51st Board Meeting of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Held Today

The Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) held its 51st meeting today.

WKCDA’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Duncan Pescod reported to the Board that the design and construction activities have continued to move forward at a steady pace. The contract for Park Construction is expected to be awarded by end June following the closing of tendering on 12 April. To facilitate the construction of the Park this summer, the majority of the existing waterfront promenade will be closed in phases from mid-2016 to synchronise with the development programme. Mr Pescod indicated that during the Park construction period, the Nursery Park together with the northern part of the waterfront promenade will remain open.  An extension to the existing pet zone will also be available for public enjoyment soon.

On performing arts front, Members were briefed that around 8,700 people, 380 dogs and some other pets attended the pet-themed Freespace Happening finale on 27 March, making a record of over 53,000 visitors to the 8-month programme since August 2015, which included 4 events in support of the Government’s “Appreciate Hong Kong” campaign. A new season of Freespace Happening will begin in September this year. Members also noted that since the launch of the Street Performance Guideline in August last year, a total of 321 Street Performance Permits have been issued to applicants as of 16 April 2016. The WKCDA will continue to monitor and review the impact of park construction on the street performance locations during the coming years.

Following the success of the first Producers’ Network Meeting and Forum which took place last year, the second edition of Producers’ Network Meeting and Forum will be held in early May 2016 where participants will share their concepts for future creative projects and look for partners and collaborators.  The Forum is a timely event when a large number of performing arts facilities are expected to open in the region in the next few years.

On visual arts front, the M+ Sigg Collection Exhibition which took place from 23 February to 5 April has concluded with outstanding success, attracting over 40,000 visitors with positive coverage in local and international media, alongside the well-received mobile exhibition app that was developed to accompany the exhibition. Mr Pescod particularly shared with the Board an effort by M+ to introduce various universal access provisions including tactile maps with braille and coded symbols as well as some tactile representation of artworks accompanied by live audio descriptions for the visually impaired to explore the M+ Sigg Collection exhibition.

Members were also updated on the progress of the new outreach programme M+ Rover. Transformed from a 7.5 metre-long trailer, the mobile space for exhibitions and workshops has started its tour to schools and communities in Hong Kong since March 2016. As of 25 April it has already visited 14 schools and 4 community locations.

In addition, Mr Pescod reported to the Board that M Plus Museum Limited has been incorporated with effect from 14 April 2016.  The Board was also updated on M+ Collection acquisitions.