At a recent Hong Kong Contemporary Art Biennial Awards meet-the-artists session at the Museum of Art, two winners from last year's competition - Ho Siu-nam and Ip Ka-wai - told the audience they had no background in the arts. Ho graduated from Polytechnic University with a diploma in social work and has worked in print media, while Ip went to a teaching college and is now a secondary school art teacher.
But that is the point of the awards, says Museum of Art curator Ivy Lin Mei-kiu, to discover talented artists who may otherwise have gone unnoticed. 'They can serve as a catalyst for aspiring artists to launch their career,' she says.
Nevertheless, as the only major art competition in the city to cover all mediums, some critics say this open-to-all approach is becoming increasingly archaic. Not only is there no guarantee these amateurs will go on to pursue a career in the field - some previous winners have disappeared from the scene - but with the emergence of a new wave of professional artists over the past decade, there is now a call for a competition in which they can be judged among their peers or equals.
The Contemporary Art Biennial Awards - which began life 35 years ago as the Hong Kong Art Biennial, an open and non-competitive art exhibition - today doubles up as both a competition and a big group exhibition. Lin agrees that while it still has its place, Hong Kong could do with a new award, like the Turner Prize in Britain, in which only nominated professional artists can enter. It would give local artists international exposure.
While the three-year-old Hong Kong International Art Fair has been a phenomenon, she says, there is a need for an event that is non-commercial, and can provide a platform for local artists to showcase their works and exchange ideas with their overseas counterparts.
But should the Museum of Art, which comes under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Home Affairs Bureau, be the organiser? And should Hong Kong have a large-scale curated exhibition similar to the Venice Biennale or the Guangzhou Triennial when there are already so many peppered around the region? And there is the question of resources. The budget for the Contemporary Art Biennial Awards and its exhibition is HK$3.3 million. A curated international art biennial would cost a lot more.