Move over West Kowloon, Hong Kong's East Kowloon set for cultural blooming
The city's latest cultural hub is set to become an "oasis" in East Kowloon and a space for budding arts groups to shine, the cultural official in charge has said.
Elaine Yeung Chi-lan, assistant director of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, places high hopes on the East Kowloon Cultural Centre, which will turn a 2.16 hectare site in Ngau Tau Kok into a user-friendly performing arts complex ready for use by 2021.
"I hope it will be the most practical and accessible facility, an oasis rather than a shrine, for anyone - artists and residents alike," said the official, who is a veteran of various venues.
The $4.1 billion project, she added, aimed to bring out the "smart city" image of Hong Kong as much as the $21.6 billion West Kowloon Cultural District, but in a very different way.
"We don't aim at world-class performers or programmes like those at West Kowloon. We are more for small and medium local performing arts groups and young artists, and the sizes of various venues at the centre reflect that," she said, adding that it would not be tourist-oriented.
