When it started in Hong Kong in 1986, the Asian Cultural Council (ACC) gave awards to the creative talent of the future. Looking over the ranks of the former recipients who attended the latest announcement this week, ACC award-winners are very much the artistic luminaries of the present.
Former recipients include actor Cheung Tat-ming, artists Oscar Ho and Wucius Wong, dancer Mui Cheuk-yin and many others. Among those heading to the US this year, with grants totalling $2.5 million, are installation artist Phoebe Man, playwright Annie Ho, ceramicist Fiona Wong, cultural historian Wendy Wong and architect Martin Fung.
'Arts and cultural development should always be a priority in Hong Kong,' ACC chairman Kenneth Fung said. 'Even in tough times.' Fashion fit They've got our name, they know what we look like. But who are we really? Starting tonight the KELY Support Group - a self-help group for young people with alcohol and drug problems - is running an eight-week Fashion Show project which asks just that. Young people will explore all aspects of the fashion industry and their role in it - from the art of the designer, to issues such as eating disorders. Every Friday until August 21 at Canadian International School, 10 Borrett Road. Call 2521 6890.
Marco Polo Chinese composer Tan Dun has won a prestigious award for an opera co-sponsored by the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 1997. Marco Polo has been given the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, worth more than $1.1 million. Former recipients include Toru Takemitsu, Gyorgy Ligeti, Witold Lutoslawski and John Adams.
