Will this be a match made in heaven or a partnership from hell? After years of dithering and delay, the government is finally inviting local professional performing arts groups to share recreational facilities.
From the end of next year, some of the 13 performing arts venues managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will give theatre companies, dance groups, orchestras and musical ensembles priority and flexibility in booking facilities such as rehearsal rooms, theatre auditoriums and concert halls for a set number of days each year.
In return, the groups will offer innovative and engaging programming that will give each venue a unique character and 'encourage community involvement in the development of the arts'. The scheme - which includes the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, Hong Kong City Hall, Sha Tin Town Hall and Kwai Theatre - will initially run for three years.
Surely that sounds like a decent enough proposal that will benefit everyone? Not so, say artists who attended a recent briefing on the plan. They're accusing the government of 'lying', 'back-tracking' and 'tricking' them into accepting terms they were neither consulted on nor informed about.
'I've never before witnessed such strong public displays of anger, or indeed unity, among artists,' says Louis Yu Kwok-lit, the new chief executive of the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, who was at the July 10 meeting.
The crux of the dispute is that the scheme falls short of realising the 'arts groups-in-residence' venue partnership plan proposed by the Culture and Heritage Commission in 2003. The commission was set up by the government to formulate a broad, long-term cultural policy that would shake up the way the local arts scene is managed.