How Hong Kong’s coronavirus pandemic recovery can draw on the arts
- While the cultural sector has been hard hit by the pandemic, individual segments of the commercial art market have been resilient
- Economic benefits aside, the potential of the arts to bridge differences makes them valuable to any global city
This is the second year that the coronavirus has hit Hong Kong Arts Month, which is normally held in March and features a sumptuous feast of events in the visual and performing arts. While there is no question that the overall cultural sector has suffered because of the pandemic, individual segments of the commercial art market have been remarkably resilient.
As the Carpenter trio played Piazzolla’s Libertango, an unexpected visitor stopped by. Robert Fisher, chairman of Gap and chairman of the board of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, was in town, and the four bonded over a shared Princeton connection. This behind-the-scenes encounter illustrates how the fair has been a magnet for collectors and placed Hong Kong squarely on the global art map.
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Francis and Ting met during the 1950s and became lifelong friends, visiting each other’s studios, collaborating on works, having joint exhibitions, and introducing each other to artists, dealers, curators and collectors.
Music is another avenue for building meaningful connections. Non-profit Premiere Performances has joined Musica Viva Australia, the world’s largest chamber music organisation, to develop in-school music education programmes in Hong Kong, reaching 12,000 students and 300 teachers in 50 schools each year.
In fact, the performing arts can promote inclusiveness across other barriers in addition to culture and geography. “No Limits”, kicked off online on March 2 this year, co-presented by the Hong Kong Arts Festival and The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.
It features the German French-horn player, Felix Klieser, who plays with his feet; Nicholas McCarthy, the first left-hand-only pianist to graduate from the Royal College of Music in London; and the Netherlands Chamber Choir which will take audiences on a journey through the mind of a dementia sufferer.
Indeed, the efficacy of the arts in promoting cross-cultural understanding is one more reason for it to assume a central role in Hong Kong’s long-awaited recovery.
Pauline Yeung is programme director at the Asia Business Council