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Administration Select Committee, while the museums and their surrounding space come under the management of the Museums Select Committee. Such a division of management by functions gives rise to the absence of a comprehensive policy on the display of works of art (in prominent public areas). It also leads to the handling of application for the display of works of art or acceptance of donated works of art on individual merits. For example, when the Cultural Centre was opened ten years ago, a French commercial organization donated a piece of sculpture to the Council, but since we did not have a special mechanism or standard for assessment then, we accepted the donation. The City Hall is a prominent public area, where we have a piece of English sculpture. However, these public areas are provided for the enjoyment of the general public. Do members of the public really appreciate that cultural art is part of their living, so that we may hope to raise the quality of our urban city?
We can see that because of the absence of a comprehensive policy and a mechanism for discussing the display of works of art, a lot of disputes arose in the past year. For example, the Recreation Select Committee spent a tremendous amount of time in discussing the proposal for the display of the Pillar of Shame by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and the application for the display of a piece of sculpture submitted by the Aids Foundation.
Mr. Chairman, the spirit of the motion I have moved today is to work out as soon as possible a comprehensive policy on the display of works of art, as part of the public art policy. The motion aims at promoting artistic concepts and awareness, by using the Council's venues, so as to improve the standard of urban living. At the same time, it aims at providing more display space for artistic workers, so as to encourage creativity and promote the development of art. This will at the same time enhance the Council's image as a major promoter of art development and foster Hong Kong's international image. Prominent public art areas in metropolitan cities such as New York are one of the spots that visitors must go to. I consider that if we could develop some public art of a high quality, it would be conducive to the local tourist industry.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to take the opportunity to describe the several parts that make up the policy that is being considered.
The first part is that we need a fair and open mechanism for selection. A fair and open procedure must be adopted for the treatment of public art, be it commissioned creation, purchase or approval of short-term display. I also hope that involvement of various parties, including artists and members of the public, in particular, local people who have influence on the districts concerned, will be featured in the procedure, so as to ensure a high quality for the works of art and an interactive selection with the representation of one or more local residents who could speak on behalf of the district concerned. I therefore hope that after the policy is worked out, the Council will set up a
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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL
207
Administration Select Committee, while the museums and their surrounding space come under the management of the Museums Select Committee. Such a division of management by functions gives rise to the absence of a comprehensive policy on the display of works of art (in prominent public areas). It also leads to the handling of application for the display of works of art or acceptance of donated works of art on individual merits. For example, when the Cultural Centre was opened ten years ago, a French commercial organization donated a piece of sculpture to the Council, but since we did not have a special mechanism or standard for assessment then, we accepted the donation. The City Hall is a prominent public area, where we have a piece of English sculpture. However, these public areas are provided for the enjoyment of the general public. Do members of the public really appreciate that cultural art is part of their living, so that we may hope to raise the quality of our urban city?
We can see that because of the absence of a comprehensive policy and a mechanism for discussing the display of works of art, a lot of disputes arose in the past year. For example, the Recreation Select Committee. spent a tremendous amount of time in discussing the proposal for the display of the Pillar of Shame by the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China and the application for the display of a piece of sculpture submitted by the Aids Foundation.
Mr. Chairman, the spirit of the motion I have moved today is to work out as soon as possible a comprehensive policy on the display of works of art, as part of the public art policy. The motion aims at promoting artistic concepts and awareness, by using the Council's venues, so as to improve the standard of urban living. At the same time, it aims at providing more display space for artistic workers, so as to encourage creativity and promote the development of art. This will at the same time enhance the Council's image as a major promoter of art development and foster Hong Kong's international image. Prominent public art arcas in metropolitan cities such as New York are one of the spots that visitors must go to. I consider that if we could develop some public art of a high quality, it would be conducive to the local tourist industry.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to take the opportunity to describe the several parts that make up the policy that is being considered.
The first part is that we need a fair and open mechanism for selection. A fair and open procedure must be adopted for the treatment of public art. be it commissioned creation, purchase or approval of short-term display. I also hope that involvement of various parties, including artists and members of the public, in particular, local people who have influence on the districts concerned, will be featured in the procedure, so as to ensure a high quality for the works of art and an interactive selection with the representation of one or more local residents who could speak on behalf of the district concerned. I therefore hope that after the policy is worked out, the Council will set up a
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