Page 63 of 243
108
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(1) MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN moved:
RESOLVED that the Urban Council sponsor a Hong Kong Festival of the Arts at regular intervals and that the matter be referred to the relevant City Hall Select Committees for further study.
He said:
Mr. Chairman, many members of this Council will recall that in the years before the City Hall was built, local groups had organized six annual Festival of the Arts. Much of the credit for the organising of these early Festivals was due to the indomitable leadership of Mrs. Eileen DEKKER.
After Mrs. DEKKER left Hong Kong, we did not have another Festival of the Arts until last year, when the City Hall organized a "Music and Fine Arts in Hong Kong" Festival to commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of the founding of the City Hall.
I have been reading through some of the accomplishments of last year's Festival. There were 22 concerts over a period of 16 days, with over 800 performers representing 22 different musical groups. Programmes covered many aspects of Chinese and Western music, vocal as well as instrumental.
There was also a Children's Art Exhibition, in which 319 schools participated. Besides, 541 artists and photographers entered their work for the Festival Exhibition.
Local photographers were well represented at the photography Exhibition, at which the theme was the "Life and Landscape of Hong Kong", in colour, as well as in black and white. Hong Kong photographers are well known throughout the world for their high artistic and technical skill. In fact, in 1967 it was the first time that Hong Kong, through the City Hall, gave proper recognition to local photographers for the high place of honour that they have achieved in international photography. It should be mentioned that the Hong Kong Amateur Cine Club also participated enthusiastically in the Festival.
The motion before this Council is simple and straightforward: that the Urban Council sponsor a Hong Kong Festival of the Arts at regular intervals, and that the matter be referred to the relevant City Hall Select Committee for further study.
It is my belief, and I think this view will be shared by many members of this Council, as well as a wide cross-section of the public, that last year's Festival was an unqualified success. In the light of this, there is full justification for this Council, through the City Hall, to plan for more Festivals of the Arts, wider in scope and preferably as an annual event.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
109
As I intimated, I would prefer that we plan for an Annual Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, so that we could emphasize in each particular year, different aspects of the Arts, whether in music, drama and opera, painting and modern art, ballet and modern dance, not to mention children's art, and local handicrafts.
Hong Kong is one of the world's most prolific producers of films, and if the Annual Festival of the Arts could be tied in with showings of the best of local Mandarin and Cantonese films, with proper English dubbing, I am sure that this will be an effective way to introduce one form of Chinese culture and customs to tourists visiting Hong Kong.
Of course, an Annual Festival of the Arts would need additional staff. Therefore this motion, if adopted, has to be referred to the various City Hall Select Committees for study, with particular reference to planning staff and financial requirements. Perhaps it might be advisable in the initial stages to organize the festival as a biennial event, but once sufficient experience has been gained, then the Festival should be held annually.
The City Hall management might also co-ordinate its efforts with the useful work being done by the Hong Kong Tourist Association, to encourage more tourists to visit Hong Kong. We might have, for instance, commemorative medallions struck from time to time. The Post Office could issue commemorative stamps, which would be treasured by stamp collectors all over the world, portraying Hong Kong not as a cultural desert; but as an international city with a cultural spirit and life of its own.
Visiting businessmen might also be persuaded to stay longer in Hong Kong. They could make valuable use of their time if the Festival of the Arts were coupled with a display of Hong Kong's industrial arts, to be organized by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and by the proposed Design Centre. We could even have regular Fashion Festivals at around that time as well.
After five years of existence, it is timely that the City Hall take the initiative to encourage the formation of a local Arts Council. If this is done I am sure that many prominent civic leaders and businessmen would be willing and able to become Patrons of the Arts Council once it is formed. Eventually, the Arts Council could take over most of the load from the City Hall management in organizing the Annual Festival of the Arts.
When the Governor last week opened the Hong Kong Exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute in London, he said that "Hong Kong is the miracle that it is because of the respect, regard and affection in which the Chinese and British people hold for each other". In order to
Page 63 of 243
Page 63 of 243
Page 63 of 243
108
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
(1) MR. HILTON CHEONG-LEEN moved:
RESOLVED that the Urban Council sponsor a Hong Kong Festival of the Arts at regular intervals and that the matter be referred to the relevant City Hall Select Committees for further study.
