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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Berlin (HKETO Berlin) partnered with the Fumetto International Comic Festival in Lucerne, Switzerland to help promote Hong Kong's comic art in Europe. Fumetto is one of Europe's leading international comic festivals. Over the years, Fumetto has developed into the leading festival for artistically ambitious comic artists in Europe. The 2016 edition of Fumetto, which was also the 25th anniversary of the festival and ran from April 16 to 24, featured two artists from Hong Kong Chihoi Lee and Mei Yan Jane Lee.
Speaking at the launch ceremony of a book celebrating the 25th anniversary of the festival on April 22 (Lucerne time), the Director of HKETO Berlin, Ms Betty Ho, said, "Apart from being an international financial and business hub, Hong Kong has a very vibrant cultural scene that is less well-known to the world. "Hong Kong is home to the world's first Avenue of Comic Stars which was opened in 2012 to commend the achievements of Hong Kong comic artists by presenting the painted figurines of local comic characters and handprints of comic artists. With its unique character, the Avenue of Comic Stars has now become a new tourist attraction for visitors to learn about the diversity of Hong Kong culture."
Chihoi Lee, who was born in Hong Kong in 1977, is one of the central figures of Hong Kong's lively comic scene. He has played an important role for Fumetto, being chosen to create a chapter in its anniversary book, which also serves as a retrospective of the past 25 years. Mr Lee completed his part of the book on site, providing an opportunity for close and intense cultural exchange with Swiss visitors.
With 11 main exhibitions and more than 40 satellite exhibitions, Fumetto displays various forms of contemporary international comic art, including the work of Mei Yan Jane Lee. Also known as "Messy Desk", she is an up-and-coming illustrator and comic artist based in Hong Kong with a drawing style similar to the European style known as "bande dessinée".
Ms Ho met both artists in Lucerne and encouraged them to further pursue their passion for comic art and help promote Hong Kong's creative art abroad. "Hong Kong comics' influence has been especially strong in Asia, but Europe also offers excellent opportunities for Hong Kong comic artists to grow and thrive. In return, Hong Kong has much to offer artists, creative talents and entrepreneurs from all over the world," said Ms Ho.
Creative industries are important economic drivers for Hong Kong. They help increase the innovation capacity of the economy and can be a powerhouse for future economic growth. According to the latest statistics, Hong Kong has around 39 200 cultural and creative industry-related establishments, with about 207 500 practitioners engaged in total. In 2013, the value added of cultural and creative industries stood at $106 billion (about 13.6 billion Swiss Francs), representing around 5.1 per cent of Hong Kong's gross domestic product.
About HKETO Berlin
HKETO Berlin is the official Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government representative in commercial relations and other economic and trade matters in Switzerland as well as Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
Ends/Monday, April 25, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:38
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