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Hong Kong's rich repertoire of arts and culture has been brought to New York in the "Spotlight Hong Kong" exhibition organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York (HKETONY).
Held for the first time in the Time Warner Center at the epicenter of New York City, from February 25 to March 3, the exhibition features themes of Hong Kong's heritage in festivals, the film industry, the street markets through an American artist's impression, and performing arts with dance costumes display. They serve to reflect the rich elements of the eclectic mix of East-meets-West culture.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Director of HKETONY, Mr Steve Barclay, said many classic martial arts films produced in Hong Kong transcended generational, cultural and geographical boundaries and spawned legendary stars like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Hong Kong's exciting style of action cinema also inspired a number of Hollywood productions including Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and The Departed.
The exhibition also features selected paintings of Hong Kong Street Markets by American artist and illustrator Michael Sloan, who captured the human side and daily lives of ordinary Hong Kong, from an American perspective, showing great sympathy and warmth for the subjects.
Hong Kong's performing arts scene has seen vibrant growth in the last decade. In tandem with the US debut of the Hong Kong Dance Company's "The Legend of Mulan" at Lincoln Center from March 5, four colorful dance costumes, all designed by Hong Kong designers, were also featured in the exhibition.
A "Mulan" photo lucky draw on the HKETONY Facebook "Hong Kong Meets America" is also held to promote the dance performances.
Students from Yung Wing Elementary School were invited to perform two excerpts of their winning production, "Mulan" at the opening ceremony. The group recently won the Freddie G Outstanding Production award for their Mulan performance at the 2014 Junior Theater Festival in Atlanta.
Two New York-based Chinese dancers also performed excerpts from "The Legend of Mulan" to provide a brief preview of the upcoming dance performance.
Ends/Thursday, February 26, 2015
Issued at HKT 23:57
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