Seize the opportunity, make Hong Kong the Eastern art megalopolis.

The Hong Kong government has reserved 40 hectares of land and 21.6 billions to build an art district in West Kowloon, in its proposal there will be more than 10 performing arts venues and M+ (a cultural institution with museum functions.) However, the project was proposed 7 years ago and until now nothing practical has happened yet. M+ is also neglected and it worries the art enthusiasts in Hong Kong. The sense of responsibility and many art enthusiasts in Hong Kong encourage Dr. Kwok Ho Mun, who has devoted more than 20 years in art promotion, to draft a proposal for the Hong Kong government to succeed in the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District project in 2008. The proposal was given to Mr. Donald Tsang, Mr. Henry Tong and other officials related to the project. The proposal was also covered by different publications like Capital, Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong Commercial Daily and Taiwan Art Collection + Design Magazine, and received numerous positive feedbacks. Dr. Kwok was also invited to voice his opinions in the Legislative Council’s meeting of 19th June, 2009.

The government and council members undoubtedly want to see the success of the West Kowloon Cultural District project, but failure may come due to the lack of foresight and understanding, and mistaken positioning. The failure of the West Kowloon Cultural District project will mean a great loss to Hong Kong and our next generation.

Many Hong Kong people are disappointed at the slow progress of the project, but as art professionals and enthusiasts, we are responsible to make it happen. Wan FungArtGallery had already hosted a conference regarding the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District project in 15th August, 2009, we have gained the support from nearly 100 art organizations for us to take the lead in motivating the progress of the project.

Proposal for the West Kowloon Cultural District Project – M+

Forewords

Hong Kong is an international city that enjoys freedom. We also have many talents here. Ever since the handover, Hong Kong has become a privileged display window for Chinese culture and art. Due to these reasons, the West Kowloon Cultural District project should base on Chinese culture and art and be promotional for Hong Kong culture and art. It should also include Southeast Asian culture and art and become an international exchange platform for both the East and the West. Hong Kong has all it takes to become the most important eastern art center in the world.

Art resources, conditions and positioning

The key to success of any art museums is the collection of irreplaceable art resources. Most important art works of the Western art history are collected and secured by the museums in Europe and the U.S., in the East, traditional Chinese fine arts are concentrated in Beijing and Taipei, these collections confirm the status of their owners. Hong Kong should see no better choice than gathering resources provided by the contemporary Chinese art world from the recent century, if Hong Kong succeeds in collecting these fine contemporary artworks, it will help Hong Kong stands out and becomes the major center of contemporary Chinese fine arts. If Hong Kong is to do it, Hong Kong has to do it fast because so far these contemporary Chinese fine arts are still highly scattered, their price is growing, but still reasonable and comparatively low at this moment.

Evaluation: The success of every project depends heavily on their goals. The goals have to be clear to help define conditions and estimate the efforts needed. The plan for M+ suggested by the government seems to neglect the importance of visual art, and its focus is limited and regional which demonstrates the lack of ambition and courage, and it does not seem to be keen on developing Hong Kong’s art world into a healthier environment or raising the international status of Hong Kong artists. Unsurprisingly, M+ is expected to be a section of inevitable loss in the whole project. If the government insists on cutting off Chinese culture and art from M+, it will certainly leads to the failure of the project. More importantly, it will make Hong Kong miss the golden opportunity to become an Eastern art center. The contemporary Chinese artworks from the recent century are more than qualified to provide M+ with a solid foundation to sustain its development, they can also be attractive to the world. The West Kowloon Cultural District has the potential to become an international display center and an educational exchange center. It will be a pity if Hong Kong decides to remain second to other Asian countries. Content matters for M+. The government’s plan needs re-positioning.

Suggestions for M+

The most important international art centers nowadays focus on visual art, the richness in collections is the key factor to create cohesion and attract visitors, it also contributes to the tourism, economy and image of the countries.

For the reasons above, we suggest M+ to build 3 main theme art museums and an InternationalArtGiftExpoCenter, besides, the establishment of Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts will bring beneficial influence to the project as well.

Greater ChinaArt Museum

Contemporary Chinese artworks from the recent century are rich in content, they include painting, calligraphy, pottery & porcelain, sculpture, embroidery, carving, classical furniture and folk art while painting includes traditional Chinese painting, oil painting, watercolor, prints, pencil sketch etc., pottery & porcelain includes white porcelain, ceramic teapot, Jingdezhen ceramic, blue & white porcelain, Shiwan ceramic, Jun porcelain etc., carving includes Qing Dynasty’s wood carving, crystal carving, stone carving, lacquer carving, bamboo carving, lazurite carving, ivory carving, bloodstone carving, jade carving, Qintian stone carving, agalmatolite carving, wood carving etc., sculpture includes marble sculpture, FRP sculpture etc., even embroidery includes more than five types. They can fill at least 100 exhibition halls, if each person spends 15 minutes on each exhibition hall, it will take at least 3 to 4 days to finish visiting a the whole exhibition center, if Hong Kong is able to gather these art resources into the West Kowloon Cultural District, it will surly have the power to attract and retain popularity among visitors from the world.

