This essay provides an overview of the development of political cartoons in Hong Kong before moving onto a focused analysis of the internet political cartoons that has gained its traction in the last decade. The four areas of analysis are: 1. Interaction between the cartoonists and the readers: the internet enables an “invisible covenant” between the cartoonist and followers, which both connects and restricts; 2. Cultural identity changes of the political cartoonists: while traditional political cartoons aim to comment and criticize, internet political cartoons aims to promote followers’ actions; 3. Breakthrough of formality and content: the design background shared by many of the internet political cartoonists have equipped them to explore new formats and language of communication. Charts and plotless panel organization are examples among others; 4. Depoliticization: new generation political cartoonists turn their attention from “hard politics” to daily life politics. This turn can be read as a reflection of the political reality of Hong Kong at this point of time.

This essay intents to look into the discussion of avant-garde art in several representative modernist art and literary publications in Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s. It focuses on how avant-garde art was accepted within the local framework of Hong Kong, and how local art and literary publications used avant-garde art to reflect on issues such as politics, tradition and modernity. The writer discovers that “avant-garde art” was understood as emerging, formally-experimental and abstract art schools such as Cubism, Expressionism, Surrealism and Abstract Art. When introducing western avant-garde artists, the majority of the critics used western art terminologies while, without exception, they used oriental aesthetic terminologies when discussing abstract art in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Such a difference could be attributed to the advocation by art and culture practitioners who encouraged abstract artists in the 50s and 60s to achieve oriental aesthetic values, such as “non-self,” “self/ego,” “rule of no rule as the supreme rule,” “take no action,” “beyond the real and unreal,” with western methods. By putting the publication of the discussed titles in the context of the society, the artists involved in introducing avant-garde art to Hong Kong had never regarded art as purely formalistic. Avant-garde to them was a tool for art and literature to respond to political reality and Chinese cultural re-engineering.

The artspace on G/F, 404 Shanghai Street, Yau Ma Tei came out of a rental agreement between the Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong Arts Development Council. Its operation has been under the management of Centre For Community Cultural Development since 2016, which named the space “Green Wave Art.” In December 2018, ADC informed Green Wave Art that as there had not been any valid “Places of Public Entertainment Licence” associated with the location, G/F, 404 Shanghai Street would be closed by the end of April 2019.

An exhibition is the occasion where artworks and the audience meet. The quantity and mode of operation of exhibition venues more or less reflect the actuality of art creation and exchange, and the trend of art media choices. Notwithstanding art forms come before exhibition venues, the latter’s availability and management have direct bearings on how artworks are circulated, hence the livelihood of artists. Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook has been compiling yearly tally of exhibition venues, among which data of 2013 to 2018 is graphically presented in this section to show the change of venue count. For the ease of comparison, exhibition venues are categorized into commercial art space, alternative art space and cultural institute.

The titles of newspaper articles give readers the first impression of what the article is about. Thus, the choice of words for a headline directly impacts on the newspaper readers. This study investigates high-frequency words that appear in the titles of visual arts news through an analysis of major local Chinese newspapers from 2016 to 2018. The purpose of this research is to identify the high-frequency words that appear in the titles of visual arts news in major local Chinese newspapers, with the aim to map out the public’s initial impression of local visual arts news. In addition, this research investigates how the newspapers concerned handle the titles of visual-arts-related news and if any differences prevail across newspapers. The focus of the research is on revealing the phenomenon, rather than providing an explanation or interpretation. Further discussion and research on this topic is recommended.

Born in Guangzhou, Zhao Shao’ang (1905-1998) moved to Hong Kong in 1948, devoting his life to art education and inspiring countless students through his lessons and his art. Although he is internationally known for the colorful Lingnan style that captures both the form and the spirit and his work is collected by museums and individuals in Europe, the Americas and Asia, he was determined to put down roots in just Hong Kong and Guangzhou. By reviewing his life’s journey and artistic experience, this essay reveals how the Lingnan artists preserved and explored Chinese painting in the 20th century when the old met the new, and when the blending of east and west was prevalent, and helps to provide valuable information to the study of Hong Kong art history. Zhao created with his brush an enchanting spring garden full of the singing of birds and floral fragrance. He metaphorically introduced himself as a cicada because the insect perched on the highest branch of a tree and symbolised moral integrity. He transferred the amazing scenery he had seen in the north and the south of China onto his paintings that would attract attention. He captured not only the forms but also the spiritual charm of the animals so as to make his objects lifelike. As for his style, he aspired to modernise Chinese painting as he followed the revolutionary idea of the Lingnan School, weaving the strands of western ideas and techniques into the traditional Six Principles of Chinese painting and creating works with his own experiences and understanding of life.

The 79-day “Umbrella Movement” began in September 2014. The civil disobedience actions in the movement, which were never seen in Hong Kong before, started in a most unexpected way. A large number of citizens and political leaders started the long struggle by occupying the streets, which delivered an unpredictable outcome in such a mass movement, and which gave rise to this essay’s main focus: the role of the arts in the Umbrella Movement. The arts (especially visual arts) has occupied a central position in the event that will go down in history, and will be an important case study in art history for the understanding of the relationship between the arts and politics. This essay is a presentation of the perspective from an active participant and some first-hand material, which could serve as reference for other researchers. I happened to position myself in multiple roles in relation to the overlap between the Umbrella Movement and the arts, and the development of an eighteen-month long post-Umbrella Movement. Therefore, by reviewing my personal experience and thinking process, this essay gives a brief but reflexive account of the political movement.

Transcript of a dialogue between Cheung Ping-kuen, Chairman of International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), and Poon Wai-sum, Dean of the School of Drama, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

After ‘ART HK’ was acquired by the ‘Art Basel’ in 2012, its 2014 edition was staged in a new location right after the blockbuster first edition of ‘Art Basel Hong Kong’. Since then, the two large-scale art expos, accompanied by numerous other ‘art events’ around the same period, have been creating what looks like a vibrant cultural hub every March in Hong Kong. Previously, the active art market had been more or less segregated from the locals, but since 2014 ‘art’ quickly has become a popular leisure activity, evidenced by the bloom in printed media coverage completed with ‘exhibition-goers’ survival guides. Alongside Art Basel came the setting up of Hong Kong offices of many overseas galleries which regularly hold free public exhibitions. From 2014 to 2017, there were 1,095 to 1,391 visual arts exhibitions on record every year, averaging three to four per day. The sheer number of shows means that it became a priority for galleries to create buzz and draw eyeballs onto their exhibitions.

The first ‘City Contemporary Dance Festival’ (hereinafter referred to as CCDF) was organised by the ‘City Contemporary Dance Company’ (hereinafter referred to as CCDC) in 2017. In the ‘Artistic Director’s Message’ of the programme guide titled ‘The Feast of Asia Contemporary Dance’, Willy Tsao pointed out that many people’s perception and impression of art festivals were limited to associations with international art events in Europe and America, and ‘as the arts in Asia continue to flourish──from the development of industry professionals, allocation of resources, through to innovation of artistic creativity──the region has been gaining much in international recognition.’ With CCDC’s accumulated international network over the years, and the co-organisation of large-scale modern dance festivals with ‘Guangdong Modern Dance Company’ and ‘Beijing Dance/LDTX’ as foundation, CCDF aimed at ‘strengthening international exchanges’ and inter-sector networks, while providing a space for wider and further artistic developments for artists and audiences.