ENG-2016 — Page 391

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

also admitted more than 630 students to its junior programmes and over 3,000 students to its Extension and Continuing Education for Life programme.

Hong Kong Arts Centre

The self-financing Hong Kong Arts Centre in Wan Chai promotes contemporary arts and culture. It conducts programmes featuring works of local and overseas artists, and provides facilities for performances, films and exhibitions. The centre's Hong Kong Art School runs diploma and degree courses in arts studies.

Fringe Club

The Fringe Club is housed in what used to be a cold-storage warehouse built in 1890, now listed as a Grade 1 historical building and adapted for use as a contemporary arts space. It adopts an open access policy to nurture budding artists and promote mature artists by providing venue and publicity support, as well as opportunities for overseas tours. A diverse cultural programme of theatre, dance, music and exhibitions runs throughout the year.

In 2016, the Fringe Club showcased 30 exhibitions, 120 live music performances and 180 drama and dance performances. A cultural heritage leadership programme entitled Learn⚫ Play • Lead, funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, was launched in April.

Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre

The Jockey Club Creative Arts Centre (JCCAC) is a multidisciplinary arts village and arts centre housed in a converted nine-storey decommissioned factory estate in Shek Kip Mei. It is a self- financing registered charity which provides space for artistic creation to nurture creative talent and promote arts and culture.

As an arts village, the centre rents studio facilities to more than 100 artists and art groups working in visual arts, performing arts and other art forms. As an arts centre, it hires out facilities, including the Central Courtyard, galleries and the Jockey Club Black Box Theatre, for arts and cultural activities.

The centre's large-scale public programmes include the annual JCCAC Festival in December, the quarterly Handicraft Fair and regular free events such as open-air film screenings. It hosted almost 310,000 visitors in 2016.

Major Performing Arts Groups

Chung Ying Theatre Company

In 2016, Chung Ying's The Big Big Day and Tuesdays with Morrie returned to the stage. The theatre company also presented Possible Worlds, Nunsense A-Men! and Confucius 63. Dedicated to promoting drama in the Cantonese and English languages, it brought Months on End to Guangzhou and joined hands with a British playwright to perform A Tale of Two Cities: Blood for Blood in Hong Kong and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It also engaged more than 100,000 participants through educational programmes and other activities.

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