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The Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs, Mrs Carrie Yau, today (April 6) started a visit to Seoul, South Korea, to enhance cultural exchange and strengthen the partnership between Hong Kong and the Asian region.
During the visit, Mrs Yau will meet officials of the Ministry of Culture and call on a number of cultural organisations, and give briefing on the latest cultural facilities and development in Hong Kong, with a view to promoting Hong Kong as a platform for exchange of creative talent in Asia.
To encourage creativity among young student artists, souvenirs to the Korean officials and representatives were selected from the works of students of the Department of Fine Arts of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Academy of Visual Arts of the Baptist University, as well as works of members of the Arts with the Disabled Association. Earlier, the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, had presented works of local students as souvenirs to delegates from Guangdong and Macau at the Greater Pearl River Delta Cultural Co-operation Meeting last month. The presentation of these works will serve as an incentive to encourage organisations and enterprises to show concern over local cultural development and support for local creativity.
ˇ§To reflect the local characteristics of Hong Kongˇ¦s culture and our advantages as well as to promote sustainable cultural development, the nurturing of young talent is our top priority. We should provide support to the young people who have devoted their career to the arts as well as people with different capabilities by promoting their works overseas in suitable occasions,ˇ¨ Mrs Yau said.
ˇ§The major part of our trip will be visits to the Korean institutes, museums, cultural and arts organisations and relevant facilities, as well as meetings with academics and experts on arts education such that we can better understand the latest information and their work progress on arts education, training and promotion,ˇ¨ Mrs Yau said.
Mrs Yau first visited the Arts Council Korea under the Ministry of Culture. While sponsoring cultural activities to provide a favourable environment to facilitate creativity for artists, the Arts Council Korea emphasises on the integration of the arts with the socio-economic development to encourage artists to explore commercial opportunities.
ˇ§Today, I have briefed the Arts Council Korea on the latest cultural development in Hong Kong and proposed a closer liaision between us. I am very glad that we have reached an initial agreement with the Arts Council Korea that the Home Affairs Bureau will propose a list of executives in Hong Kongˇ¦s cultural and the arts sector for a six-month internship and exchange programme in relevant organisations in Korea to enhance mutual training of talents. If the arrangements are finalised, the first batch of participants is expected to start the programme in Korea this year,ˇ¨ Mrs Yau said.
Mrs Yau then visited the Korea National University of Arts. The university consists of various schools, including Schools of Arts, Music, Drama, Film, Dance and Korean Traditional Arts. It is a national university which places emphasis on training arts talent in an integrated approach. It also stresses on the training of traditional arts.
ˇ§Hong Kong also has specialised institutes to provide training to art talents, such as the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Academy of Visual Arts of the Baptist University. However, the Korea National University of Arts, adopts an integrated approach which combines fine arts with other performing arts to stimulate creativity and potentials. Such an approach is worth to be further explored by institutes in Hong Kong,ˇ¨ she said.
Mrs Yau also visited to the Seoul Animation Centre, which specialises in animated comics, to understand the training and operation of the creative industries. Mrs Yau took the opportunity to introduce the work of the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. As the project of West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD) was in progress, Mrs Yau gave a brief introduction on the progress of the WKCD. She looked forward to enhanced collaboration between the two places for more exchanges and closer co-operation in future.
Ends/Monday, April 6, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:15
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