is a multi-disciplinary artist-researcher, creative strategist and social entrepreneur. His focus is on developing strategies for decolonising mainstream narratives through delivering cultural programmes telling stories of migrants, refugees, queer people and other marginalised groups. He mainly collaborates with Ghost Chan as Ghost and John and is one of the six co-founders of Hidden Keileon CIC, an artist-led social enterprise.
Over the past five years, John has successfully managed and organised numerous cultural and charity sector projects, showcasing my commitment to making a positive impact. Notably, John led the award-winning project called Radio Neighbourhood, which received the prestigious Ideas and Pioneers Fund from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. This remarkable project has been exhibited at various locations across London, including Canary Wharf, Deptford X and Bloomsbury Festival, and Migration Matters Festival in Sheffield.
As a co-founder at Hidden Keileon CIC, John has played a pivotal role in presenting a series of esteemed art events, notably including Paradoxical Gasp and Bitter Moves Sweet Truths. The latter project was shortlisted for the highly regarded Untapped Award in 2023, which is a testament to its innovative and thought-provoking nature. Everything Theatre, in their review, described the earlier as a "refreshing and welcome cauldron of ill-disguised sarcasm, genuine artistry, and thinly veiled jabs directed at the higher powers responsible." This feedback reinforces the impact of our immersive techniques and provocative themes, further solidifying our position in the artistic community.
John is a Greater London Authority’s Civic Futures fellow 2022 with Koreo, a programme on reimagining how our systems serve us, and on Civic Square and Centric Lab's Ecological Health In Neighbourhoods 2023. He was an artist-researcher at Moving Margins 2022, a project on decolonising performance history - with Internationales Theaterinstitut Berlin.
John is also a versatile performer who works across dance, movement and acting. His performance has been seen across Hong Kong, the UK, Austria, Germany and more, from small pubs and clubs to major theatres and galleries, including Hellerau Dresden, TD Berlin, CCA Goldsmiths and more.
John was trained as a biologist (BSc Biological Science, HKUST) and has completed MA (Distinction) in Contemporary Dance at London Contemporary Dance School (The Place). He was trained under Siu Wan from SHOW DANCE back in Hong Kong. He was an ATLAS young choreographer at ImPulsTanz - Vienna International Dance Festival 2019.
LinkedIn: John Chan
Spotlight: 9810-1278-4293
Instagram: francisjohncyc
Twitter: francisjohncyc
CV available here. Please contact us through john@ghostandjohn.art.
