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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Promotional programmes for creative writing and Chinese literature in 2013 included the 12th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature, with seminars conducted by local and overseas writers.

Cultural Exchange

In 2013, Hong Kong's public libraries collaborated with the Hong Kong Library Association and the Goethe Institut Hongkong to organise public lectures by visiting librarians from Germany. The libraries jointly presented with the Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province the 'Thirteen Hongs of Canton: Selected Pictures and Documents Exhibition' at the Hong Kong Central Library.

Books Registration Office

The Books Registration Office registers local publications and monitors the use of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system. It publishes the Catalogue of Books Printed in Hong Kong in the Government Gazette every three months. The catalogue can also be viewed on the internet. In 2013, the office registered 15,418 books, 10,607 periodicals, and issued 1,047 new publisher prefixes totalling 18,570 ISBNs.

Heritage

Cantonese Opera

The government is keen to preserve, promote and develop Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. A new wing to the Ko Shan Theatre is being built to accommodate a 600-seat auditorium as a venue dedicated to Cantonese opera, in addition to the existing 1,000-seat theatre.

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts launched the first Cantonese opera degree course in Hong Kong in the 2013-14 academic year. The Hong Kong Arts Development Council also provides continuous funding to support the training programmes organised by the Cantonese Opera Academy of Hong Kong.

Intangible Cultural Heritage

The government supports the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) through various means, including the identification, documentation, research, preservation, promotion and transmission of such heritage. The first territory-wide survey of ICH since 2009, commissioned by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and conducted by the South China Research Center of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, was completed in May 2013. After the ICH Advisory Committee considered the survey findings, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum published a draft inventory of 477 items for public consultation from July to November 2013. The first inventory of Hong Kong's ICH will be published in mid 2014.

Lord Wilson Heritage Trust

The Lord Wilson Heritage Trust aims to preserve and conserve the human heritage of Hong Kong by organising activities and providing funding support to community activities and research projects related to heritage.

The trust approved seven heritage-related projects in 2013, bringing the total to 162 since its establishment in 1992.

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