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The Consultative Committee on the Core Arts and Cultural Facilities of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) held its third meeting today (September 7). The work progress of its Performing Arts and Tourism Advisory Group (PATAG), Museums Advisory Group (MAG) and Financial Matters Advisory Group (FMAG) was set out and discussed.
The Consultative Committee discussed the report submitted by the PATAG on the performance venues, and related arts, cultural and tourism facilities in the WKCD.
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Rafael Hui, said: "We are very grateful to the Hon Selina Chow, Convenor of PATAG, and members of the group, for their efforts in drafting the report in the last few months."
The Consultative Committee agreed that the PATAG report would be forwarded to the FMAG for the purpose of assessing the financial implications. The FMAG will later submit its findings to the Consultative Committee for consideration.
Mrs Chow said the vision behind the recommendations made by the Advisory Group was to develop the WKCD into an integrated world-class arts and cultural, entertainment and tourism district with a must-visit appeal to both local residents and visitors.
"The Advisory Group has looked at the specifications of the various performance venues defined as Core Arts and Cultural Facilities in the Invitation for Proposals, and has thoroughly considered various factors, including the existing cultural policy, the current performing arts scene and performance venues, and views collected from sector-specific focus group meetings as well as consultative forums," she said.
"On the whole, the recommendations in the report have actively responded to the views expressed by the public, the performing arts and tourism sectors. The Advisory Group believes the performing arts facilities should be capable of meeting the long-term development needs of arts and culture, as well as promoting diversity and vibrancy in the development of the performing arts sector in Hong Kong. Synergy will be produced if the performing arts venues and facilities can be suitably clustered together and integrated with the commercial facilities. Moreover, when all sectors actively promote the nurture of creative talents and arts education, excellence can be achieved by the arts and cultural facilities in WKCD."
As for the MAG, after a thorough discussion of the various themes received in previous consultation exercises, members agreed that one cultural institution with museum functions which focuses on several specialised areas falling within the broad field of "visual culture" in the 20th to 21st century, including "modern/contemporary arts" (which should cover "ink art"), "design", "film" and "popular culture" should be developed in WKCD. The MAG will further deliberate on the major specifications and planning requirements.
The Consultative Committee and its three Advisory Groups, namely, the PATAG, MAG and FMAG, have already held a number of meetings since their establishment in April 2006 to re-examine the need for the core arts and cultural facilities in the WKCD.
The Consultative Committee aims to submit proposals, based on the recommendations made by the three Advisory Groups, to the Government by the end of this year.
The main recommendations made in the PATAG report are set out in the annex.
Ends/Thursday, September 7, 2006
Issued at HKT 18:15
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