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STATE OF THE ARTS
writing for films has gained new outlets for his talents in television, and as a result, in the view of Legislative Councillor and television executive Mrs Selina Chow we have succeeded in promoting a 'very Hong Kong type of Cantonese culture, particularly through drama'. But regrettably not much more than that.
Part of the reason is that Hong Kong people have not yet caught up with the cultural upsurge that has taken place; with other distractions dominating their thinking and planning at present, they may never be able to give it the attention and support that it deserves, at least in so far as an older age group is concerned, though there is more hope for the young. For most of the new productions that take place in Hong Kong these days are patronised by the under-35s and among this group there is increasing support for what is being produced and performed.
Slightly better off in this respect are the artist and sculptor who at least have an established convention on their side, namely home decoration. No matter how humble the home, convention decrees the need for ornaments and pictures, and with rising affluence and increasingly sophisticated tastes, there is a quest for not just colour and beauty but also aesthetic and spiritual expression. The tawdry trivia which littered the sideboards of our grandparents survive in museums, and for those who aspire to original rather than copied works of art, there is a thriving school of artists in Hong Kong whose work clamours for patronage.
The Urban Council, at its Museum of Art, has opened an outlet for the works of young sculptors and artists, charging a small commission but otherwise allowing them to set their own price. These, like the works of the young writer, hardly repay the months of effort needed to translate an inspiration or vision into artistic reality. This has not discouraged an active_community of artists which, perhaps more than any other cultural group, has developed largely by its own efforts and in its indigenous form must rank as one of the oldest, tracing its origins back to the earliest days of Hong Kong. The China trade paintings, with their meticulous fine brush work, have today become costly and widely collected works of art. But far from burying their heads in the past, today's community of artists have proved themselves among the most innovative and original, working in a variety of media and intermixing cultural influences, yet also embellishing traditional forms. The list of successful Hong Kong artists and sculptors consists of both expatriates and locals, who exhibit regularly at private galleries and exhibitions and whose works are also collected and displayed by local banks and businesses as well as by many individuals. Such artists as Luis Chen, Wucius Wong, Lui Shou-kwan, Van Lau, Hon Chi-fun, Gaylord Chan, the late Douglas Bland, Rosamund Brown, Martha Lesser, Kwong Yeu-ting, Yang Shen-sum, Ting Yen-yung and Fang Chao-lin, together with sculptors like Ma Ji-bo, Chu Hon-sun, Ruth Sulke and Cheng Yi, have established not only their own reputations but that of Hong Kong as a thriving and indeed exciting centre of art and sculpture.
Happily, Hong Kong has an extensive reservoir of fine artistic treasures from the past to be found in hundreds of private collections as well as in the displays of our museums. At the same time, the Antiquities and Monuments Board has named 33 sites to be preserved as historical monuments on the ground. Many may feel this to be too little, too late and that far more should have been preserved from the wreckers' hammers, including some fine old colonial buildings. The Chinese sage - was it Confucius or Mencius? - warned of the futility of shedding tears over a bowl of spilt tea, however, and the Antiquities Board is working hard to extend what remains of Hong Kong's heritage for the benefit of future generations.
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