Hong Kong art critics prize restrict to Chinese language entries
Council's language policy attacked after English entries excluded from HK$50,000 award
Aspiring arts critics are being given the chance to get their hands on a HK$50,000 prize funded by taxpayers - but only if they can write in Chinese.
The first ADC Critics Prize, organised by the Arts Development Council to promote arts criticism and discover new talent, has come under fire for its language policy, while the council has been accused of lacking a long-term plan to cultivate arts criticism.
Entrants, who must be aged between 18 and 40, are asked to submit a critique in 3,500 words or less on works of visual art, theatre, dance, film or any other art form.
The top prize-winner will receive the gold award - HK$50,000 in cash. A silver and a bronze award, offering cash prizes of HK$20,000 and HK$10,000 respectively, will also be presented - sums considered very generous, as established writers make just HK$1 per word writing for Chinese-language publications.
The council said it would accept entries only in Chinese because it wanted to encourage Chinese-language writing on local art and activities in the hope that it would reach a mass audience.
"Although English is commonly used in the government and by the legal, professional and business sectors, Chinese is the language used by most people in Hong Kong," the council said in reply to a question about the policy.
John Batten, president of the International Association of Art Critics Hong Kong, the local branch of a critics association affiliated to the UN cultural body Unesco, argued that writing in English was just as important as Chinese-language criticism.