Hong Kong’s films and popular music were pioneering in Asia in the 1980s. The first wave of ink art modernization was kicked off here in the 60s. This tiny seaside city has also nurtured literary giants such as the acclaimed sinologist Prof. Jao Tsung-I and notable writers like Liu Yichang, Louis Cha Leung-yung (Jin Yong), Xixi and Prof. Leung Ping-kwan (Ye Si). As for its performing arts scene, Hong Kong actually plays host to 4,000 productions and 8,000 performances every year. Its theatre productions adopt some of the most cutting-edge technologies and techniques available. Traditional Cantonese Opera performances are also reaping sumptuous profits year after year.
Though so much has been going on, the notorious label of a “cultural dessert” still lingers. Compared with that sharp and aggressive identity as “world’s top financial centre”, Hong Kong’s cultural identity has remained largely obscure. In a free market economy, the cultural industry is to compete for space and resources side by side with that of finance and real estate. Being a less lucrative investment, it is without doubt that culture has long been in a disadvantaged position.
With the upcoming construction of the West Kowloon Cultural District(WKCD) at the end of this year, however, culture is taking a twist in the city. Being the largest cultural project in Hong Kong to date, its planning discussion started as early as 1998 and lasted for the terms of office of three Chief Executives. It is a rare opportunity the city must seize to flesh out its cultural identity and proclaim its very unique cultural statement.
Located on the 40-hectare waterfront reclaimed land west of Yau Ma Tei District, it will be home to a magnificent 19-hecture park and 17 arts and cultural facilities, including 15 performing arts venues, a museum of 20th to 21st century visual culture and an Exhibition Centre centering on the promotion of arts and creative industries. To support its organic growth, the district will also host a number of ancillary arts facilities such as Resident Company Centres, creative learning facilities and Arts Pavilions for exhibition. These facilities will be finely scattered in a car-free area together with a mix of conference, leisure, residential and commercial facilities to cultivate a good sense of place. To add to the list, the district is in close proximity to the Austin Station, Kowloon Station and the future West Kowloon Terminus of the Guangzhou-Hong Kong High Speed Rail.
While its strategic location is a clear advantage, the WKCD is expected to deliver much more. “Developing Hong Kong’s cultural software is its prime objective, the district should go beyond a nicely-packaged activity centre or a direct replica of the LCSD (Leisure and Cultural Services Department). It needs to be a smart think-tank with global vision”, said Danny Yung, Hong Kong’s eminent artistic avant-garde, Board member and member of Development, Performing Arts and Remuneration committees of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA). Benchmarking other successful cultural clusters such as Southbank, West End, Bilbao and Broadway, the WKCD aims at integrating cultural functions with various activities, creating not only an economically sustainable arts precinct but also a platform for different art forms and artists.
The WKCD is also about experimentation. If one takes a look at history, one discovers how most of the well-known arts districts were formed through years of spontaneous development. The WKCD, however, will take a different route and rely on meticulous planning and collaboration with industry professionals and the arts community. Over the past few years, the Authority has been working closely with the community to plan for district hardware such as venue size, location and construction sequence as well as cultural software like venue policy, governance model and other related research projects.
Other than supporting cultural programmes by strategic partners, WKCDA also produces its own flagship events such as the “West Kowloon Bamboo Theatre”, a reconstructed traditional bamboo staging showcasing the best of Cantonese Opera; the “Freespace Fest”, an outdoor multi-arts festival testing the boundaries of cultural freedom in public space; and “Mobile M+: Yau Ma Tei”, a multi-site exhibition of large-scale installations on the reconstruction of the city’s histories.
To meet the pending demand for artistic and administrative talents, WKCDA supported programmes that nurture competent arts administrators. It launched the first cultural leadership programme in Asia, the Advanced Cultural Leadership Programme, with the University of Hong Kong and U.K.’s Clore Leadership Programme. On top of that, it also co-presents the annual Cultural Leadership Summit with the Hong Kong Arts Administrators Association during which distinguished scholars and practitioners from around the world come together to explore and discuss.
As Michael Lynch, CEO of WKCDA, succinctly pinpointed, “Hong Kong is lucky to have a government that still increases its cultural budget”. The 2013 Policy Address given by the Hong Kong Government reaffirmed its determination to create a world-class arts and cultural hub, not only through “continuing to give support to the WKCD Authority in implementing the project” but also by allocating additional funding of HK$150 million to strengthen the training of arts administrators in the next five years.
As a cultural project that has garnered extensive support from the government, the cultural sector and the people, we can reasonably expect the District to contribute to strengthening Hong Kong’s cultural profile and image, and not least, opening a window for China to showcase and export its arts to the world.
(photo by West Kowloon Cultural District Authority)
