Hong Kong's independent artists eluded by bureaucratic public and private funding
Many up-and-coming independent artists have to find own finance due to complicated public grants procedures and reluctant private donors
Budding independent artists are being forced to self-finance their showcases as applications for government grants get tangled up in red tape and while private donors show scant interest.
Some artists said government grant application procedures are bureaucratic and complicated, with money tending to go to those who know how to "play the game".
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Culture and sports lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok said bureaucracy is "a necessary evil" in the allocation of public money, and artists should master the skills of communication and presentation to secure finance.
He is planning to stage a Music Lab Festival in February in the hope of promoting classical music among a wider audience without any public or private funding.
"I don't have government money," said Wong, a prodigy featured in the 2009 documentary . "That's because it's not easy and you need a very good proposal. My friends have encouraged me to apply for government funding but [the procedure] is very bureaucratic."
Wong said government grants were important to arts development, not only to support the productions, but also the "feeling of being supported by the government". Obtaining corporate sponsorship is also challenging, Wong said, as corporations seek projects that fit in with their corporate image.
Simon Au Wing-hung, leader of a cappella group, Set Tone Men, said his group has been looking for a model to sustain its operation but government funding seems out of reach. Since there is little public money and intense competition, applicants often need to have a track record to get funds, he said.
Ma, a former chairman of the Arts Development Council and current chairman of the Film Development Council, said bureaucracy involved in grant application has always been a problem, but is inevitable.
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"The system is in place to ensure public money is well spent. If you don't have a track record, you have to present yourself to impress the assessors why money should be given to you," said Ma, adding that the same theory applied in seeking private sponsorship.
In this respect, Ma said that as well as better communication training, Hong Kong should have more art agents to help artists get their message across.
"Many artists who get sponsors and funding are not necessarily the most excellent artistically. But they are very good at communicating and presenting themselves," he said.
The Arts Development Council said it received a total of 690 applications for its grant schemes in the 2014/15 financial year. Only 348 of these grants were approved, with the sums totalling HK$77.56 million.
