ENG-1988 — Page 33

STATE OF THE ARTS

21

Cultural Building Boom

There is a feeling among some in the arts world that there is a lot of ‘fever' but not enough professionalism in the way we administer the arts and that the overall effort is characterised by amateurism. At the same time, many things done by artists do not fit conveniently into conventional patterns of cost effectiveness. As one administrator said: 'You need to love the arts before you can be sympathetic'. Ideally the administrators need to understand both the bureaucrat and, increasingly, the artist and how best to bring out his talents and spur his creativity.

As for the cultural building boom that Hong Kong has plunged into in recent years, Nicholas James, General Manager of the Arts Centre, feels we have adopted a 'third world mentality' in building more for the sake of prestige than for the real needs of the community. But whatever the motives, there is no denying that there is a zest today to see them used. He acknowledged that 'you could be out every night going to something different if you spoke Cantonese'. The quality, however, is inconsistent and while the orchestra, the ballet and the best of the dramatic groups are filling their houses regularly, we have to make a serious effort to build up others that need support, perhaps bring others together to form stronger units with a wider field of skills, and provide more training for others to try and mould them into effective units.

Obviously, not all will fit into this pattern; others will prefer to make their own way and do their own thing. The government, the Academy, the Fringe Club, the Music Office, the Schools Music Festival office and the many others involved have an important role to play, not just in training future instrumentalists, dancers, actors and technicians but also in educating more and more people to enjoy what is offered and to widen their capacity to appreciate what the artists are doing. That aspect is crucial, for selling seats is less important than giving people enjoyment, stimulating imagination and building a sense of belonging to a community which provides for the artistic tastes and cultural pleasures of its people.

An Urban Councillor, Lo King-man said: 'Having created a milieu where professional artists are being trained and educated, we need to create a demand that will enable them to survive by increasing admission to cultural events'. He feels that to do this more will have to be spent to reduce prices to encourage people to take an interest, not just in the performing arts, which have been the focus of greatest attention in the past 12 years, but in the visual arts as well. This suggests a need for more public exhibition areas and more opportunities for artists to see their works and cultivate their own tastes. He added: "We are at the crossroads of a new policy development because of the very rapid increase in seats available and it becomes extremely important to balance the programmes in such a way that we continue to encourage local talents and the production of locally-created works. There is a fair amount of truth, however, in the belief that if you don't have a creative community, you get the best of other people's talents. What we require in Hong Kong is to get the best of both'. So this has to be taken into consideration in our cultural planning - not simply educating and training talented locals, but raising their horizons and those of the community by continuing to import quality performers and works of art from abroad. Nor is this just a matter of catering for increasingly sophisticated urban dwellers, but in recognising the different tastes of many living in the new towns who are more traditional in their outlook and others from a rural background who might not wish to venture outside their limited cultural experience. Regional Councillor Richard Ho says that this is one reason why his council has not gone in for performing groups as the Urban Council has; moreover, it does not have the money to do so and thus its function is to provide venues for