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To further promote public and community art, integrating art with daily life and providing more display opportunities, the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) is arranging to showcase some art pieces of local artists and students at the Revenue Tower in Wan Chai, the Cheung Sha Wan Government Offices and the Tsuen Wan Government Offices.
Speaking at a briefing of the project entitled "Art @ Government Buildings" today (October 21), the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Raymond Young, said that the HAB had been committed to promoting public art, allowing more opportunities for the members of the public to enjoy art so that arts would become part of our daily life, as well as providing more avenues for local artists and students to display visual art pieces.
"We are going to roll out a number of public and community art projects in partnership with more artists and organisations, nurturing more local arts and creative talents, developing new display platforms for their visual art pieces, promoting public interest in art appreciation, as well as cultivating new audienceship. 'Art @ Government Buildings' is one of such projects," Mr Young said.
Renowned local artists, namely, Man Fung-yi, Leung Chi-wo and Justin Wong, will create and install art pieces for the three government buildings. They will draw reference from the history and character of the community in which the building belongs, and with the employment of various media, display the art pieces in a trendy manner.
Mr Young said: "The art pieces will bring about an artistic atmosphere to the living environment of the public, and create intimacy and a sense of humour, enabling the public to appreciate the diversity of the art scene in Hong Kong."
The project will recruit tertiary students who are interested in art from various academic backgrounds to take part in an eight-month mentorship programme, providing them with an opportunity to create art pieces under the guidance of the three artists.
Mr Young said that this project would tie in with the future development of art and culture in Hong Kong, as well as nurturing more artists and art administrators. It would enable students to take part in public art projects in addition to their major fields of study, with the aims of arousing interest and providing hands-on experience in art, and preparing the new generation for promoting art development in Hong Kong.
The finished art pieces will be on display in the latter half of 2011. Participating artists and their project teams will lead guided tours to share their experience in the creation of their artworks.
"Art @ Government Buildings" project is presented by the Home Affairs Bureau and organised by the Art Promotion Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department with Hong Kong Arts Centre and Public Art Hong Kong as artistic collaborators.
Ends/Thursday, October 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:14
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