Evaluation: There is no doubts that the richness of content will attract visitors from the world, besides, it will also help gather art people from different backgrounds to West Kowloon and make the district the most important display and learning center. Although museums from around the world have impressive collections, they do not exhibit enough, Hong Kong may work at the exhibition frequency and provide more visual amusement for its audience. The area of M+ should only increase and not decrease, increasing area does not necessarily mean higher cost, however, if the government insists on carrying out the project without a clear content and position, it will be a shameful waste of public money.

Hong KongContemporaryArt Museum

It will exhibit different types of artworks from Hong Kong artists, including painting, calligraphy, photography, pottery & porcelain, comic, illustration, moving image, design, sculpture, installation and other creative artworks etc., this is a way to raise the status of our local artists, it also helps to promote local art and encourage creations from our artists. Hong Kong artists have been living in an undesirable art world for many years, their social status tends to be low and they often feel neglected, hopefully the Hong KongContemporaryArt Museum will provide them a platform to demonstrate their talent.

Evaluation: Hong KongContemporaryArt Museum should include all types of local art, from the traditional to the innovative, they should be exhibited as long as they are of high quality, it will mean a lot to the local art world as it means encouragement and support. Hong Kong artists are the vital element for the success of Hong Kong as an art center. They have long been relying on underpaid teaching to sustain their lives, if Hong Kong can create more chances for them and maximize the motivation and creativity of them, it is unlikely for Hong Kong not to be developed into one of the most creative and energetic cities in the world.

Southeast AsiaNationalArtGallery

It means an international exhibition hall which will exhibit artworks from Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar etc., the exhibition area for each country shall not be too much, they should be limited to 500 – 1000 square meters. The content of exhibitions should be planned and arranged by the ambassadors from these countries. Hong Kong can simply provide them with a platform to display their culture and art, it should be a popular policy, besides, it also symbolizes Hong Kong’s status as an Asian art center.

Evaluation: All Hong Kong needs to provide for this section is the hardware, while the software is entirely arranged by the Asian countries themselves, it is economic. Hong Kong can even encourage some more aggressive Asian countries to make more efforts, which will stimulate positive competitions among the countries, thus contribute to the attractiveness of the exhibition content. It helps Hong Kong to build its status as an international art center and a cultural exchange center.

InternationalArtGiftExpoCenter

An international art gift expo center that fuses the functions of exhibition, trade fair and megastore together and gathers colorful art gifts from around the world at the West Kowloon Cultural District. It will be attractive to visitors home and aboard because of its overwhelming richness in content, which includes prints of masterpieces, art decorations, art stationery, art furniture, art teapots, art toys, art models, art books, art clocks, art plants etc. It can even be developed into an international brand, each year different occasions can be held e.g. annual gift festival, bi-weekly special offers and trade fairs. The attractiveness of it will not be less than Hong Kong Disneyland, it also provides chances for the young designers and artists in Hong Kong to make use of their talents. Besides, it also offers job vacancies in the creative sector.

Evaluation: The products sold in this international art gift expo center should suit household needs, and be closely related to people’s daily lives. It can also be viewed as a subtle way of art education, as it helps to move art into Hong Kong people’s lives by making it usable and practical. Hong Kong has been hosting many exhibitions each year and they all attract great amount of visitors, building an international art gift expo center will certainly bring human traffic and economic gain.

Hong KongAcademy of Fine Arts

Until today, Hong Kong has yet had a formal academy for Fine Arts, it is time to establish one with the project of the West Kowloon Cultural District. It is doubtful if a city can become an art center with artists of high quality if the city itself does not provide quality education in the art area. This academy shall not be limited to local students, it shall accept students from the globe and educate art talents for Hong Kong and the world. Many of the Hong Kong artists are only private art tutors, some of them are qualified to be professors for the academy. Masters from mainland China can also be invited to be guest lecturers. Hong Kong can be made the Eastern art education center. AdministrationBuilding and Exhibition Hall should be located at West Kowloon Cultural District, other teaching facilities and student dormitories may be located at the junction area of Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

Evaluation: It means the opening of a new era for Aesthetic Education in Hong Kong which plays a far-reaching andsignificant role in the development of Hong Kong's future. Hong Kong does not have formal training colleges for artists, the establishment of Hong Kong Academy of Fine Arts is a dream for and strong desire to the Hong Kong arts community for many years. The establishment of such an institute will help enhance the status of Hong Kong artists, our talented artists will help the development of art education in our society and can lead to diverse socio-economic benefits, which stands in line with the Hong Kong Government's future development goals.

The success of an art district depends on its collection.

