, marking an important milestone in fostering the city’s unique cultural programmes to “go global”. WestK Shanghai Week 2025 will include exhibitions curated by M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM), as well as a selection of highly acclaimed original Cantonese musical, Xiqu, music and dance performances.

WestK Shanghai Week is supported by Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism as well as the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). WKCDA’s Travel Partner Cathay is the Lead Sponsor for WestK Shanghai Week, and Shanghai United Media Group and Shanghai Media Group are the media partners. In addition, The Hong Kong Dance Company, along with several cultural institutions and venues in Shanghai, including Power Station of Art, Shanghai Culture Square, Shanghai International Dance Center​ Theater, Wanping Theatre, Shanghai, and JZ Club, are co-organisers of WestK Shanghai Week. The opening ceremony and dinner of WestK Shanghai Week will be held on 18 June (Wednesday).

Henry Tang Ying-yen, Chairman of the Board of WKCDA, said, “Shanghai and Hong Kong are powerhouse cities that share a great deal in common. There are tremendous synergies between the two places. Both are financial hubs with rich cultural histories and vibrant arts scenes, and both act as bridges connecting the best of East and West. WestK Shanghai Week offers an exciting opportunity to showcase the dynamism and creativity of Hong Kong’s cultural and artistic landscape to audiences in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta, marking a new chapter in cultural collaboration between the two cities. The rich series of cultural and arts programmes and promotional activities presented through WestK Shanghai Week fully reflect our unique advantage in acting as a bridge to the Mainland and the world, and highlight the Authority’s efforts in establishing WestK as an international cultural brand and a must-visit landmark for cultural and creative tourism in Hong Kong.”

One of the highlighted programmes of WestK Shanghai Week is the premiere of the original Cantonese musical The Impossible Trial at the Shanghai Culture Square. Commissioned by WestK, co-presented and co-produced with Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (HKRep), The Impossible Trial has received critical acclaim. The musical will commence its Mainland tour in 2025, with 10 performances of the original Cantonese version staged at the Shanghai Culture Square from 17 to 29 June 2025 being its first appearance outside Hong Kong.

The musical features a top-notch creative team from Hong Kong, including composer and musical director Leon Ko, lyricist Chris Shum, playwright Cheung Fei Fan, director Fong Chun Kit, and main cast members Lau Shau Ching, Jordan Cheng and Tunes Ting. In preparation for the musical’s upcoming tours in the Mainland and overseas, WestK and HKRep initiated an open casting call last year to recruit new cast members. A total of 18 new faces from Hong Kong and the Mainland, including Leung Chung Hang, Sheena Chan, Ronny Yuen and more, will be joining the cast and making their debut in different combinations in Shanghai. Tickets of the first five performances in Shanghai sold out in less than a day and only a limited number of tickets are still available. The 2025 rerun of The Impossible Trial is proudly sponsored by HSBC Life, and supported by the China National Arts Fund.

M+’s critically acclaimed exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture concluded at M+ in January 2025 with more than 225,000 visitations. The exhibition—seven years in the making—is the first full-scale retrospective of Chinese-American architect Ieoh Ming Pei (1917–2019), widely known as I. M. Pei, who became one of the most influential architects of the 20th and 21st centuries. The exhibition will travel to the Power Station of Art in Shanghai from 26 April to 27 July 2025, and Qatar Museums Gallery, Al Riwaq in Doha from November 2025 to February 2026. During WestK Shanghai Week 2025, M+ and the Power Station of Art will co-organise a public talk related to the exhibition I. M. Pei: Life Is Architecture on 19 June.

The HKPM will stage the City Rhythms: Chinese Traditional Culture Reinterpreted (City Rhythms) exhibition at Shanghai’s Zhang Yuan from 20 June to 31 July 2025. The exhibition will offer a fresh reinterpretation of traditional Chinese gardens and landscape while exploring the rich cultural narratives of both Hong Kong and Shanghai. City Rhythms will present cross-disciplinary works by more than 10 Hong Kong artists, featuring both emerging talents and seasoned creators in painting, video and multimedia art, including Kasing Lung, the visionary behind the iconic collectible Labubu, contemporary artist Stanley Wong, known as “Anothermountainman”, composer Lam Fung, Wong Chun Hei and more. Marking the inaugural exhibition of the HKPM outside of Hong Kong, this exhibition will be staged at Zhang Yuan, a historic garden built in 1882, celebrated as the “Best Garden in Shanghai”. On June 21, the HKPM will host a Cultural Salon at Zhang Yuan. This event will bring together its Museum Director, exhibition curators, and participating artists, along with Shanghai’s industry experts and arts and culture enthusiasts, for an inspiring exchange and dialogue.

