The handover of Hong Kong was a once-in-a-century historical transition amidst all the restlessness the city found itself in. “97” was thus considered a creative assignment given to many artists. This essay, through the works completed around the 90s by four artists, namely Choi Yan-chi, Lo Yuen-man Yvonne, Mui Chong-ki, and Fung Kin-chung John, intends to establish a framework for further discussion on the art of Hong Kong concerning the handover in 1997. Either born and brought up in Hong Kong or moved to Hong Kong from Mainland China/overseas, these four artists received their respective art education and training from the following: Hong Kong and the United States, the United States, Mainland China, and self-learning. All of them had experienced the changes Hong Kong went through in the 70s-90s and already been making art in a more organized way since the 80s.

Our 60-second friendship begins now (artists: Sampson Wong and Jason Lam), an artwork commissioned by the fifth “Large-Scale Public Media Art Exhibition” held in May 2016, was dismantled five days after the exhibition opening. A “Joint Statement” issued bearing HKADC letterhead, co-signed by Caroline Ha Thuc and Ellen Pao, the Chairman of the Film and Media Art Group of HKADC and chair of the Advisory Committee of the exhibition, announced the decision and proclaimed that “the disrespect demonstrated by the artists against the original agreement and understanding made with the curator and HKADC is jeopardizing our profession and put at risk any future possibility to work further in the public space.” Wong and Lam argued that they had never changed the title of the artwork while the curator had always been informed of the content. The incident triggered heated discussion in the art sector. Art practitioners, critics and art administrators voiced out varied opinions on areas including consensus and censorship of art in public space, the trust between artists and curators, political expression and professional ethics, the role and responsibility of funding organizations, the operational experience of artistic protests in Hong Kong, and the maturity of institutional condition and discursive language of its handling.

In 1949, after the civil war, the cultural shift towards the south brought men of talent and cultural resources to Hong Kong from mainland China, which was becoming the base for continuing and achieving the modernization of Chinese art owing to its unique position in the Cold War. The Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is the first institute offering tertiary art education in the city. Since its establishment in 1957, the department has nurtured a large number of art professionals for Hong Kong in the past six decades and has had a profound impact on the discourse of Hong Kong art. Chen Shih-Wen was the founder of the Fine Arts Department of the New Asia College. As one of the early Chinese artists who studied in France, he promoted European modern art in China through a new education system after returning to home. Using Chen Shih-Wen as an entry point, this essay explores the early development of tertiary art education in Hong Kong, and evaluates how Chen and the Department of Fine Arts of the New Asia College adopted and continued the concepts of art education advocated by Republican art educators by situating art education within the social, historical and cultural context of modern China.

Since 2003, Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook has been keeping track of the progress of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) in the “Public Issue” section. This ongoing endeavor has lasted 12 years while we are yet to learn the exact opening schedule of M+. Michael Lynch, CEO of WKCDA, resigned in February, followed by the decline of contract renewal by Lars Nittve, the Executive Director of M+, in October. Global recruitment started all over again.

245 Hong Kong exhibition venues were in the record of Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 2014, while the tally was 253 in 2015. A characteristic of the new art space opened in 2015 is their being artists’ initiative and non-government-funded. Hong Kong artists are making an effort to explore the third option for displaying, clustering and creation space besides those commercially- and publicly-funded.

On 18 July 2012, the Chinese Artists Association of Hong Kong (CAAHK), under the helm of chairperson Liza Wang, officially launched the Yau Ma Tei Theatre Venue Partnership Scheme – Cantonese Opera Young Talent Showcase (the Showcase). Under the generous guidance of five
artistic directors at the time, namely Danny Li Chi-kei, Yuen Siu-fai, Sun Kim-long, Law Ka-ying, and Lung Koon-tin (as of 2020, there are eight artistic directors, since Wan Fai-yin, Wong Chiukwan, and Chan Ka-ming have joined the aforementioned maestros in leading the Showcase),
the Showcase participants presented frequent performances at the Yau Ma Tei Theatre, turning a new page in the development of Cantonese opera in Hong Kong. The Venue Partnership Scheme, which is run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), was implemented as a three-year scheme. At the time of writing, the Showcase is in the third round of the Yau Ma Tei Theatre Venue Partnership Scheme, and it is entering its ninth year.

The Peking and Kunqu opera course offered by Lee Woo Sing College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was jointly founded in 2014 by Dr Lee Woo-sing, patron of the College and acclaimed Peking opera connoisseur; Dr Koo Ti-hua, a member of the Committee of Overseers of the College and a disciple of Chinese opera maestro Yu Zhenfei; and Mrs Dorothy Koo. It was the first credit-bearing course that included Peking and Kunqu opera performance training for students at a local university. It encompassed three main areas of training—the dan (female) role in Peking opera, the sheng (male) role in Kunqu, and the dan role in Kunqu. Apart from the credit-bearing course, there was also a non-credit class for advanced learners. Starting from early 2016, I took part in the training for the sheng role in Kunqu. What follows is a record of my learning experience.

On 18 January 2019, the world’s first Cantonese Operatic Singing Examination was launched in Hong Kong. It was jointly organised by the Hong Kong Association of Cantonese Opera Scholars (HKACOS) and the London College of Music (LCM) of the University of West London. A total of 56 candidates took the first exam, while 26 candidates sat for the second exam held in July 2019. The third exam, which had originally been scheduled for January and February 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its inauguration, 82 candidates have taken the Cantonese Operatic Singing Examination.

Presented by the Life Encouraging Cantonese Opera Association (LECOA) under the Life Encouraging Fund, the inaugural Cantonese Opera Golden Bauhinia Awards presentation ceremony was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre Grand Theatre on 25 November 2019. Preparations for the ceremony began in 2018 as part of efforts to mark the tenth anniversary of Cantonese opera’s inscription on the UNESCO’s Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Just as the Hong Kong Film Awards carry the same weight as the Oscars for Hong Kong cinema, the Golden Bauhinia aspires to be its equivalent for Cantonese opera.

Transcript of a dialogue between Rex Ng, Chief Executive and Creative Officer, Utopia Cantonese Opera Workshop, and Yang Yuntao, Artistic Director of Hong Kong Dance Company.