Hard ware is not important but content matters. Therefore, the success of M+ depends on the quality of its exhibits. If the West Kowloon Cultural District is already positioned appropriately, it is necessary to make certain policies to encourage support for the collection of artworks. (So far most museums reply on government purchases, donations and collectors’ loans for exhibits.)

1. Government purchases

Since the budget for the purchase of artworks is limited, (the budget for the first year is no more than 100 millions Hong Kong dollars, followed by a budget of 20 millions Hong Kong dollars each year after,) the government should focus on purchasing contemporary eastern artworks while their prices are still reasonable and comparatively cheap. The government can also collect artworks through hosting international art exhibitions and competitions. If the government spend 15 thousands Hong Kong dollars on each artwork, it will build a collection of 400 artworks, one must also note that these artworks have unlimited potential to become historically and artistically valuable. One example is Chinese papercuts, for the time being it takes only few millions Hong Kong dollars to collect all the fine works from the contemporary Chinese masters, but the visual pleasure these papercuts are able to offer is unbelievably breathtaking.

2. Encouraging the donation of artworks is a way to generate cohesion among citizens.

If the government is able to make certain policies to encourage donations for art, a positive atmosphere will be circulated in society. Citizens who donate money can be rewarded with tax concessions; great donors can be rewarded with the rights to name exhibition halls, it is a common practice in Hong Kong e.g. many universities, schools and hospitals are named after their donors. A membership system can also be established, so that those who contribute to the West Kowloon Cultural District enjoys certain privileges. A sense of belonging will be shared by the Hong Kong citizens towards the West Kowloon Cultural District because their contribution to it makes them feel like a part of its growth. Most Hong Kong collectors and artists would feel more than glad to contribute, besides, it also provides them a platform to demonstrate what Hong Kong has got to the world. These policies allow the Hong Kong government to build up an art collection without spending large sum of money.

3. Encourage art collectors’ loans.

While purchase and donation are still not enough, it will also be useful to consider asking loans from our local collectors. Hong Kong has an enormous amount of art collectors and they have collected many world-class fine artworks. Mr. T.T. Tsui is one of the art collectors who has been contributing to Hong Kong with his art collections.

Evaluation: It shall be like a charitable event to build up an art collection for the West Kowloon Cultural District. It is possible to bring political, economic, social and educational benefits to society and our next generation. Besides, Hong Kong will certainly gain support from mainland China if it has the ambition to become the international display window for eastern art, undoubtedly, Chinese people from around the world will also be supportive as it shall mean a great contribution to the international exposure and status of Chinese culture and art.

It is also important to clarify certain standardized requirements for the art collection.

• The artworks should demonstrate qualities of the true, the good and the beautiful.
• The artworks should demonstrate unique artistic style.
• The artworks should demonstrate professional skills.
• The artworks must be created out of the artists’ passion.

Only artworks that possess these qualities can move art lovers from the world.

Conclusion:

Above is our proposal for the West Kowloon Cultural District project, these suggestions entirely come from our sense of responsibility and conscience as passionate art promoters. We do not hope this project to fail due to mistaken positioning. We’d rather spend some extra time and efforts to contribute historically to Hong Kong society and our next generation.

This proposal has been reviewed by many people, especially those who are successful and those who are from the art world, they all agreed that it is practical and forward-looking:

1. The government won’t need to spend extra to make Hong Kong the promotion center of contemporary Eastern art, with the help of the West Kowloon Cultural District project, it will even enhance and improve Hong Kong’s international status, and bring positive influence to our tourism, economy and employment, and above all it helps promote Chinese culture. Besides, the underlying political meaning for all these is that only Chinese culture can group Chinese people together and unite China for real, Hong Kong’s role in it is historically significant.

2. China is heading into her blossom, Hong Kong as an important part of China should not separate itself from Chinese culture, and if it positions itself in the Chinese culture, it will create cohesion among Chinese people around the world, and Hong Kong will certainly gain support internationally. Moreover, only the colorful Chinese art can be attractive enough to draw visitors’ attention to the West Kowloon Cultural District project.

3. The proposed establishment of a Hong KongContemporaryArt Museum should include all local creative artworks of different types. It will motivate our artists to create and become the leading force of making Hong Kong an Asian international art center.

4. Helping the West Kowloon Cultural District collect exhibits will become a charitable activity for Hong Kong people, and draw their attention and concern to both the project and art itself.

5. If the project succeeds, it will mean a turning point for Hong Kong’s art world, the establishment of a formal art academy in Hong Kong will improve the living environment for our artists, it will also raise the status of Hong Kong art, enable Hong Kong to develop in multiple ways and bring positive influence to our next generations.

We sincerely hope that the Hong Kong government can carry the project on with ambition and foresight, that it can make use of new ways of thinking and a responsible attitude to make the project a success to the world, people from Hong Kong should also gather their efforts in making Hong Kong an international art megalopolis.

Wan FungArtGallery

Dr. Kwok Ho Mun

December, 2008

(Revised September, 2009)