During the year under review, the LCSD continued to offer quality cultural events, helping maintain Hong Kong’s status as Asia’s events capital. The array of programmes included exciting shows by local and international artists, a variety of festivals and audience-building activities. The department also manages many of Hong Kong’s leading performance venues.
Since it opened in 1989, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC), managed by the LCSD, has been Hong Kong’s premier cultural venue. Capable of staging a wide range of performing arts events, the centre houses a 2 019-seat Concert Hall, a 1 734-seat Grand Theatre and a Studio Theatre with a maximum seating capacity of 496. In 2011-12, 760 performances there attracted more than 700 000 people.
The centre is the major venue for Hong Kong’s five big cultural events － the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, Chinese Opera Festival, International Arts Carnival and the Autumn Thematic Arts Festival. It is also a stage for many internationally-acclaimed performing arts groups. Among them, in 2011-12, were the Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Germany), Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe (the Mainland), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Austria), National Ballet of China (the Mainland), Shanghai Yueju Opera House (the Mainland), Hamburg Ballet (Germany), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (The Netherlands) and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Germany). Other attractions included opera productions Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Cosi Fan Tutte, recitals by Anne-Sophie Mutter, Murray Perahia, Itzhak Perlman, Anne Sofie von Otter and Karita Mattila.
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A new opera, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, commemorating the centennial anniversary of China's 1911 Revolution, narrated stories of Dr Sun’s friendships and loves. |
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Offering a panoramic view of Victoria Harbour, the HKCC’s outdoor piazza is a popular place for spectacular events, such as the International Chinese New Year Night Parade and the Lunar New Year Lantern Carnival and Fireworks Display.
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The live broadcast of the stunning performance by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Victoria Harbour attracted the crowds. |
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Hong Kong City Hall, which opened in 1962, is our first purpose-built civic centre. In 2009, the Bauhaus-style complex was designated a Grade 1 Historic Building. The City Hall has a 1 434-seat concert hall, a 463-seat theatre and a 590-m² exhibition hall. About 359 000 patrons attended 620 performances staged there in 2011-12.
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Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing (fifth left) and Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung (fourth left), joined hands with other guests in hosting the ceremony celebrating the 50th anniversary of Hong Kong City Hall. |
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The time capsule buried by the former Urban Council in 1997 at the Memorial Garden of the Hong Kong City Hall was unearthed this year to tie in with the 50th anniversary of Hong Kong City Hall.
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The City Hall, which marked its Golden Jubilee in 2012, celebrated the milestone with a colourful array of programmes from November 2011 to May 2012. Celebrations reached its climax with The Golden Stage － Hong Kong City Hall 50th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition opened on its 50th anniversary on March 2, 2012, followed by a concert graced by the world renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. The department’s annual Dance Day, themed City Hall and I, was organised for the first time on Hong Kong Island at the City Hall and its environs. A commemorative book titled Where Modern Hong Kong Began － The City Hall and Its 50-Year Story gave a detailed account of City Hall’s rich history as a cradle of the arts and in promoting arts and culture in Hong Kong.
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The Golden Jubilee celebrations of Hong Kong City Hall included an exhibition of more than 200 photographs submitted by the public showing their cherished moments at this important landmark. |
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Apart from the department’s own presentations, local and overseas, other highlights of the anniversary celebration included contributory programmes by the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong International Film Festival, City Hall’s two venue partners - the Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre as well as other major performing companies such as the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.
Distinguished visiting artists and arts groups who performed at the venue included the Jin Liansheng Gaojia Opera Troupe of Xiamen City and Shanghai Pingtan Troupe (the Mainland), Nikolai Demidenko, L’Arpeggiata, Martina Filjak and Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival (Finland) as well as Danilo Rea and Flavio Boltro.
The City Hall was also one of the main venues for major arts festivals during the year under review.
Our range of arts facilities are focal points for cultural activities around Hong Kong. They include larger venues such as the Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun town halls; the Kwai Tsing, Yuen Long and Ko Shan theatres; and smaller venues such as the Sai Wan Ho, Sheung Wan, Ngau Chi Wan and Tai Po civic centres, and the North District Town Hall. Most of them have been serving the community for many years.
