”Creative October,” featuring more than 200 programs, will showcase Hong Kong as the cultural and creative hub of Asia.

Hong Kong has set up a “Steering Committee on Culture and Creativity” to coordinate and to promote matters relating to culture and creative industries among relevant government bureaus, departments and agencies.

The steering committee, co-chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs (PSHA) and the Permanent Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) (PSCT), is comprised of representatives from the Education Bureau, the Home Affairs Department, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Create Hong Kong.  Members from other departments and agencies will be co-opted when necessary.

Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Carrie Yau said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to the development and promotion of Hong Kong’s culture and creative industries.  “Relevant bureaus, departments and agencies have been working closely toward this end.  The steering committee will serve as a platform for pursuing our policy objectives in a holistic and sustainable manner.

“We are determined to make our quality programs more visible and accessible locally, regionally and internationally,” Mrs. Yau said.  “To strengthen our cultural software, we nurture greater awareness and appreciation of culture and the arts among different age groups, in particular the young people who are our future talents and the next generation of audiences.  We have been working with our partners in the arts sector to specially launch ‘Creative October’ this autumn, which offers more than 200 programs, including concerts, theater, dance, exhibitions, films and thematic festivals, to showcase Hong Kong’s profile as the cultural and creative hub of Asia,” she said.

Dr. Catherine Chan, Deputy Secretary for Education, said, “Promoting culture, creativity and arts education, as part of whole-person development, is another major strategy of the government to enhance the cultural software.”

To tie in with the new senior secondary curriculum introduced in 2009 and basic education curriculum reform introduced since 2002, the government is taking forward various initiatives in partnership with the local arts community and other community organizations to advocate the learning of the arts and culture in youngsters through appreciating, creating and performing the arts, as well as encouraging creative thinking across various primary and secondary curricula.

Acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development (Communications and Technology) Alan Siu, said the dedicated office, Create Hong Kong, set up in June, has already become the one-stop shop for the creative industries. “It has been in close contact with various sectors under the creative industries umbrella to explore different initiatives which specially cater to their needs,” he said.

Mr. Siu said the US$38.46 million CreateSmart Initiative (CSI) would give funding support to various initiatives from the creative industry sectors to help promote their interests.  

Mr. Siu said a design competition for an official logo to reflect the mission of CreateHK would be launched soon to encourage the use of local design and to set a good example for the private sector to follow.

“We are supporting the production of a teaching kit to incorporate elements of film and animation in the new secondary school curriculum of visual arts to cultivate students’ appreciation of and interest in creativity.  We are also planning to incorporate other creative industries elements such as design and architecture in the secondary school curriculum,” he said.  

Mrs. Yau also noted that Hong Kong will host the Asia Cultural Co-operation Forum (ACCF) 2009 when senior cultural policymakers from mainland China and Asian economies, international and local arts and cultural bodies, scholars and creative entrepreneurs will gather to exchange views for fostering closer cooperation in promoting arts and culture and creative industries.  The event will be October 8-10.

The theme of this year’s ACCF is “The Cultural Asian.”  The first day of the forum will be dedicated to the Ministers’ meeting, followed by two days of open sessions under the themes of “International Exchange and Promotion — A Performing Arts Perspective,” “Blending In with Arts” and “The Animated Asia: Future Development of the International Position of Asian Animation.”  The general public and the cultural sector are welcome to participate in the event.

For more details of Creative October and ACCF 2009, please visit [www.CreativeOctoberHK.com] and [www.accfhk.org].  For more details about the work of CreateHK, please visit [www.createhk.gov.hk].