The incoming chief executive of the West Kowloon Cultural District sees one of his main tasks as ensuring that the arts hub is 'artistically led'.
Graham Sheffield said the need for this was one of the lessons to be learned from the failures and controversies of the past decade, including the scrapped proposal to hand it over to a single property developer. 'My job is to ensure programmes of the highest standard,' he said.
On a week-long visit before starting work in August - coinciding with Hong Kong Art Week and the second stage of public consultation on the arts hub - the British arts administrator also vowed education would play a key role under his leadership.
He said he firmly believed arts and culture were key components of quality education.
'The best society is created with arts and culture education at an early level,' he said, adding that with educational elements added to London's Barbican Centre, where he is artistic director, the centre was completely transformed.
Sheffield said he hoped to see the establishment of an education department or even the addition of an education director to draw up strategies for such development, including forming alliances with existing institutes. He said he was also open to any form of collaboration with overseas institutes.
Sheffield expressed confidence on Hong Kong becoming a regional arts hub. 'Hong Kong has not yet claimed to be a world art city. It's a great world city undeniably, but it has potential if the city can take art to the next level with ambition. There is no lack of talent and I'm absolutely confident.'
