ENG-2009 — Page 457

Recreation, Sport and the Arts | 381

Hong Kong Sinfonietta

Established in 1990, the Hong Kong Sinfonietta is one of Hong Kong's leading professional orchestras. Under the direction of Music Director Yip Wing-sie since 2002, the orchestra brought classical music to people from all walks of life. In 2009, it gave over 80 performances, including a Beethoven Symphony Cycle, concerts with Pinchas Zukerman, Han-Na Chang and David Garrett, and collaborations with the English National Ballet, Opera Hong Kong and Hong Kong Ballet. Other highlights of the year included its début in Italy and tours to Japan and Macao, with a total of 10 overseas performances.

Zuni Icosahedron

Zuni Icosahedron is a multimedia experimental theatre group founded in 1982. Since then, it has made creative attempts in various aspects of theatre and participated in arts education, arts criticism, arts policy research and international cultural exchange.

In 2009, Artistic Director Danny Yung was awarded the 'Merit Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany' by the German Federal Government in recognition of his contributions to cultural exchanges between Germany and China. A new work of Danny Yung's experimental theatre, Book of Ghosts was presented at the 37th Hong Kong Arts Festival. Zuni marked the start of its venue partnership with the Hong Kong Cultural Centre with a festival entitled an 'Architecture is Art'. Curated by Mathias Woo, this festival included exhibitions, cultural exchange conferences, public seminars and theatre performances such as the multimedia series Looking for Mies, Corbu and Kahn and Kunqu Opera A Tale of the Forbidden City.

Visual Arts Groups

1a space

1a space is an independent non-profit-making visual arts organisation founded by a group of Hong Kong arts workers in 1998. It operates an open platform to cultivate and nurture local artistic talent with the aim of promoting contemporary visual arts and affiliated art forms.

Since its inception, 1a space has produced and organised more than 100 exhibitions and activities, and has taken part in international exchanges, and cultural activities and festivals as well as its activity in interactive community art, arts education, arts criticism and publications. 1a space has played an important role in opening new frontiers for the visual arts scene in Hong Kong and abroad. Highlights of its programmes in 2009 included 'GREEN

through the Kai Tak River'. The programme looked at how art could become part of the process of sustainability and community development and attempted to re-establish the lost connection between man and the natural landscape.

Artist Commune

Artist Commune was established as a non-profit-making arts group in July 1997 and is committed itself mainly to building up dialogue between the arts and the