During WestK Shanghai Week, WestK will organise three jazz concerts at one of the most iconic jazz clubs in Shanghai, JZ Club, featuring performances by outstanding Hong Kong young musicians, including international champion harmonicist Cy Leo (Ho Cheuk Yin), composer-pianist Daniel Chu, and singer-songwriter Walter Kwan. These talented musicians will not only perform their own selection of music but also delve into the unique world of Canto-jazz, showcasing improvisation talents with musicians and taking the audience on a musical journey that highlights Shanghai’s rich jazz heritage while exploring the vibrant fusion of Shanghainese and Cantonese music.

On 20 and 21 June, the Xiqu Centre will co-organise with Wanping Theatre, to present two performances of the acclaimed experimental Cantonese opera Farewell My Concubine (New Adaptation). The first commissioned production from the Xiqu Centre, Farewell My Concubine (New Adaptation) combines traditional Cantonese opera performance techniques with contemporary stage and lighting design to delicately portray the relationship between Xiang Yu and Consort Yuji (Concubine Yu). This production won a lot of fans in the Mainland’s xiqu experimental theatre scene and has been performed at arts festivals in several Asian cities. It has won numerous awards, including “The 40 Most Influential Experimental Theatre in Contemporary China” honour at the 2022 Beijing event celebrating the 40th anniversary of Chinese experimental theatre in China.

On 21 and 22 June, two contemporary dance performances will be held at the Shanghai International Dance Center, namely Chinese Dance x Martial Arts – Convergence (“Convergence”)by Hong Kong Dance Company’s Artistic Director Yang Yuntao in partnership with WestK, as well as PHONATE (solo)which is commissioned, produced and co-presented by WestK, co-presented with Shanghai International Dance Center Theater   and created by Hong Kong choreographer Wayson Poon.

Convergence is the culmination of HKDance’s three-year interdisciplinary study exploring the essence and gestures of traditional practices, a presentation of the results of artistic research that bridges Chinese dance and martial arts after three more years of development. This work was staged in 2020 and 2023, co-presented by WestK and HKDance. Its excerpt Whispers of the Pines was awarded the 13th China Dance Lotus Award (for Contemporary Dance) in 2023, and was selected as one of the arts projects (small-scale productions) supported by the China National Arts Fund. Convergence will have two performances in Shanghai during the WestK Shanghai Week.

PHONATE (solo) is a new solo work adapted from Wayson Poon’s 2023 work, titled PHONATE, commissioned and produced by WestK, continuing the exploration of the body and spirit. The concept for this work was conceived and developed by Poon during the residency exchange project “Creative Meeting Point: Hong Kong x Finland” from 2016 to 2018. It earned acclaim when premiered in 2023 at WestK and will now be presented to Shanghai audiences, alongside an interactive exhibition PHONATE (un/taped) starting from 18 June, to unveil the movement research and dance-making process, offering a new perspective to enhance the theatrical experience. 

Betty Fung, Chief Executive Officer of the WKCDA, said, “2025 marks the year of WestK ‘going global’ in a comprehensive manner. The Authority is confident that its original exhibitions and programmes to be presented during the WestK Shanghai Week will resonate with audiences in Mainland China. We also hope to leverage Shanghai’s cultural resources and broad audience base to deepen the cultural connections between Shanghai and Hong Kong, fostering cooperation and win-win outcomes. The WKCDA will continue to pursue the vision and directions outlined in the Chief Executive’s 2024 Policy Address and the Blueprint for Arts and Culture and Creative Industries Development by promoting cultural tourism and bringing Hong Kong’s cultural and creative content to the Mainland and international stages through our global network of partners, thereby solidifying the city’s position as an East-meets-West Centre for International Cultural Exchange.”

During WestK Shanghai Week, WKCDA will launch a range of promotional activities in Shanghai to introduce WestK’s vision and its exciting array of arts and cultural programmes as Hong Kong’s cultural and creative tourism destination. The Authority will also collaborate with industry partners in both Shanghai and Hong Kong to promote cultural and creative tourism products, encouraging residents in Shanghai and the Yangtze River Delta to visit Hong Kong.

WestK Shanghai Week 2025 is set to run from 18th to 22nd June 2025. More information to be released on their website