Arts oasis born in a cultural desert
My first encounter with the local arts scene involved standing in the Fringe Club and complaining loudly about the art. 'Amateurish. Conceptually weak. Badly executed.' It didn't help that, the weekend before, I had heard what was probably the world's worst pianist playing in a New Territories mall.
I grew up with Manhattan's museums, Montreal's jazz fest and the Boston Symphony's summer concerts at Tanglewood. Hong Kong didn't have the sort of deeply entrenched, in-your-face art scene I was used to. So I was more than ready to agree with the idea that Hong Kong was a cultural desert, a sentiment echoed by many of the people I met here - particularly expats.
My Fringe Club ranting was stopped by a kindly older gentleman who explained that the building I was standing in was the only place in exorbitantly priced Central that had an open door policy, meaning it provided a space for up-and-coming artists without passing judgment on their works.
The Fringe, obviously, was a kinder, gentler critic than I.
He also explained that the Fringe, though only opened in 1984, was one of the city's more established cultural venues. Hong Kong's art scene was very young. Youth, however, was not necessarily a bad thing. Hong Kong artists stood out because of their incredible determination to create a vibrant art scene in less than two generations.
If I really wanted to be a critic here, I would have to put some effort into digging out local arts groups, meeting these artists myself and encouraging them to do better.
So I started to dig, and the more I did, the more I found. Who knew there were three full-sized orchestras? Three professional dance companies? A dozen local theatre groups? Fifteen museums? Thirty art spaces within walking distance of the Fringe?
And who would have guessed they all came about so quickly?
In the 1960s and 1970s, Hong Kong was truly a cultural desert. There was no dedicated art school or art museum, or, for that matter, a professional symphony, ballet or theatre group aside from local Chinese opera troupes.
That changed in 1974 with the establishment of three pillars of the classical music world.
The Hong Kong Arts Festival was founded, finally providing an annual event that showcased both international and local talent.
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra also went professional, turning an ad hoc group of musicians into a full-time, fully paid company.
To spread this culture to the public was the new Radio 4, which broadcast Arts Festival and Philharmonic concerts to a population who were not all capable of buying tickets.
In 1977, the theatre, film and visual arts scenes got the boost that classical music did three years earlier. The Hong Kong Repertory Theatre opened and, for the first time, there was a company dedicated to bringing the world's dramatic classics - often translated by local writers and poets - to a Cantonese audience.
At the same time, the Hong Kong Arts Centre began operation, providing a place for small plays, visual art exhibits and the kinds of films that were not going to make it into mainstream cinema. Self- financed and relatively independent of the government, it essentially became the city's first alternative cultural space.
Finally, the dance world got its turn. No city can be considered a decently sophisticated metropolis without a ballet company, and we got ours in 1979.
The Hong Kong Ballet is now known to audiences all over the world; but fewer people know that, in the same year, a daring young local choreographer named Willy Tsao started a similar group for modern dance. The City Contemporary Dance Company went head to head with the ballet in its opening season, and is still going strong today.
In 1981, the Hong Kong Dance Company completed the trio.
By the 1980s, a new problem became apparent. Hong Kong had all these new performing groups, but very few well-educated young people to work in them. That issue was solved in 1984 with the establishment of the Academy for Performing Arts (APA), the city's first tertiary institution dedicated to training musicians, actors, playwrights and directors.
At the same time the APA was waiting for the construction of its new home, Benny Chia Chun-heng was leading another group of artists in renovating what was to become the Fringe Club at the end of 1984.
With major arts establishments now in place, Hong Kong's art scene was set to boom in the 1990s. New APA graduates were beginning to look for work, seeking alternatives to the mainstream arts and therefore forming small companies of their own
In 1990, 90 local musicians banded together to found the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, as a more locally minded alternative to the Philharmonic. Today, it gives 60 performances a year as well as major overseas tours. Similarly in 1993, two young APA graduates, Jim Chim Sui-man and Olivia Yan Wing-pui, wanted to experiment outside the constraints of traditional plays. So they formed Theatre Ensemble, which is now a centre for experimental drama.
The visual arts took a little longer to catch up. Galleries were cropping up bit by bit through the 90s, including small independent spaces run by the late Manfred Schoeni, Johnson Chang Tsong-zung, Alice King, John Batten and Karin Weber. They were the ones who set the scene for the neighbourhood now known as SoHo.
The existence of this now-thriving scene does not stem complaints from some quarters. After 'Hong Kong is a cultural desert', the second most common complaint is 'When the Arts Festival's over, there's nothing to see'. It might have been true 30 years ago when it was the only festival in town. But that is not true anymore. A quick snapshot preview of next year should be enough to demonstrate the point.
Every year starts off with the Fringe's City Festival in January and February, showcasing smaller, weirder shows, plus lots of rock, blues, world music and jazz.
At about the same time, the mad scramble for Hong Kong Arts Festival tickets reaches its peak. It is still the biggest fest in town from February 17 to March 20, and we can expect highlights like all nine of Beethoven's symphonies performed back-to-back by Frans Bruggen's Orchestra of the 18th Century.
Also in March is the popular Art Walk, where thousands take to the streets of SoHo, Central and Wan Chai for after-work wine and canapes at about 30 galleries.
Then we get Le French May which, with its particular Gallic arrogance, actually stretches itself from April to June. Expect it to be even bigger and better next year, as it will share performances and exhibitions with the keenly anticipated Year of France festival in China.
It runs right into the Hong Kong Film Festival, from May to June, which is expecting a major revamp next year, as it is going from public to private hands. Then the International Arts Carnival takes over from July to August
At least for the time being, there are no festivals scheduled for September, but that is when major performing groups, like the Philharmonic, kick off their new seasons.
In October and November, Hong Kong gets one of two rotating festivals organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. This year, it will be the multi-cultural New Vision Festival, followed by the Legends of China Festival next year. In November, there are two festivals for real cineastes: the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival as well as the Jewish Film Festival.
Then we all take a month off for Christmas shopping before it's time to start all over again.
In fact, as I sit at my desk and ponder each week's arts coverage, I have a new thing to complain about: there are more new arts groups than I can keep track of. Ever heard of Y-Space? Baby Scream? The Box? Playhouse? It's more than any one person would have time to see.
