SAR spending second only to Germany

An overhaul of the way the arts are funded has been recommended by a study revealing that the SAR's subsidy is the second highest per capita in the world.

The study, by Coopers and Lybrand, also says the Arts Development Council should receive $45 million a year on top of the $121 million it already receives from the Government.

The report calculated Hong Kong spent $288 for each person in the SAR on arts per year, second only to Germany ($311).

The report said the extra money would help the council better fund its six major arts groups, as well as pay for a number of smaller professional companies.

However, the report, which cost $2 million to compile, came under criticism from Mathias Woo Yan-wai of avant-garde arts group Zuni Icosahedron, who said the management consultants had failed to explain how the 'very misleading' figures were calculated.

Nigel Knight, Coopers and Lybrand's partner for government consulting and the author of the report, admitted there were problems with the figures, but argued the study had demonstrated 'the most pressing problem with arts funding in Hong Kong may not be the total level of resources . . . substantial by international standards'.

The report, which concentrates on the arts council's major programmes, recommends the council pay for an arts festival, a ballet, a contemporary dance group, two theatre companies and a small Western orchestra, similar to its present range of activities, and that its grants be bigger - and tendered by open competition, with the cash going to whoever proved they could mount good programmes and find an audience.