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Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (December 17):
Question:
Recently, some members of the public have relayed to me that some artworks once exhibited at the ArtAlive@Park 2014 large-scale public art project (ArtAlive exhibition) were dismantled and discarded as rubbish after the exhibition. These members of the public are of the view that such an action is an utter disrespect for the creators of the artworks concerned. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the number of artworks which were discarded after the ArtAlive exhibition in each of the past five years, and the reasons for that; among them, the number of artworks which ended up in landfills; and
(2) whether it will consider, in future ArtAlive exhibitions, discussing with the creators of the artworks to be exhibited to work out better ways to dispose of the artworks after the exhibitions, e.g. donating them to social welfare organisations, putting them up for charity auctions, etc.; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
As a public art project, ArtAlive@Park aims to provide an opportunity for students from the fine arts, design and architecture departments of local tertiary institutions to showcase their artistic talents so that they may, on top of theories, gain practical experience through participation in public art creation.
Since 2010, three editions of ArtAlive@Park have been held. A total of nine units from local tertiary institutions have participated in the project. Each of the participating units produced three to ten-odd pieces of artworks of their own design for exhibition. Owned by the students and their institutions, such artworks were returned to the respective institutions after exhibition.
(1) Given that the ArtAlive@Park exhibition is of short-term nature, some of the exhibits are, in terms of conceptual design, materials used and assembling techniques, produced for short-term display. In the past few years, the exhibits were returned to the respective institutions for disposal at their liberty after exhibition. None of such exhibits was discarded by the Government.
(2) Depending on circumstances such as structural safety of the exhibits and technical feasibility, the Government is very keen to encourage continued display of such exhibits at other suitable venues after the ArtAlive@Park exhibition and is delighted to assist participating institutions in making such arrangements. The Government will also conduct active discussion with the collaborating units of ArtAlive@Park on the appropriate post-exhibition arrangements for and disposal of such artworks, with regard to their nature and condition.
In fact, some artworks produced by the participating institutions were put on display at other venues after the exhibition. For instance, "Fence Off", an art piece created by the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Hong Kong for ArtAlive@Park 2010, is now on display at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. Furthermore, a number of artworks produced by the School of Design of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University were showcased at its campus and various exhibitions and venues in 2011, and some of them were later displayed at the HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity. Created by the School of Architecture of the Chinese University of Hong Kong for ArtAlive@Park 2012, "Sky Lines" was featured at the "REVEAL" Exhibition, organised by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects.
Ends/Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:27
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