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The curtain of Hong Kong Art Biennial is up again. After three decades of development, the 13th Hong Kong Art Biennial, running from December 14 onwards, continues to play its vital role as the unique regional art competition to foster artistic creations. The Art Biennial of this year, the largest of its kind, strides towards the international level with new mechanism to match international art competition, marking a new era of Hong Kong art.
This year, the Biennial has attracted a record-breaking number of over 2000 entries. The medium of the entries are also diversified, including works of Chinese painting, Chinese calligraphy, seal carving, painting, print, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video and digital art, installation art, mixed media, etc. The entries also show that artists tend to experiment with multi-media and electronic technology to break the bondage of conventional media and artistic vocabulary.
Based on the criteria of originality, technical competence and creativity, the adjudication panel finally selected 126 works by 105 entrants, including 10 works selected as the Fine Art Awards. The 10 Awards are "Skiff" (Chinese Painting) by Wong Hau-kwei, "Poem in Running Cursive Script" (Calligraphy) by Leung Shun-wai, "Mr Tiger Wong" (Painting) by Kwok Ying, "Chinese 1-5" (Photography) by So Hing-keung, "Chess" (Sculpture) by Chow Shun-keung, "Equilibrium III" (Ceramics) by Cheung Wai-sze, "Small Things, Big Issue" (Mixed media) by Tsang Kin-wah, "Human Being and Moving Images" (Digital interactive images) by Mr Hung Keung, "So Near Yet So Far (Mongkok Version)" (Installation) by Leung Mei-ping and an untitled work of art (Sculpture) by Hui Chui-hung.
These 126 selected works are now on display at the Hong Kong Museum of Art for public's appreciation until February 24, 2002. The works on display not only signify investigations and inquisitions into the concept, process and the products of artistic creation itself, but also reveal the issues pertaining to life, society and humanity that concern artists today. These cross-media works also reflect the current, local as well as global trends of artistic practices today.
Up to 1972, the Hong Kong Museum of Art had presented four Contemporary Hong Kong Art exhibitions since its establishment in 1962. The then exhibitions became the forerunners of the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial competition and exhibitions in the subsequent years. In 1975, the first formal Contemporary Hong Kong Art Exhibition was organised. Up till this year, over a hundred award winners have been named in the Biennial, and many of them have become prominent figures of the local art circle.
To take on a proactive role in the promotion of Hong Kong Art, the Hong Kong Museum of Art collaborates with the Hong Kong Art Development Council as a major partner in this year's presentation. Moreover, a number of collateral events and activities organised in conjunction with other local organisations and institutions are included to make the Hong Kong Art Biennial a territory-wide festive art event.
The Hong Kong Art Biennial 2001 presents over 40 exhibitions, lecture talks, video shows and workshops. Details of the programmes are on the Hong Kong Museum of Art's website: www.lcsd.gov.hk/hkma/.
To tie-in with the Biennial, an open forum entitled "The EastĦEThe WestĦEThe CulturesĦEThe Assimilation" will also be held at 2.30 pm on January 5, 2002 at the Museum of Art, with Dr Tao Ho, Mr Liu Tianci, Mr Wang Yiping, Mr Wen Jiehua and Mr Tao Jie as the speakers. The Forum, conducted in Cantonese, is free for admission and seats are available on first-come-first-served basis.
The Hong Kong Museum of Art is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. It opens from 10am to 6pm daily and closes on Thursdays, except public holidays, and the first two days of the Chinese New Year. On the Chinese New Year's Eve, the Museum will close at 5 pm. Admission fee is $10 and half-price concession is applicable to full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities. Admission is free on Wednesdays. For details, please call 2721 0116.
End/Tuesday, December 25, 2001
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