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Vivienne Chow

Hongkongers are attending a growing number of cultural events, but average attendance is only half an event per person per year, a study of attendance and box-office receipts shows.
Of all the art forms, xiqu, or Chinese opera, has shown the most dramatic increase in audience and box office - belying the perception that it is a dying art.
But one critic said the upward trend was nothing to crow about; it reflected a failure over the years to develop the arts in a city that brands itself cosmopolitan.

The citywide survey, conducted by the Arts Development Council, shows that in the 2011/12 fiscal year, the city hosted a total of 6,446 arts and cultural activities. They included performing arts events, exhibitions and film screenings at festivals and other non-commercial events. That represented a 7 per cent increase on 2008/09, when 5,994 such events took place.
Of those, the 5,200 performing arts events and screenings attracted a total audience of 3.68 million, a 10 per cent increase in the 3.36 million total in 2008/09.
Box-office takings for performances and screenings rose from HK$391 million in 2010/11 to HK$470 million in 2011/12.
But art critic Chow Fan-fu said the apparently rosy figures were no cause for celebration.
"The total attendance accounts for only half of Hong Kong's population. This means, on average, each person only goes to half a show per year," Chow said, adding that many of those attending would go to several shows.
A lack of suitable venues, with the West Kowloon Cultural District still being developed, left the cultural sector struggling to expand, despite government funding of HK$3.5 billion per year.
"This means arts and culture aren't even part of the mainstream in Hong Kong," he said.
Meanwhile, the study shows that xiqu, including Cantonese opera and other Chinese operatic arts, shows no signs of fading. The audience for xiqu leapt by 18.5 per cent, from 878,000 in 2010/11 to 1.04 million in 2011/12. The number of performances rose by only 1.8 per cent, from 1,483 to 1,510, in the same period. Revenue grew nearly 61 per cent, from HK$71 million in 2008/09 to HK$115 million in 2011/12.
By comparison, other performing arts forms - dance, music and theatre - remained stagnant in audience and box office.
"In the past we kept saying xiqu was dying. But in reality this doesn't seem to be the case," Chow said, adding the performances attracted a mature audience, with the experience and patience to understand a subtle and complex art often seen as inaccessible to newcomers.
Xiqu has also been boosted by its inclusion on the global list of intangible cultural heritage by the UN cultural body Unesco, as well as a similar national list.
Chow said the art form would not die, not least because of favourable government policies. The Cantonese Opera Development Fund gave out HK$9.8 million to 57 projects in the last financial year.
New venues for the art form have opened in Yau Ma Tei and, last month, at the Ko Shan Theatre in Hung Hom. The Xiqu Centre will be one of the first buildings at the arts hub in 2017.
Louis Yu Kwok-lit, West Kowloon's executive director for performing arts, said venues at the arts hub would free up space for other types of performance elsewhere. West Kowloon plans a detailed study on xiqu audiences and trends, he added.
 


Arts audiences grow but old problems remain

Of all the art forms, xiqu, or Chinese opera, has shown the most dramatic increase in audience and box office. Photo: Reuters

News

Hong Kong

While Chinese opera resurgence boosts figures, critic says arts remain outside the mainstream


Hongkongers are attending a growing number of cultural events, but average attendance is only half an event per person per year, a study of attendance and box-office receipts shows.


Arts audiences grow but old problems remain

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While Chinese opera resurgence boosts figures, critic says arts remain outside the mainstream

While Chinese opera resurgence boosts figures, critic says arts remain outside the mainstream