Page 104 of 142
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164
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Cultural Activities Sub-Committee
Since the beginning of the year, responsibilities for the Council's grassroot entertainment activities have been transferred to a new sub-committee chaired by my Senior Colleague, Mr. C. S. SHUM. On Tuesday, Mr. SHUM has already reported on the splendid achievements of his sub-committee.
For now, I shall confine my remarks to cultural presentations and the two main festivals, namely, the Festival of Asian Arts and the International Film Festival.
For the year just past, the Urban Council celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the City Hall. The Hall's acoustics are very good. It has served the community well and it is still the most popular cultural venue in town. For 1982, the Council presented 516 cultural events involving local and overseas artists. Public support and response is strong resulting in an overall attendance of 265,884 persons. Before an artist or an artistic group is engaged, the cultural activities sub-committee discusses in detail the artistic merit, possible public acceptance, costs and fees item by item, ticket price structures, etc. After the performance, a post-mortem is also held at the monthly sub-committee meeting whereby ticket sales by price category, reviews by critics and final expenditure are analysed. In the sub-committee deliberations, members do try to balance the often conflicting points of view on artistic merit, level of subsidies, public tastes, etc. Mr. Chairman, at this point, I would like to clear the air of possible misunderstandings caused by some rather subjective remarks made by Mrs. ELLIOTT on cultural affairs last Tuesday. Taken out of context, an amount of 11.5 million for Performance by Overseas Artists seems large. But if one were to look at the issue in its totality, one would immediately appreciate the fact that Council is spending much more on its non-western cultural activities; activities such as the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Repertoire Theatre, the Hong Kong Dance Company and the Festival of Asian Arts, as well as its very extensive entertainment program at the grassroot level.
As a matter of policy, the Council prefers not to engage an overseas group for the sole purpose of performing in Hong Kong only. Council much prefers and indeed encourages overseas groups to tour the Far East, thus spreading the costs of airfare.
Furthermore, many of the so-called Western Artistic Groups perform in Hong Kong because they are either on their way into or are coming out of China, a specific example of which is the California Chamber Orchestra - they were on their way into China. Another specific example will be the Royal Ballet; they will be performing in Hong Kong late this Spring after they toured inside China.
Whether a performance is of Western or Eastern culture, in the majority of cases, the audience is predominantly Chinese. It is gratifying to see the local population, both young and old, deriving enjoyment out of these performances.
highlights
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 104 of 142
165
There were many notable presentations during the year. Some of them were: The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, London's Bach Choir under the direction of Sir David WILCOCK, the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Folk Opera Orchestra, Alvin Ailey Dance Company from New York, Principal Singers of the New York Metropolitan Opera, Soloists from the Royal Danish Ballet, indeed I think they were also in China, Chinese Opera, King's College Chapel Choir, Violin recital by Daniel HEIFETZ, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Ballet of the 20th Century, indeed they were touring the Far East under the direction of Maurice BEJART, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with Karl MUNCHINGER, Orchestra National de Lille of France and of course, Mr. Lo King-man's production of the opera 'Rigoletto', in fact someone wrote a letter to the newspaper this morning praising the production. In addition to our own presentations, the Council also co-operates closely with other cultural organizations in staging joint presentations. The Urban Council also gives financial support to the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. No doubt my colleague Dr. Philip Kwok as Chairman of the Hong Kong Philharmonic will have more to say on the Orchestra later. It is a much improved orchestra and it is an orchestra that we should be very proud of.
In July, the Hong Kong International Children's Choir Festival was held. Nine overseas choirs from 6 countries and the Hong Kong Children's Choir participated. The 13 urban concerts were very well supported by the public. It was heart-warming to see the children making new friends without regard to nationality, religion or colour at the farewell breakfast given to them.
The Festival of Asian Arts had its 7th Anniversary last October with the participation of 13 Asian Countries and 338 artists. For the first time, the Kingdom of Bhutan participated with their Royal Dancers. Over a 17-day period, there were 83 indoor performances attended by 49,273 persons and 70 outdoor performances attended by 138,000 persons.
Overall, the artistic merits of most groups were higher than ever resulting in some very favourable publicity being generated by the four visiting journalists. The performance of the China's Broadcast Chinese Orchestra contrasted well with our own Chinese Orchestra. For the opening performance, the Hong Kong Dance Company performed the dance drama 'Romance of the Mesmerising Visions'. Bearing in mind the limitations of the backstage facilities of the City Hall, it was a satisfying performance. Certainly, the other highlights of the Festival must be the exhibition of 'Sculpture from Thailand'. Many of the pieces on display were national treasures of Thailand. The other worthy exhibition was the display of 'Japanese Contemporary Pottery'. The creativity and pottery techniques were very high indeed.
The 6th International Film Festival was held in April 1982. A total of 128 feature films, 46 animated short films and 7 T.V. programmes from 28 countries were shown. In all, over 65,000 tickets were sold. Undoubtedly, some of the films could have commanded more showings than the three allowed by the rules of International Film Festival. Entries for the forthcoming 7th International Film Festival are now being considered.
