Hong Kong Arts Centre is a creative hub in the local community, providing all the
essentials and backing for the development of arts and creative industries. In 2006, it
continued to promote contemporary arts and provide quality arts education to the
whole community.
The centre collaborated with many different arts group and organisations in
2006 to stage events in its premises. A territory-wide animation project, 'i-city',
commissioned more than 10 local budding animators to make use of their creativities
to find out more about their bonding with Hong Kong and about their identities. As
a result of its success over the past decade, the 12th ifva Festival continued to receive
wide support from the community. It also continued cultivating and recognising
young talents in film and video arts. 'The Art of Commercial 2006' brought awarded
advertisements from all over the world to Hong Kong audiences, while activities on
the sidelines created opportunities for fruitful exchanges among new media artists,
advertising professionals and people engaged in creative industries. High profile
exhibitions like 'Comix Magneto', 'TaoHo 70/30 Exhibition', 'Memories of the Future',
'Jimmy's Secret Garden' and 'Ho Siu Kee: Body Gesture' aroused keen public interest
in the arts and helped expand the audience base. The public arts programmes, 'Body
Movies in Hong Kong' and 'My Soil, My Land: Community Art Project' brought
brand-new arts experiences to the students and to the public. Furthermore, PIP, a
collaboration between the Hong Kong Arts Centre and Theatre Ensemble, which
espouses a revolutionary philosophy of 'Pleasure-In-Play', organised a series of
remarkable activities, including performances and educational programmes that
reached a wide spectrum of audience. The Hong Kong Arts Centre also took part in
setting up the Jockey Club Creative Art Centre. Being a strategic partner in this
innovative project, the centre joined hands with Hong Kong Baptist University and
Hong Kong Arts Development Council to turn an abandoned factory into a creative
arts centre marking the first renovation project of its kind in Hong Kong history.
As for the Hong Kong Art School (HKAS), the centre's educational arm, 2006
was a year of consolidation. HKAS offered a series of high-quality award-bearing
programmes with a comprehensive academic progression pathway from foundation
diploma to master degree levels. The number of applications for the 10 award-bearing
programmes was approximately 1 000, and the enrolment rate was 43 per
cent. The school also worked vigorously to launch other award-bearing programmes
such as the Professional Certificate of Exhibition Studies and Art Curatorship
programme in response to the community's aspiration to diversified arts education.
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