|
'Hong Kong not a cultural desert' |
|
|
Written by CINDY CHAN SIN-YING
|
|
Friday, 18 April 2008 |
While the young seem not to be keen on arts and cultural activities, according to a survey, local cultural practitioners remain optimistic about the future.
 The youth research centre of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups conducted an opinion poll among 500 youngsters, aged from 15 to 34, in November last year.
It reflected that teenagers have a low participation rate in local arts and cultural activities and they are even negative about its development.
A writer and lecturer in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at Open University, Ben Wong King-fai, said this low motivation can be attributed to the undesirable local education orientation and social atmosphere.
“In our education, people mainly focus on ethics, academics and physical education, but not arts. To develop arts and cultural sense, educating the next generation is the crucial first step,” Wong explained.
According to Mr Wong, arts and culture education should be a bottom-up process, which should start from the community, but the case in Hong Kong is top-down.
Government claimed to turn Hong Kong into an art and cultural city, yet people do not have much motivation to join in the plan.
Audience are also a factor which undermines the arts and cultural development in Hong Kong.
“Some artists are now moving to outside of Hong Kong like Beijing, to develop their artist career. Though many of them might be underground music and complementary arts forms, they have audience which appreciates their work.”
Despite the fact that the majority of the young are not as interested in “high culture” as in popular culture, cultural workers stayed positive about the future.
“I believe that there is a significant amount of young adults who are interested in arts and culture,” commented Perry Lam, editorial director of Muse Magazine, which is dedicated to promoting a diverse local artistic and cultural life.
“The age group from 25 to 40 is educated and willing to go for art performances every month, but they are just under-served.”
Lam said that Muse has taken arts and culture seriously and is passionate to build its reputation in the field. It was launched early in 2007.
He thought that the situation is not really bad. For example there were more and more people liking drama and talk shows in recent year, such as showbiz star Chim Shui Man’s talk show.
“We are confident of our readership, and we think it will grow in quantity and quality,” Lam added.
During the past two years, more than six magazines have come out, covering different area of arts and culture. Some of them are distributed free to the public.
One of the free magazines owned by an independent media in town, 3man, is available in many schools and community centers. It can be found as far out as Tin Shui Wai.
Kevin Shum and Hung Wing-hei, respectively man’s creative director and managing editor, both are not surprised by the results of the survey.
“That’s the reason why we are established. We want to build up a platform for people to express their ideas as well as getting the coverage that they should get,” Shum and Hung explained.
They said they will continue the job to alter the public’s view towards art and culture, inspiring them to be attentive to their surroundings, even though the future is uncertain.
Lam has a similar work ethics, “it is already a good thing when you can choose something you like as your occupation, to get successful is just a bonus.”
Edited by ADA TANG SHUK-CHING
 |
|
Last Updated ( Friday, 18 April 2008 )
|
Show/Hide comments
Show/Hide comment form
