An independent voice from Ho Chi Minh City has just shared a platform with some of the biggest names in Asia-Pacific performing arts. Nguyễn Bích Trà, founder of The Run – A Theatre Project, spoke at AAPPAC 2026, the annual conference of the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres, held October 6-9 at Hong Kong's West Kowloon Cultural District.
On October 7, Trà joined a panel titled From Survival to Strategy: Economic and Funding Pressures and Future Pathways for Performing Arts in the Asia-Pacific. The session was chaired by Betty Fung, chief executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and AAPPAC vice chair, and gathered speakers from China, Australia, Hong Kong and Việt Nam to compare notes on funding pressures, independent operating models and keeping contemporary theatre alive through economic shifts.
For Trà, the invitation carried weight beyond the panel itself. She described it as a milestone for independent Vietnamese artists being heard at a regional level, and a chance to build connections she hopes will open doors for practitioners back home.
Her project is worth knowing if you care about culture off the beaten track. Founded in 2018, The Run – A Theatre Project is an independent platform building infrastructure for experimental theatre in Việt Nam — a space where young playwrights, directors and producers can test new performance forms and blend theatre with visual and interdisciplinary art. Trà's own background is international: a Fulbright-backed Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon in the US, a stint as acting director of HCM City's contemporary art space Sàn Art, and directing and performing credits across Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Berlin, Jakarta and Tokyo.
The conference itself was a big one. More than 350 performing arts leaders, cultural practitioners and artists from across the region attended, marking AAPPAC's 30th anniversary and the first time West Kowloon has hosted it — ahead of the district's new Performing Arts Centre, slated to open in 2027.
Why should a traveller care? Because Việt Nam's contemporary arts scene is quietly expanding, and this kind of international recognition usually signals more venues, more collaborations and more things to see beyond the usual street food and heritage circuits. If your next trip to Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi includes an evening at an experimental performance, you're watching a scene that is actively plugging into the wider Asia-Pacific network. West Kowloon, meanwhile, is fast becoming a reason in itself to add Hong Kong to an Asia itinerary — with its museums, waterfront and a major new performing arts venue on the way.