He said:
Mr. Chairman, many members of this Council will recall that in the years before the City Hall was built, local groups had organized six annual Festival of the Arts. Much of the credit for the organising of these early Festivals was due to the indomitable leadership of Mrs. Eileen DEKKER.
After Mrs. DEKKER left Hong Kong, we did not have another Festival of the Arts until last year, when the City Hall organized a "Music and Fine Arts in Hong Kong" Festival to commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of the founding of the City Hall.
I have been reading through some of the accomplishments of last year's Festival. There were 22 concerts over a period of 16 days, with The over 800 performers representing 22 different musical groups. programmes covered many aspects of Chinese and Western music, vocal as well as instrumental.
There was also a Children's Art Exhibition, in which 319 schools participated. Besides, 541 artists and photographers entered their work for the Festival Exhibition.
Local photographers were well represented at the photography Exhibition, at which the theme was the "Life and Landscape of Hong Kong", in colour, as well as in black and white. Hong Kong photog- raphers are well known throughout the world for their high artistic and technical skill. In fact, in 1967 it was the first time that Hong Kong, through the City Hall, gave proper recognition to local photog- raphers for the high place of honour that they have achieved in inter- national photography. It should be mentioned that the Hong Kong Amateur Cine Club also participated enthusiastically in the Festival.
The motion before this Council is simple and straightforward: that the Urban Council sponsor a Hong Kong Festival of the Arts at regular intervals, and that the matter be referred to the relevant City Hall Select Committee for further study.
It is my belief, and I think this view will be shared by many members of this Council, as well as a wide cross-section of the public, In the light of that last year's Festival was an unqualified success. this, there is full justification for this Council, through the City Hall, to plan for more Festivals of the Arts, wider in scope and preferably as an annual event.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
109
As I intimated, I would prefer that we plan for an Annual Hong Kong Festival of the Arts, so that we could emphasize in each partic- ular year, different aspects of the Arts, whether in music, drama and opera, painting and modern art, ballet and modern dance, not to mention children's art, and local handicrafts.
Hong Kong is one of the world's most prolific producers of films, and if the Annual Festival of the Arts could be tied in with showings of the best of local Mandarin and Cantonese films, with proper English dubbing, I am sure that this will be an effective way to introduce one form of Chinese culture and customs to tourists visiting Hong Kong.
Of course, an Annual Festival of the Arts would need additional staff. Therefore this motion, if adopted, has to be referred to the various City Hall Select Committees for study, with particular reference to planning staff and financial requirements. Perhaps it might be advisable in the initial stages to organize the festival as a biennial event, but once sufficient experience has been gained, then the Festival should be held annually.
The City Hall management might also co-ordinate its efforts with the useful work being done by the Hong Kong Tourist Association, to encourage more tourists to visit Hong Kong. We might have, for instance, commemorative medallions struck from time to time. The Post Office could issue commemorative stamps, which would be treasur- ed by stamp collectors all over the world, portraying Hong Kong not as a cultural desert; but as an international city with a cultural spirit and life of its own.
Visiting businessmen might also be persuaded to stay longer in Hong Kong. They could make valuable use of their time if the Fes- tival of the Arts were coupled with a display of Hong Kong's industrial arts, to be organized by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries and by the proposed Design Centre. We could even have regular Fashion Festivals at around that time as well.
After five years of existence, it is timely that the City Hall take the initiative to encourage the formation of a local Arts Council. If this is done I am sure that many prominent civic leaders and business- men would be willing and able to become Patrons of the Arts Council once it is formed. Eventually, the Arts Council could take over most of the load from the City Hall management in organizing the Annual Festival of the Arts.
When the Governor last week opened the Hong Kong Exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute in London, he said that "Hong Kong is the miracle that it is because of the respect, regard and affection in which the Chinese and British people hold for each other". In order to
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