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Hong Kong with its highly cosmopolitan ambience, free flow of information and people and a unique East-meets-West culture provides a rich nurturing ground for creative talents, and design industry has become one of the fastest-growing sectors in the city, said Hong Kong Commissioner for Economic and Trade Affairs, USA, Mr Donald Tong.
Speaking at the "Hong Kong: New Force in Art and Design" forum, held for the first time, at Asia Society in New York this evening (April 4, New York time), Mr Tong said the design sector's contribution to Hong Kongˇ¦s GDP had nearly tripled from 2005 to 2010 (US$372 million). The number of people engaged in our design industry also increased by one quarter over the same period (to 12,000).
Mr Tong said that in the past decade, Hong Kong has emerged as a major centre for the sales and auctions of Asian art. There is also an influx of art galleries setting up in Hong Kong to tap the flourishing market demands in China and Asia.
"We are also home to Asia's premier art fair ˇV Art Hong Kong, which will see a total of 266 galleries, representing 39 territories from around the globe next month. More than 30 galleries will come from the US," he added.
Mr Tong said the Government is fully behind the creative industry. When the West Kowloon Cultural District is completed in phases from 2014-15, it will provide Hong Kong with "its very own West End with a Manhattan view". The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Hong Kong Campus, which opened in 2010 in a historic former court building, plays a key role in nurturing local creative talent as well as attracting students from around the region.
In the forum, distinguished and award-winning designers from Hong Kong, Gary Chang and James Law, talked about how design coupled with innovation and technology could improve living space and quality of life in line with sustainable principles. Auction house specialist Ingrid Dudek of Christie's spoke on the thriving art auctions landscape and trends in Hong Kong and Asia. Arts educator Bob Dickensheets, of SCAD, spoke on arts education and heritage conservation drawing from his ample experience in setting up the HK campus. The subsequent lively panel discussion and question-and-answer session with the audience were moderated by Susan S Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis, a leading design and architecture magazine.
More than 250 guests mainly from the arts and design sector in New York took part in the forum. It was co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETO) and Asia Society to celebrate the "Hong Kong Design Year 2012" and is part of the celebration programmes of the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
Ends/Thursday, April 5, 2012
Issued at HKT 10:24
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