Benny Chia () is an author, festival director, curator, and an active member in the Hong Kong arts scene. He founded the Hong Kong Fringe Club in 1984, modelled after the Adelaide Festival Fringe, and turned a disused ice depot on Lower Albert Road in Central Hong Kong into a vibrant arts venue: the Fringe Club. The history of Fringe Club is covered in Benny Chia's memoir Life on the Fringe – The Almost Naked Memoir, published by Hong Kong University Press and MCCM Creations in November 2024.
Career Raised in a single-parent and deprived family, Chia turned his life around through his innate love for arts and education, and became the first non-British in charge of a fly-by-night arts outfit during the days of colonial Hong Kong in the 1980s. Born in Singapore and educated in Hong Kong, Paris and Louvain, Benny Chia 謝俊興 launched the Hong Kong Fringe Festival in 1983, founded the Fringe Club in 1984 and steered the Fringe Club as General Manager and Artistic Director through to 2022 – almost forty years. He created artistic concepts and wrote scripts for the theatre, and wrote articles for the South China Morning Post and other publications. Chia is a founding member of Hong Kong Arts Development Council, Hong Kong International Film Festival, and the Hong Kong Arts Administrators Association. Honours awarded include the Bronze Bauhinia Star from the HKSAR Government, the Badge of Honour from the former Hong Kong Government, Best Arts Promoter from the Hong Kong Artists Guild, and Hero of Hong Kong from Time Out Magazine.
Chia curated multiple arts exhibitions, notably, frogtopia – hongkornucopia, as part of the Venice Art Biennale 2011, featuring Hong Kong artist Frog King; Ac.cul.tur.at.ion; Shirt Art; Dare to Dream; Almost Blue; and others.
Playwright and stage production
Title Year Producers Venue Country Director and Main Cast Hong Kong Fable 1986 Hong Kong Fringe Club Fringe Theatre, Dom Pedro theatre, Macau Hong Kong, Macau Producer: Benny Chia Director: Desmond Jones
Mime artists: Philip Fok & Cheng Pok Yee Six Chapters of a Floating Life 1987 Hong Kong Fringe Club Premiered in 'A Celebration of Hong Kong Artist, City Hall Silver Jubilee' on 19 October 1987 Toured in Forum, Macau; Price Theatre, Adelaide; National Theatre, Taipei; Carnivale, Sydney Director & Choreographer: Kaitai Chan, Concept and Script: Benny Chia
Cast: Lindzay Chan; Philip Fok Lament of Sim Kim 1991 Hong Kong Fringe Club Chinese Theatrical Arts Festival 1991, City Hall Theatre Hong Kong Director & choreographer: Kaitai Chan Concept & Script: Benny Chia Great Expectations 1992 Hong Kong Fringe Club & Sydney Theatre Company co-production Festival of Asian Arts Opening Programme, Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre Hong Kong Director: Rodney Fisher
Concept: Kaitai Chan
Scriptwriter: Benny Chia
Design: Ho Ying Fung Lianne & Chuck 1996 Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Directed & choreographed by Kai Tai Chan
Concept: Kaitai Chan
Script: Benny Chia
Collages: Christopher Doyle Play the Old City Once Upon the Time in Wong Uk
Hong Kong at War - a city of love and betrayal 1999-2002 Hong Kong Fringe Club Site-specific performances at Wong Uk, Shatin, Hong Kong; Coastal Defence Museum Hong Kong Concept: Benny Chia
Script: Lung Man Hong
Director: Tang Shu Wing
Heritage consultant: Professor Shiu Kwok Kin Ho Chi Ming in Hong Kong 2006 Hong Kong Fringe Club CPS Central Police Compound & the Fringe Club Hong Kong Producer: Benny Chia
Director: Peter Jordon
Concept & Script by Peter Wesley-Smith
Dramaturg: William Gluth
Cast: Lee Chun Chow 體驗劇場：她和他的時間之流 2017 Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Producer: Benny Chia
Scriptwriter: Pat To Yang
Director: Indy Lee 意識之流 Stream of Consciousness 2018 Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Fringe Club Hong Kong Producer: Benny Chia
Director: Yan Pat To
Retirement and authorship Benny Chia retired from the Fringe Club in 2022 and started his career as an author with his first book Life on the Fringe – The Almost Naked Memoir, published in 2024 by Hong Kong University Press and MCCM Creations.
References