Page 104 of 142
Page 104 of 142
T
འ།
164
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Cultural Activities Sub-Committee
Since the beginning of the year, responsibilities for the Council's grassroot entertainment activities have been transferred to a new sub-committee chaired by my Senior Colleague, Mr. C. S. SHUM. On Tuesday, Mr. SHUм has already
reported on the splendid achievements of his sub-committee.
For now, I shall confine my remarks to cultural presentations and the two main festivals, namely, the Festival of Asian Arts and the International Film
Festival.
For the year just past, the Urban Council celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the City Hall. The Hall's acoustics are very good. It has served the community well and it is still the most popular cultural venue in town. For 1982, the Council presented 516 cultural events involving local and overseas artists. Public support and response is strong resulting in an overall attendance of 265 884 persons. Before an artist or an artistic group is engaged, the cultural activities sub-committee discuss in details the artistic merit, possible public acceptance, costs and fees item by item, ticket price structures, etc. After the performance, a post mortem is also held at the monthly sub-committee meeting whereby ticket sales by price category, reviews by critics and final expenditure are analysed. In the sub-committee deliberations, members do try to balance the often conflicting points of view on artistic merit, level of subsidies, public tastes, etc. Mr. Chairman, at this point, I would like to clear the air of possible misunderstandings caused by some rather subjective remarks made by Mrs. ELLIOTT on cultural affairs last Tuesday. Taken out of context, an amount of 11.5 millions for Performance by Overseas Artists seems large. But if one were to look at the issue in its totality, one would immediately appreciate the fact that Council is spending much more on its non western cultural activities; activities such as the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Repertoire Theatre, the Hong Kong Dance Company and the Festival of Asian Arts, as well as its very extensive entertainment program at the grassroot level.
As a matter of policy, the Council prefers not to engage an overseas group for the sole purpose of performing in Hong Kong only. Council much prefer and indeed encourage overseas group to tour the Far East, thus spreading the costs of airfare.
Furthermore, many of the so-called Western Artistic Groups perform in Hong Kong because they are either on their way into or are coming out of China, a specific example of which is the California Chamber Orchestra-they were on their way into China. Another specific example will be the Royal Ballet, they will be performing in Hong Kong late this Spring after they toured inside China.
Whether a performance is of Western or Eastern culture, in the majority of cases, the audience is predominant Chinese. It is gratifying to see the local population, both young and old, deriving enjoyment out of these performances.
highlights
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Page 104 of 142
165
There were many notable presentations during the year. Some of the were: The Vienna Symphony Orchestra, London's Bach Choir under the direction of Sir David WILCOCK, the B.B.C. Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Folk Opera Orchestra, Alvin Ailey Dance Company from New York, Principal Singers of the New York Metropolitan Opera, Soloists from the Royal Danish Ballet, indeed I think they were also in China, Chinese Opera, King's College Chapel Choir, Violin recital by Daniel HEIFETZ, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Ballet of the 20th Century, indeed they were touring the Far East under the direction of Maurice BEJART, the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra with Karl MUNCHINGER, Orchestra National de Lille of France and of course, Mr. Lo King-man's production of the opera 'Rigoletto', in fact someone wrote a letter to the newspaper this morning praising the production. In addition to our own presentations, the Council also co-operate closely with other cultural organiza- tions in staging joint presentations. The Urban Council also give financial support to the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. No doubt my colleague Dr. Philip Kwok as Chairman of the Hong Kong Philharmonic will have more to say on the Orchestra later. It is a much improved orchestra and it is an orchestra that we should be very proud of.
In July, the Hong Kong International Children's Choir Festival was held. Nine overseas choirs from 6 countries and the Hong Kong Children's Choir participated. The 13 urban concerts were very well supported by the public. It was heart warming to see the children making new friends without regard to nationality, religion or colour at the farewell breakfast given to them.
The Festival of Asian Arts had its 7th Anniversary last October with the participation of 13 Asian Countries and 338 artists. For the first time, the Kingdom of Bhutan participated with their Royal Dancers. Over a 17-day period, there were 83 indoor performances attended by 49 273 persons and 70 outdoor performances attended by 138 000 persons.
Overall, the artistic merits of most groups were higher than ever resulting in some very favourable publicity being generated by the four visiting journalists. The performance of the China's Broadcast Chinese Orchestra contrasted well with our own Chinese Orchestra. For the opening performance, the Hong Kong Dance Company performed the dance drama 'Romance of the Mesmerising Visions'. Bearing in mind the limitations of the back stage facilities of the City Hall, it was a satisfying performance. Certainly, the other highlights of the Festival must be the exhibition of 'Sculpture from Thailand'. Many of the pieces on display were national treasures of Thailand. The other worthy exhibition was the display of 'Japanese Contemporary Pottery'. The creativity and pottery techniques were very high indeed.
The 6th International Film Festival was held in April 1982. A total of 128 feature films, 46 animated short films and 7 T.V. programmes from 28 countries were shown. In all, over 65 000 tickets were sold. Undoubtedly, some of the films could have commanded more showings than the three allowed by the rules of International Film Festival. Entries for the forthcoming 7th International
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