Cultural Exchanges
Exchanges with the International Community
The LCSD arts managers, curators and librarians regularly attend international conferences and festivals to keep abreast of new developments in arts and culture, and to scout for quality programmes to present in Hong Kong. In 2017-18, overseas exchange programmes and international conferences organised by the LCSD or attended by its representatives included:
- the Museum Summit (HKSAR);
- the International Institute for Conservation (IIC) – Palace Museum 2017 Hong Kong Symposium (HKSAR);
- the Annual Conference 2017 of the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (the Mainland);
- the 19th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (the Mainland);
- the Wuzhen Theatre Festival 2017 (the Mainland);
- the Wuchuan Cantonese Opera Cultural Art Festival (the Mainland);
- the 73rd International Federation of Film Archives Congress (USA);
- PAC Australia National Performing Arts Exchange and Conference (Australia);
- the Berliner Festspiele Theatertreffen (Germany);
- the Romaeuropa Festival 2017 (Italy);
- the Tokyo Jazz Festival (Japan);
- the Sapporo International Art Festival 2017 (Japan);
- KINEKO International Children’s Film Festival 2017 (Japan);
- the Singapore Street Festival (Singapore);
- the 21st Southeast Asia-Pacific Audiovisual Archive Association Conference (the Philippines); and
- the 11th Council Meeting of the Conference on Cooperative Development and Sharing of Chinese Resources (Macao).
The Museum Summit, a prestigious international event being hosted by Hong Kong for the first time, was held in June 2017. Themed ‘Museums in a New Era’, the summit brought together 20 speakers who were leading figures and professionals of world-renowned museum institutions. They shared their precious experiences and insights on a wide array of topics, as well as their visions and blueprints in the face of the challenges in the new era.
Exchanges with Mainland China and Macao
In October 2017, the Hong Kong Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Music Office, together with the Guangzhou Symphony Youth Orchestra and the Macao Youth Symphony Orchestra, presented a concert of Music Spectacular in Queen Elizabeth Stadium Arena, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Establishment of the HKSAR along with the 40th Anniversary of the Music Office.
The 18th edition of the annual Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) Cultural Co-operation Meeting, jointly presented by the Home Affairs Bureau of the HKSAR, the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region, took place in Foshan in June 2017. Participants at the two-day meeting discussed topics and trends in the world of culture and the arts.
Major performing arts initiatives held under the GPRD Cultural Co-operation framework included the annual Cantonese Opera Day in November 2017, and A Showcase of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Cantonese Opera New Stars, presented by the Home Affairs Bureau, the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region.Museum and exhibition collaborations that took place during the year included the exhibitions Hall of Mental Cultivation of The Palace Museum: Imperial Residence of Eight Emperors, held from June to October 2017, and Longevity and Virtues: Birthday Celebrations of the Qing Emperors and Empress Dowagers, held from July to October 2017, both organised in collaboration with The Palace Museum. The exhibition Miles upon Miles: World Heritage along the Silk Road, which ran from November 2017 to March 2018, was a joint presentation with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Gansu Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Bureau of Cultural Heritage, the Luoyang Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum joined hands with the Second Historical Archives of China to stage the exhibition A Matter of Record: Dr Sun Yat-sen in the Historical Archives from October 2017 to March 2018. Outbound exhibitions taking place in the year included A Century of Fashion: Hong Kong Cheongsam Story at the Ningbo Museum from September to December 2017, and In Search of Zen – The Art of Lui Shou-Kwan at the National Art Museum of China from March to April 2018.
GPRD cultural co-operation initiatives on the library front in 2017-18 included a creative writing competition jointly organised by the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL), the Macao Public Library, the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province, the Shenzhen Library and the Shenzhen Children’s Library on the theme of Chinese Culture, in celebration of 4．23 World Book Day. Winning entries were put on display in the libraries of the three regions. An exhibition titled Old Illustrated News: Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in the Pictorials of Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic of China, jointly organised by the HKPL and the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province, was held in the Hong Kong Central Library.
Hong Kong Week 2017@Taipei – Music Transcends
The sixth edition of Hong Kong Week in Taipei, presented by the Hong Kong-Taiwan Cultural Co-operation Committee, was held from November 24 to December 3, 2017 under the theme Music Transcends. The event featured four programmes at major exhibition and performance venues in Taipei, which along with 10 extension activities, attracted over 31 000 visitors.
The 2017 edition opened with Music Transcends – Proms in the Park, a large-scale outdoor proms event with two free performances and a series of pre-performance fringe activities, involving more than 70 artists from Hong Kong and 15 artists from Taiwan. Other performances were Hong Kong Episodes, composed and performed by Teriver Cheung and Fung Lam, and One Zero, jointly directed by Tsai Ming-liang and GayBird. The exhibition 20 Years of Hong Kong Game x Music was also part of the programme.
