Head of private Hong Kong foundation urges private sector to play bigger role in arts
Ted Lipman says city could play a similar role to the cultural mecca of Dunhuang - with change coming from grass-roots level
The private sector has a bigger role to play in supporting arts and culture to help transform Hong Kong into a cultural hub, the chief of a private foundation based in the city says.
Ted Lipman, chief executive officer of the Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation, said while economics and politics have been used to measure success, culture is increasingly important. He said the city could be like Dunhuang , an ancient desert city in northwestern Gansu province that is a treasure trove of cultural relics.
Hong Kong has established itself as a highly successful financial hub with top-notch facilities and infrastructure, and the city has a chance to do the same for culture, he said.
"[Hong Kong] is very much like Dunhuang - there's nothing much there but it's a very cultural site. Everybody wants to go to Dunhuang because of the commerce and cultural marks there," said Lipman. "Hong Kong, to some extent, could [play] that role as well."
Lipman said Hong Kong was good at building great infrastructure that attracts global talent. "Then the question arises - the content. How much of that content is derived internationally, and how much of that is generated locally?" he said. "I don't think the majority of the content will be generated here. That will be unrealistic. But certainly, [there should be resources to allow Hong Kong to develop its software that can augment the wonderful hardware that has been built here."
The government spends HK$3.5 billion on culture every year, excluding the arts portion of the Arts and Sports Development Fund and Cantonese Opera Development Fund. About 75 per cent of that goes on government-run cultural facilities. Funding for the nine major performing arts groups and the Academy of Performing Arts account for 9 and 8 per cent respectively.