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Hong Kong art and cultural identity Print E-mail
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Written by Xi Chen   
Wednesday, 08 April 2009
Article Index
Hong Kong art and cultural identity
A Brief on Hong Kong
Art Education in Hong Kong
Page 1 of 3

If cultural identity is the soul of a city, then art must be the window to the soul.
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Art shop on Hollywood street
Hong Kong - JMSC - It  may be an affluent city filled with a commercial buzz and shopping malls, but local artists reap little benefit.
 
Despite its status as the third largest art market in the world by auction value following New York and London, Hong Kong has not much of a market mechanism to support its local born and bred artists.

Many local artists have to struggle to follow their passion while try to make a living in this city where money is king.

The art world has been paying more attention to Contemporary Chinese Art from mainland China in the past years but art in Hong Kong is still like a gem well covered under the sand.

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When east meets west

It is an interesting contradiction. Being at the cultural interception of east and west, Hong Kong artists are exposed to influences from both ends and moderniity of Hong Kong art happened much earlier than in mainland China since it was never closed up. 

So why is Hong Kong art not popular?

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Art historian David Clarke
Professor David Clarke, who came to Hong Kong over two decades ago to study art under historical transition, and who has written a book on "Hong Kong Art: Culture and Decolonization",  explains:
 
"Hong Kong (art) doesn’t have that sense of otherness like mainland has to western audiences. It is not Chinese enough to be interesting. Only when the understanding of China matures, will people understand what the Hong Kong contribution is.” 

                     

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Artist Carl Cheng
Carl Cheng, a Hong Kong native who turned away from his business major in university to become an artist and art teacher, also thinks Hong Kong's culture is not supportive enough for its art development. 
 
"The Whole city does not have enough support for culture. Hong Kong is very homogeneous, in terms of taste and goal. Hong Kong people, inside their minds, it is only about survival -- money, so they are very practical. " 

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So when Hong Kong looks to the East, it realizes it doesn’t yet have an audience; when it looks to the West, it realizes the audience doesn’t want something that has no solid culture identity.



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Last Updated ( Friday, 15 May 2009 )
 
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