394 Recreation, Sport and the Arts
Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts
Established by ordinance in 1984 with an autonomous governing council, the Academy for Performing Arts (APA) offers professional training in dance, drama, music, film and television, theatre technical arts and Chinese traditional theatre.
During the year, Professor Kevin Thompson, Director of the Academy sealed key alliance agreements with several peer international institutions, such as Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, Vienna Hochschule, and Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts to promote exchanges between the institutions.
During the year, the APA prepared to launch two academic programmes at master's degree level: Master of Fine Arts (Dance) and Master of Music. The first students on the programmes are expected in the 2006-2007 academic year.
In 2005, the Academy's Extension and Continuing Education for Life (EXCEL) Unit enrolled nearly 7 000 participants in 332 courses across the arts spectrum.
Hong Kong Arts Centre
The mission of the Hong Kong Arts Centre is to nurture creativity, arts and cultural engagement through its two-pronged approach in promoting contemporary performing arts, visual arts as well as film and video arts and in providing lifelong and life-wide arts education.
Home to artists' bold and creative explorations, the Arts Centre in 2005 featured numerous presentations in various art forms, including film and video programmes such as the 11th Hong Kong Independent Short Film and Video Awards, visual and performing arts programmes and a public art project, New Reading Space at Wan Chai.
Established in 2000, The Art School, which is the Arts Centre's education arm, offers integrated programmes ranging from short courses to associate degree, first degree and post-graduate degree courses in fine art, Chinese art, applied art, media art, arts education, and humanities. The school has been a recognised sub-degree award-granting institution in Hong Kong since 2003.
The Fringe Club
The Fringe Club is housed in a cold storage warehouse built in 1890, which is a graded historical building. Since the Fringe Club took over the building in December 1983, the building had undergone many major renovations to provide a vibrant contemporary arts space. In 2001, the building won the Government's Heritage Award for its innovative adaptive use of the historical building.
The Fringe Club has two studio theatres, three exhibition areas (including a photography gallery), a pottery workshop and showroom, a rehearsal studio, a restaurant, two bars, a roof garden and offices. It runs a diverse programme of theatre, dance, music and exhibitions. The open access policy of the Fringe Club allows all artists, local and foreign, free use of the venues to produce cultural programmes and art festivals. In 2005, the club was used as the base for six art
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.