A series of programmes was arranged to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Sha Tin Town Hall in 2012. Highlights included A Showcase of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Cantonese Opera Masters, Heroic Boys by the Guangzhou Acrobatic Troupe of China (the Mainland), a concert by the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra (the Mainland) and Flames of Desire by Tango Fire (Argentina). Presented alongside the highlights was a variety of popular shows by local performing groups and district arts groups, featuring the Cinematic Theatre and the Town Hall’s two venue partners, the Cantonese Opera Advancement Association and the Hong Kong Children’s Arts Alliance. The Fun Day, welcomed by families and local residents, added variety to this memorable occasion.
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Public performances like this one at the piazza of Sha Tin Town Hall gave people an opportunity to appreciate arts and culture close up. |
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To promote and encourage the arts at grassroots level, district arts groups organising cultural activities for the local community enjoy free use of these facilities through our venue sponsorship scheme. In 2011-12, around 100 community arts groups were sponsored in 615 activities, attracting more than 110 000 people. Various independent organisations also hired our facilities for arts-related activities.
The Government is keen to preserve and develop Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. To meet the high demand for performance venues, the department has put in place a priority hiring policy for professional Cantonese opera troupes. They include priority hiring of the Ko Shan Theatre and priority booking for specific periods at five other major performance venues. The Yau Ma Tei Theatre, a new territory-wide venue will add to the fleet of 13 performance venues and accept booking applications for Chinese opera only. The Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee and the Cantonese opera sector support these measures.
Two new venue projects are currently in the pipeline. The first is the conversion of two graded historic buildings － the Yau Ma Tei Theatre and the Red Brick Building － into a performance venue housing a 300-seat theatre and two multi-purpose rooms. Building conversion works of the two buildings were completed in September 2011 followed by a series of fitting out and testing works on the technical equipment and stage systems. The venue launched its commissioning programmes in April 2012 and was scheduled for opening in July 2012. Another project, scheduled for completion in 2013, is the Annex Building at the Ko Shan Theatre to house a 600-seat theatre, as well as rehearsal and training facilities. These venues will provide facilities particularly for budding Cantonese opera artists/performing troupes to organise small to medium-scale Cantonese opera performances, experimental works, training and rehearsal.
To provide a supportive environment for sustainable development of the performing arts, we began a three-year Venue Partnership Scheme in April 2009. The first round of the scheme, involving 20 venue partners, including individual groups, joint groups and consortia, organised various performing arts activities at 11 venues from April 2009 to March 2012. It aimed to foster partnership between venues and performing arts groups to enhance their image, expand audience, optimise the use of the facility, encourage community involvement in arts development and promote arts in the community.
| Venue |
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Partners |
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| (1) |
Hong Kong City Hall |
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Hong Kong Sinfonietta
Hong Kong Repertory Theatre
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| (2) |
Hong Kong Cultural Centre |
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Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra
Hong Kong Ballet
Zuni Icosahedron
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| (3) |
Kwai Tsing Theatre |
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Chung Ying Theatre Company
W Theatre and Wind Mill Grass Theatre
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| (4) |
Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre |
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Whole Theatre
E-Side Dance Company
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| (5) |
North District Town Hall |
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Harmonic Theatre
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| (6) |
Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre |
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The Absolutely Fabulous Theatre
Connection
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| (7) |
Sha Tin Town Hall |
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The Cantonese Opera Advancement
Association
Hong Kong Children's Arts Alliance
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| (8) |
Sheung Wan Civic Centre |
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Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre
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| (9) |
Tsuen Wan Town Hall |
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Hong Kong Dance Company
Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education
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| (10) |
Tuen Mun Town Hall |
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Spring-Time Chinese Opera and
Hon Fung Creative Chinese Opera
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| (11) |
Yuen Long Theatre |
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Chung Ying Theatre Company
Y-Space
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Venue partners are supported in various ways, including priority use of venue facilities, funding and enhanced publicity and provision of workspace. In 2011-12, the 20 venue partners presented 628 performances and engaged in 720 audience building activities. Together they attracted about 701 000 spectators and participants. A new round of the scheme will run from April 2012 to March 2015.
An arts administrator trainee scheme was launched in 2010-11 to nurture a pool of arts administrators to support the development of Hong Kong’s cultural software.
Thirteen LCSD trainees, engaged in a two-year programme that commenced in 2010-11, have learned venue operations, facility management, event promotion, as well as organisation of performing arts programmes, carnivals and arts festivals. The second phase of the programme will start in late 2012 for 18 trainees.
Separately, the LCSD sponsored our venue partners to engage trainees to learn about the management of performing arts groups. Under this scheme, 20 trainees were engaged by 18 venue partners during the year under review.
