For the first time, Hong Kong staged an international cultural summit at the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), which has gained prominence as a “powerful catalyst for driving social and economic transformation”.
In its 40-hectare grounds, the WKCD is able to foster East-meets-West global cultural exchanges and cross-cultural dialogues through its extensive and stunning array of arts and cultural programs that are offered from time to time. Over 1,000 heavyweights in the arts and creative industries from around the world took part in this global event, the first-ever Hong Kong International Cultural Summit 2024, which provided opportunities for delegates from around the world to exchange ideas and experiences on a range of issues pertaining to the future development of cultural districts and museums, as well as to learn from one another what they are doing in their home cities and regions.
As a representative case in point, Shaika Nasser Al-Nassr, director of the Museum of Islamic Art of the Gulf state of Qatar has said that the Qatar government is building a cultural district, and that she is very keen to learn from Hong Kong’s arts and cultural hub. For Al-Nassr, Hong Kong’s vibrant arts and cultural institutions will allow mutually beneficial cooperation with Qatar, as the latter is committed to fostering worldwide partnerships to nurture and attract artists and audiences on an international scale.
This should have been on the minds of most of the participants in the cultural summit. To the global community, Hong Kong’s nodal geographic position, proximity to the Chinese mainland, and cultural landscape have empowered it to become an international city where East meets West.
To enhance the dream of enabling local and global arts scenes’ and cultural industries’ outstanding stakeholders to interact, develop and collaborate in the city, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government established the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority in January 2008 with an upfront budget of HK$21.6 billion ($2.76 billion) for developing and running the WKCD. Arts and culture have since acquired growing momentum in the city, and Hong Kong’s role as the East-meets-West hub for worldwide cultural exchanges has become firmly established under the national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). The plan clearly states that the national development strategy is to “strengthen cultural exchange with foreign countries” and to “actively develop foreign cultural trade, open up overseas cultural markets”, and to “support Hong Kong to develop into an East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange”.
Evaluated in perspective in this connection, Hong Kong has, as a melting pot of Chinese and Western cultures and with mastery of an extensive global network, managed to bring together local and foreign talent to create cultural connectivity between East and West. In addition, Hong Kong is adept at introducing modern art to the city and Chinese culture to the world, thereby enabling it to be identified on the world map as a center to showcase Chinese arts and culture and display to the world the soft power of Chinese culture. In the face of multifaceted progress in the arts and culture on the global platform, Hong Kong’s role is not the same as that of the Chinese mainland. The central authorities primarily expect the HKSAR to add value.
By assembling distinguished personalities from international arts and cultural bodies to promote cultural exchanges and cultivate long-term partnerships, the first-ever Hong Kong International Cultural Summit 2024 certainly demonstrated the city’s commitment to serving as a leading East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange
By assembling distinguished personalities from international arts and cultural bodies to promote cultural exchanges and cultivate long-term partnerships, the first-ever Hong Kong International Cultural Summit 2024 certainly demonstrated the city’s commitment to serving as a leading East-meets-West center for international cultural exchange. The summit has drawn participation from many large museums, along with more than 20 top cultural and arts institutions from around the world.
Respected figures from their respective fields discussed numerous topics during the summit, including the contribution of cultural districts to both urban social and economic transformation, the opportunities and challenges of digitalization, and the importance of innovation to museum interpretation. These are crucial topics with significant bearing on the future roles and development of the arts and culture sectors. Memoranda of understanding or collaborative agreements have been signed with more than 20 influential arts institutions round the world to promote international cultural exchanges and enter into long-term partnerships.
The forum was a valuable opportunity for Hong Kong to demonstrate its artistic and cultural strength, such as the Palace Museum and the M+ Museum. According to a 2022 survey commissioned by The Art Newspaper, M+ was the 18th most popular museum in the world according to admission numbers. Since their respective openings, by Oct 10, 2023, M+ and the Hong Kong Palace Museum had received over 4.4 million and over 1.64 million visitors, respectively. Many summit participants used this opportunity to explore in depth the M+ Museum, the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Xiqu Centre, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and more. They also attended Art Basel — the city’s biggest global art fair — in March, which together with the other cultural facilities in the WKCD enabled the attendees to immerse themselves in the city’s multicultural atmosphere, where the best of Chinese and international cultures meets and interacts. Live streaming was arranged for the summit, allowing audiences from around the world to participate online.
There is no doubt that the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit 2024 has captured worldwide attention and participation from distinguished artists as well as renowned performers and scholars in cultural studies. All in all, the International Cultural Summit 2024 has landed Hong Kong in a leading position to create a concerted front for global movers and shakers from the arts and culture fields to articulate for a strong and harmonious platform to raise awareness of the importance for East-meets-West initiatives and the crucial need to create a lively environment that enhances life quality and reshapes city landscapes.
The author is a member of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macao Studies.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
