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incidents, his views on society, his discontent over social problems and the reflection of his conscience. The sculptor of the Pillar of Shame has depicted mankind's views and feelings about the strive for human rights. The display of his work at a Council venue was brutally refused. There is no doubt that the Council's decision in respect of the Pillar of Shame is against artistic principles. The Council allow certain articles to be displayed in our venues, but not others of a different type. It leads people to question whether the Council wants to monopolise art or only has room for certain prototypes of art.
The Pillar of Shame is an example for us. There is need for this Council to realise the threat faced by freedom of art in Hong Kong. This Council is duty bound to close the gap of artistic freedom in Hong Kong and rebuild the confidence of international and local artists on art in Hong Kong. The incident of the Pillar of Shame not only compresses our artistic space, but also exercises political vetting on works of art. To art workers, artistic space and freedom of creation are most important. By limiting freedom and space of expression, we are stifling artistic creation. This Council is therefore duty bound to safeguard artistic freedom and pave the way for art workers to be assured of it.
As such, I think that the amendment motion moved by Mr. Lau Hok-lim is both constructive and necessary. It is not superfluous as described by some colleagues. To prevent a repeat of cases similar to that of the Pillar of Shame and to avoid the situation of politics above all to stifle artistic creation, I call on fellow Members to support the amendment. Let us safeguard artistic freedom, protect artistic space and freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
From the speeches heard before, one can see that members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the Liberal Party reacted strongly to 'safeguarding of freedom of art'. Why is this? Is freedom to you something to be feared? Or is there something bothering you? If you do not infringe on artistic freedom, why do you fear protection of artistic freedom? Will this term infringe on your freedom? No, it will not. It is a commitment of this Council towards art workers, a support and a promotion. It reflects our ideal to promote art and provide free space for art. If we cannot accept this, how can we safeguard the freedom of Hong Kong in future? Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the amendment motion.
Mr. Stephen WONG Hon-ching (in Cantonese): My speech will be simple and brief. Just one point. Many colleagues discussed the viewpoint of artistic freedom. The original motion mentions enhancement of the promotion and popularisation of visual art. The amendment motion included safeguard of artistic freedom as well.
We can see that to safeguard artistic freedom is a natural, balanced approach of the Council. We are not just protecting artistic freedom in respect of visual art. We do so on a wider spectrum. We are concerned about visual art and many other forms of art. Why are we including protection of artistic
Page 152 of 654
Page 152 of 654
Page 152 of 654
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
155
incidents, his views on society, his discontent over social problems and the reflection of his conscience. The sculptor of the Pillar of Shame has depicted mankind's views and feelings about the strive for human rights. The display of his work at a Council venue was brutally refused. There is no doubt that the Council's decision in respect of the Pillar of Shame is against artistic principles. The Council allow certain articles to be displayed in our venues, but not others of a different type. It leads people to question whether the Council wants to monopolise art or only has room for certain prototypes of art.
The Pillar of Shame is an example for us. There is need for this Council to realise the threat faced by freedom of art in Hong Kong. This Council is duty bound to close the gap of artistic freedom in Hong Kong and rebuild the confidence of international and local artists on art in Hong Kong. The incident of the Pillar of Shame not only compresses our artistic space, but also exercises political vetting on works of art. To art workers, artistic space and freedom of creation are most important. By limiting freedom and space of expression, we are stifling artistic creation. This Council is therefore duty bound to safeguard artistic freedom and pave the way for art workers to be assured of it.
As such, I think that the amendment motion moved by Mr. Lat Hok-lim is both constructive and necessary. It is not superfluous as described by some colleagues. To prevent a repeat of cases similar to that of the Pillar of Shame and to avoid the situation of politics above all to stifle artistic creation, I call on fellow Members to support the amendment. Let us safeguard artistic freedom, protect artistic space and freedom of expression in Hong Kong.
From the speeches heard before, one can see that members of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the Liberal Party reacted strongly to 'safeguarding of freedom of art'. Why is this? Is freedom to you something to be feared of? Or is there something bothering you? If you do not infringe on artistic freedom, why do you fear protection of artistic freedom? Will this term infringe on your freedom? No, it will not. It is a commitment of this Council towards art workers, a support and a promotion. It reflects our ideal to promote art and provide free space for art. If we cannot accept this, how can we safeguard the freedom of Hong Kong in future? Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the amendment motion.
Mr. San STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-My speech will be simple and brief. Just one point. Many colleagues discussed the viewpoint of artistic freedom. The original motion mentions enhancement of the promotion and popularisation of visual art. The amendment motion included safeguard of artistic freedom as well.
We can see that to safeguard artistic freedom is a natural, balanced approach of the Council. We are not just protecting artistic freedom in respect of visual art. We do so on a wider spectrum. We are concerned about visual art and many other forms of art. Why are we including protection of artistic
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