The 116th Board Meeting of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority

The Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) held its 116th meeting today. At the meeting, Mrs Betty Fung, Chief Executive Officer of WKCDA, reported on the latest progress in various areas of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD).

With the onset of Autumn, ideal time for various types of outdoor activities have emerged. Every venue in WKCD is teeming with visitors, and the Art Park and various public spaces in WKCD are bustling with a host of events, both large and small.

In full support for the HKSAR Government’s effort to boost the night economy, WKCDA launched the inaugural night-time event “WestK Nightscapes” on 10 November. The event saw three consecutive weekends brimming with delectable food stalls and free live music, spreading across multiple outdoor venues in WKCD, including the Artist Square, Harbourside Deck near M+, and High Lawn. It creates an atmosphere for visitors to bask in captivating performances, all while enjoying a refreshing drink against the stunning backdrop of Victoria Harbour. 

The most distinctive feature of “WestK Nightscapes” is the different music genres, ranging from jazz, R&B, rock, to pop songs, presented across various venues in WKCD, catering to diverse tastes of our visitors. In light of the overwhelming response, an ungraded rendition of “WestK Nightscapes” will take place from 1 to 3 December at Harbourside Lawn East. Alongside live music performances, WKCD has curated a more diverse and unique selection of culinary delights. Further details will be unveiled next week.

Concurrently, the towering Christmas tree, known to be the tallest in Hong Kong, has made a grand comeback at Harbourside Lawn West, with its official opening slated for tomorrow (24 November), and will stand until 1 January next year. In addition to the Christmas tree and the Christmas town, for the first time above the waters off harbourside near WKCD, the Hong Kong Tourism Board will also orchestrate the Winter Harbourfront Pyrotechnics show at 8pm every Saturday and Sunday from 9 December to 26 December, and during the Christmas holiday. WKCDA will also host a “Christmas Market” from 21 to 30 December at the Great Lawn in the Art Park. This 10-day open-air market will host nearly 25 unique stalls, offering innovative food and beverage selections, special merchandise, and live music performances.

As visitors take in the sights of the towering Christmas tree and the Harbourfront Pyrotechnics up close in WKCD, they will be able to savour international delicacies and wines, explore local brands, and immerse themselves in the festive ambiance in our “Christmas Market” as well.

M+ offered free admission to the public on 12 November and presented free programmes to celebrate its second anniversary. The day recorded over 22,000 visitors, making it the second-highest single-day visitor count since the opening of M+ (the highest being over 23,000 on 1 July 2023).

Following its earlier achievement of the highest honour “Now TV Gold Award” from the Outstanding Marketing Plan Awards 2023 hosted by the Hong Kong Management Association, M+’s special exhibition “Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now” recently won the Gold Award in the Culture & the Arts category and the Silver Award in the Experiential Marketing category at Effie Awards Hong Kong.

At the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM), the special exhibition “Gazing at Sanxingdui: New Archaeological Discoveries in Sichuan” has been on display since 27 September this year, and has elicited a warm response. As of 19 November, it has attracted over 107,000 visitors. The exhibition will be on view till 8 January next year.

The other special exhibition “Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery, London”, co-organised by HKPM and the National Gallery, UK, opened to the public yesterday (22 November) and will run until 11 April next year. As the first in Hong Kong to present the National Gallery’s prestigious painting collection, this exhibition showcases 52 of the world’s finest masterpieces painted by 50 influential artists, spanning over 400 years of Western art history. Key pieces include Three Miracles of Saint Zenobius by Sandro Botticelli, Long Grass with Butterflies by Vincent van Gogh; and Irises by Claude Monet. Visitors can visit two special exhibitions and other thematic exhibitions on the same day for a ticket price of HK$240. Concession tickets are available at HK$120.

HKPM launched its “Virtual Museum” website on 31 October. It features high-resolution 360-degree panoramic images, detailing the museum’s various galleries and public areas. This enables visitors to virtually tour most exhibitions at the museum with an experience akin to an in-person visit. The “Virtual Museum” also breaks geographical and temporal boundaries, allowing both locals and people around the world to view the exhibitions and collections of HKPM anytime, anywhere. This is an important measure taken by the museum to fulfill its mission of public education and promoting cultural and artistic exchange between the East and the West.

Lastly, HKPM has just received HKIA Medal of the Year in HKIA Annual Awards 2022/23 from the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. This is a prestigious architectural award in the region, recognising excellent architectural design.

On Performing Arts, The Impossible Trial, the first original Cantonese musical commissioned by WKCDA, co-presented and co-produced by WKCD and the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, will rerun at the Grand Theatre of the Xiqu Centre for 20 performances starting next Thursday (30 November). The response from the public has been incredibly enthusiastic, and now only a smattering of tickets remains.

Tickets for The Impossible Trial sold out fast last year. This year, the musical swept 10 awards at the 31st Hong Kong Drama Awards, including Best Production, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress, making it the most awarded production in history.

In December, WKCD and the Hong Kong Dance Company will co-present the award-winning dance production Convergence. The programme made its online premiere in 2020 due to the pandemic, and later received the Hong Kong Dance Annual Award for “Outstanding Online Production” in 2022. After the culmination of the three-year interdisciplinary study, the choreography blends movement and gesture from Chinese dance and martial arts will make its live premiere at Freespace’s The Box from 8 to 10 December.

Remarks

About the West Kowloon Cultural District
The West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest and most ambitious cultural projects globally. Its vision is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong on forty hectares of reclaimed land located alongside Victoria Harbour. With a varied mix of theatres, performance spaces, and museums, the West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances and cultural events, providing twenty-three hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.