Soft power. 3. West Kowloon Cultural District: an international art space? Follow Western culture blindly?

Hong Kong has always been a place where Chinese and Western cultures meet, and its unique cultural characteristics have been shaped by this.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor mentioned in the latest "Policy Address" that the government will grasp the unique creative atmosphere of Hong Kong where Chinese and foreign cultures gather, and build Hong Kong as a cultural and creative capital of Asia.

However, Hong Kong’s cultural development has always been controversial with "local VS international", and the West Kowloon Cultural District is a great example of this.

Series of articles:

Soft power.

1. Hong Kong must face three major issues in order to get out of the "cultural desert"

Soft power.

2. Setting up the "Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau" in the right direction. How will it be positioned in the future?

The 41-hectare West Kowloon Cultural District was proposed by the then Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa’s government in 1999. The original idea was a comprehensive venue for hosting events and attracting tourists.

After taking office, Tsang Yinquan expressed that he would build 15 performing arts venues and an M+ museum that can showcase the visual culture of the 20th to 21st centuries in the West Kowloon Cultural District.

Subsequently, the West Kowloon Cultural District Administration was established, and the government allocated 21.6 billion yuan in a lump sum.

Of course, the West Kowloon Cultural District must aim at "internationalization", but "internationalization" does not mean hiring only some foreigners for important positions.

The picture shows Situ Zemin, the former chief engineering director of West Kowloon.

(Profile picture)

Hu Enwei, a veteran cultural person, believes that the government proposed to build M+ without knowing the real needs of the artists. The result was just "spending huge sums of money to buy some collections of foreign artists that have nothing to do with Hong Kong, and it turned out to be a foreigner A space for activities, or a space for holding parties for the powerful."

However, Guan Qiyun, director of the Art Department of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Hong Kong, has a different view. She believes that "Hong Kong already has an art museum dedicated to collecting Asian and local collections. There should be a place like West Kowloon that absorbs excellent international art. Museum.” He also pointed out that Hong Kong’s artistic talents are very good and should not be limited to small localized circles, but should progress in a competitive environment...

For details, please read the 287th "Hong Kong 01" Electronic Weekly Newsletter (October 18, 2021) "

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