Logo a graphic reminder of outdated policies, say artists

The new Leisure and Cultural Services Department has been urged to brush up its approach just days before it is due to announce major policies.

The discontent arises from the department's logo, which critis say is shallow and a sign of the bureaucracy that slowed cultural development in the past. The logo in blue, orange and white is a multi-image of a basketball, a dancer and a painted Chinese opera face, representing the department's mission for recreation and culture.

Designed by Government Information Services Department staff, it is being put up at sites administered by the now-defunct municipal councils.

Artists and designers said the logo gave the impression cultural policies would continue to be confined to leisure activities. They said it showed the department was not enthusiastic about a comprehensive policy to develop arts and culture, repeating its predecessor's mistakes.

'It is amazing that a department which has a world-class budget of $5 billion a year does not even have a corporate identity,' said the vice-chairman of the Hong kong Cultural Sector Joint Conference, Mathias Woo Yan-wai.

'Its logo does not represent any values. The whole design is very shallow,' said Woo, also a member of the Zuni icosahedron arts group.

'The fact that the logo was designed by the Government itself means that it does not respect professionals' ideas.' Hong Kong Designers' Association member Freeman Lau Siu-hong said the logo was 'far from successful.' 'The 'leg' that extends out of the circle looks lie a tail. The concept of a dancing figure is so ordinary that you can find it in posters everywhere in Hong Kong and on the mainland,' he said.

Department chief Paul Leung Sai-wah is expected to announce new policies on Thursday.

Spokesman Yicky Cheung Yick-wah said: 'It is not a matter of whether the logo is designed by the Government or not, but whether it can represent the concept (of recreation and culture).'