Hong Kong arts body under threat as pro-Beijing forces step up national security law campaign

Arts Development Council forced into saying it might suspend grants to some artists

Lawmakers demand authorities vet exhibits at city’s signature museum to weed out ‘anti-government’ works

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The soon-to-open M+ Museum in Hong Kong.

Lilian Cheng

Published: 8:15am, 19 Mar 2021Updated: 2:51pm, 19 Mar 2021

Corrected [12:46pm, 19 Mar, 2021]

[12:46pm, 19 Mar, 2021]
The article has been updated to remove an image depicting an obscene gesture.

Pro-Beijing forces have stepped up pressure on the arts funding body and the flagship museum in Hong Kong for allegedly sponsoring or displaying “anti-government” works, in a move critics fear could dampen artistic freedoms.

The campaign has forced the Arts Development Council into stating it might suspend grants to artists who advocated independence, while additional cultural venues have refused to screen a controversial documentary about the 2019 anti-government protests.

The question of what constitutes “lawbreaking artworks” has also been raised in the Legislative Council by pro-establishment lawmaker Eunice Yung Hoi-yan, who called on authorities to vet the exhibits at the soon-to-open M+ museum to ensure they did not contravene the national security law.

Lawmaker Elizabeth Quat, of the Beijing-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, also weighed in on Thursday, urging the home affairs minister to evaluate the structure and grant system of the Arts Development Council.

A scene from the protest documentary “Inside the Red Brick Wall”. Photo: Facebook

State-owned Ta Kung Pao ran a front-page report on Wednesday accusing the council of being led by “anti-government figures” who had granted about HK$15 million to filmmakers sympathetic to the protest movement over the past three years.