Karena Lam, who says ‘only limited roles are available’ for women actresses once they’re over 40, is advocating for change in the industry and also promoting Hong Kong’s cultural scene through her ambassadorships
To say Taiwanese Canadian actress Karena Lam has a packed calendar is an understatement. This year, she replaces Aaron Kwok as the ambassador of the Hong Kong International Film Festival which will take place from March 28 to April 8—becoming the second woman to be offered this position since actress Miriam Yeung in 2011. Lam is also serving as the ambassador of French May (happening in May) for the 11th year.
As part of French May, Lam has also been involved in curating M+’s special exhibition Noir & Blanc—A Story of Photography, which runs from March 16 to July 1, and features black-and-white photos by legendary photographers such as Diane Arbus, William Klein, Fan Ho and Yau Leung from the collections of M+ and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BNF), a landmark library in Paris.
Tatler sat down with Lam to talk about the arts scene in Hong Kong, and how cinema and art are interconnected.
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Tell us about the Noir & Blanc exhibition and how you put it together.
I’ve been talking about this with French May team for some years now. The BNF has such an abundance of archives: manuscripts, score sheets, black-and-white photos, ancient coins and tapestry; you name it, they have it. We have never collaborated with them until this year. I’m proud of this show because we have so many major names in the photography scene all in one space, and more than 230 pictures from the BNF and more than 30 from M+. The curation is so creative as visitors go from to sections focusing on black and grey hues to white.
As the ambassador of French May, how are you fostering cultural exchange between Hong Kong and France?
Every year [the French May board and I] sit down and brainstorm on what programmes we can bring to Hong Kong. My role started out with just promoting French arts in Hong Kong. Later on, I started going on press trips with local journalists to discover emerging artists and art happenings in France. I’m constantly thinking: “Can we bring them here and organise workshops and classes with them? Or can we invite them to do something for our community outreach programmes?”
For example, this year, we have free screenings and a community concert which involves 150 local students. We want to encourage more local people to come into art institutions because art isn’t only for the sophisticated.
I have two girls, and I’m always bringing them to museums and exhibitions, because art isn’t about whether you get it or not; it’s about getting them exposed and slowly giving them more perspective [about the world].
