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Following is the speech by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Henry Tang, at the opening ceremony of "Popping Up: Revisiting the Relationship between 2D and 3D" Exhibition at the Hong Kong Arts Centre today (September 17):
Cissy (Pao Watari, Chairperson, Hong Kong Arts Centre), Mr Nanjo (Fumio, Director of Mori Art Museum), Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good evening. It is my pleasure to officiate at this opening ceremony.
I would like to congratulate the Hong Kong Arts Centre for your enduring success of your annual flagship event. This exhibition is an excellent platform for artistic creation and collaboration between artists from Hong Kong and overseas.
I would like to thank the Guest Curator, Mr Fumio Nanjo, for lending his expertise to the "Popping Up" Exhibition. Mr Nanjo is our close partner in promoting the arts and has assisted us, Hong Kong, in major arts events in the past. He is a very good friend of us.
Also, a warm welcome to all the talented artists from the Mainland, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia who are taking part in this exhibition and sharing their artworks with us. I am extremely encouraged by the strong participation of Hong Kongˇ¦s artists as well.
The creative use of dimensions is a fascinating topic for this yearˇ¦s event. Iˇ¦m sure the audiences will be excited and inspired by the works of art on display.
Hong Kong itself is adding a new dimension to our arts and cultural scene, in the form of the West Kowloon Cultural District.
We are in the planning phase of this massive project which will cover 40 hectares of prime waterfront land.
A public engagement exercise is now under way. It involves three conceptual plans which have been prepared by leading international architects and master planners. The plans show different potential layouts for the Cultural District.
Please take a little bit of time to check out these designs and give us your opinions. This will help us select the best possible layout and make the project a great success.
And very soon we will have to go through a painful process of selecting just one of these three masterpieces. To make this choice less painful, we have sought the agreement of the three architects that outstanding features or elements of the other two options may well be incorporated. But in order not to compromise the cohesiveness and integrity of the selected option, the master planner will see through the whole planning process.
We are working hand-in-hand with the arts community together with our partners and arts collaborators, including the Hong Kong Arts Centre, creating the best environment to support the development of Hong Kong as a hub for arts and culture in Asia.
Over the years, the Arts Centre has helped to nurture creative artistic talents by providing contemporary arts programmes and education.
Your dedication and hard work in contributing to the enrichment of our cultural life is commendable. Thank you very much Cissy for your leadership.
Ladies and gentlemen, it only remains for me to wish this exhibition every success. I hope our visitors will be able to find time to explore our city and seek out inspiration for your future projects.
Thank you very much.
Ends/Friday, September 17, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:10
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