67th Board Meeting of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Held Today

The Board of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority (WKCDA) held its 67th meeting today.
 

WKCDA’s Chief Executive Officer Duncan Pescod reported that the Xiqu Centre project is undergoing statutory building inspections and targeting to obtain the Occupation Permit in early 2018, which will allow the process of fitting-out with a view to practical completion in mid-2018. The M+ building is steadily rising out from the ground, with the main tower above the museum podium deck reaching the seventh floor on the west core. Now the conservation and storage facility and the WKCDA headquarters building can be seen taking shape.
 

The Art Park project has seen the first batch of trees from the Nursery Park transplanted into their permanent location in Phase 1. Freespace is now firmly on track for completion in the third quarter of 2018.
 

Since mid-2017, the Lyric Theatre Complex and relevant part of the Integrated Basement project have been ready to move on to the next construction stage. Due to further delay in the funding approval by the Legislative Council, both the award of the construction contract and the completion date of this major complex are being affected.
 

On the artistic side, The Weight of Lightness: Ink Art at M+ exhibition running till 14 January 2018 has received extremely positive reviews in local and overseas media. The exhibition attracted a cumulative attendance of around 8,000.
 

Accompanying the exhibition, a commissioned dance performance, TranforMotion, by Hong Kong choreographer Allen Lam took place at M+ Pavilion on 28 and 29 October as well as 9 and 10 December 2017.  The site-specific performance explored the relationship between body, space and ink art. On 23, 25 and 26 November 2017, students at the School of Dance of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts performed short movement studies and compositions in response to the works in the exhibition. The performance series marked the first collaboration of M+ and the Performing Arts Department at WKCDA, paving new direction for further cooperation between the visual and performing arts within West Kowloon Cultural District.
 

Members also noted that the next Freespace Happening will be held on 14 January 2018 with new sounds and surprising collaborations.
 

Apart from the artistic front, Mr Pescod was pleased to announce WKCDA has joined the Silk Road International League of Theatres (SRILT) initiated by the China Arts and Entertainment Group as its first Hong Kong Member. The signing ceremony was held during the opening plenary of the China International Performing Arts Fair and SRILT Annual Conference. Riding on the SRILT, WKCDA will further expand its global performing arts network and add to the growing number of local and international collaborations, performances and events.
 

Remarks

About West Kowloon Cultural District
Located on Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, West Kowloon Cultural District is one of the largest cultural projects in the world. The vision of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority is to create a vibrant new cultural quarter for Hong Kong. With a complex of theatres, performance spaces and M+, West Kowloon Cultural District will produce and host world-class exhibitions, performances and cultural events, as well as provide 23 hectares of public open space, including a two-kilometre waterfront promenade.