LCSD Annual Report 2002 - Cultural Services

To enhance the community's understanding and appreciation of the arts, the department has launched a number of arts education and audience-building schemes within the community and at schools. In 2002 more than 200,000 people participated in these schemes.

To encourage students to develop an interest in art and culture at a young age, the department organised various arts education programmes at schools.

Under the School Arts Animateur Scheme, professional performing arts groups gave performances, and conducted demonstrations and workshops on a regular basis at participating schools. The scheme's aim was to provide a more in-depth introduction to different performing arts among students and to stimulate creativity.

A School Culture Day pilot scheme was launched in 2001 to mobilise schools to bring students to LCSD performing venues, museums and libraries during school hours and take part in the activities specially organised for them. Programmes offer opportunities for integrating arts, history and science into the learning process. The scheme has become very popular, and was relaunched for the 2002-03 school year.

The department collaborated with arts bodies and educational institutions to organise arts education programmes at LCSD performance venues for schools and universities. These featured different art forms such as Cantonese opera, drama, ballet, modern dance and orchestral music.

Arts education activities were specially designed in connection with the core programmes of the two LCSD arts festivals. In the summer International Arts Carnival, nearly 100 individual and mini-series workshops introduced children to the performing and visual arts. The New Generation Self-Exploration Venture youth workshop and public presentation series offered young people intensive participatory experience in the arts. Prior to the carnival, arts groups were also sent to 140 primary schools and kindergartens, bringing the arts to students.

Contributing to the School Culture Day project, the New Vision Arts Festival offered free performances for secondary school students. The Festival also brought the mini Kunqu theatre The Peony Pavilion: A Spoiled Romance to the university students on campus. A large audience enjoyed the environmental dance, Rice, Spice, Zen and Colour, performed in the foyer of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Other festival extension activities included exhibitions, workshops, talks and demonstrations.

At the community level, the programmes offered included the Artist-in-Residence Scheme, Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme and District Cantonese Opera Parade.

The Artist-in-Residence Scheme was organised at LCSD performance venues and provided opportunities for the community to gain insight into an artist's work by meeting artists during organised activities in the same venue over a period of time.

Outreach activities aimed at making the arts more accessible to the community were organised under the Cultural Ambassador Scheme with activities taking place at parks, community centres, youth centres and homes for the elderly.

The District Cantonese Opera Parade offered budding and amateur Cantonese opera artists the opportunity for public exposure by offering venues for free, plus some publicity for a small fee.

The department presented a new autumn thematic festival entitled New Vision Arts Festival from October 18 to November 17, 2002, to showcase Hong Kong as a multi-cultural metropolis in the Asia-Pacific region. The festival featured 76 innovative and outstanding cross-cultural performances and activities performed by 26 overseas groups and 10 local groups, with a focus on Asian arts expressed in contemporary style. The programme was received enthusiastically by audiences and acclaimed by critics and arts professionals. The festival was attended by a total of 57,180 people.

The festival's opening programme, Love in a Fallen City by the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, used new theatrical styles to reinterpret a classic in contemporary Chinese literature. Other highlights included Cursive, the latest work by Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, the Swiss multi-media production Hashirigaki and Corroboree by the Bangarra Dance Theatre of Australia. The festival also featured an array of concerts on world music and jazz, as well as theatrical productions of multi-media and inter-disciplinary nature. It concluded with the multi-media opera The Gate by the world-renowned composer Tan Dun, which integrated western orchestral music, Peking opera, western opera singing and Japanese puppetry.

The festival also offered educational performances for secondary school and university students, plus environmental dance performances, exhibitions, workshops, talks and demonstrations for members of the public.

The aim of the six-week International Arts Carnival is to provide children and families with cultural and entertainment programmes through the summer.

The 2002 carnival introduced the younger generation to different world cultures by featuring programmes by overseas artists. It also served as a platform for local artists and groups to excel in their artistry and expand their audience base in Hong Kong. Eleven overseas groups and 39 local arts groups presented a total of 466 events, attracting some 163,600 people to participate in the carnival.

Complemented by a number of preliminary activities, exhibitions and an outdoor funfair, the carnival opened in mid-July 2002 with the Irish gala, Gaelforce Dance performed to full houses. Other box office hits and critics' favourites included Theatre Ensemble's Kid Kid Show, Drama Gallery's Parents on the Moon, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra's Do Mi So Musical Comedy, ROTA by Brazil's Dance Company of Deborah Colker and The King of Masks by the American puppetmaster Michael Cooper.

Another significant feature was a strong line-up of arts education and audience-building activities. These included touring activities to schools and participatory workshops.