Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Symposium 2024 to Foster Collaboration and Innovation in Arts Sector.

Two-day Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Symposium 2024 of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival to be staged in Hong Kong

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department will host the Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Symposium 2024, one of the highlight events of the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival, on October 25 and 26 (Friday and Saturday). The Symposium, organised by the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong), brings together industry leaders from across the Bay Area and other Mainland cities to explore the latest trends in arts and cultural developments in the region. It aims to provide an interactive platform to promote close co-operation among arts and cultural practitioners, organisations and performing art venues in the Bay Area.

The Symposium will feature a diverse range of free activities for public participation, including public seminars and a roundtable conference. Details are as follows:

Public Seminars

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Date: October 25 (Friday)

Venue: Auditorium of Ko Shan Theatre New Wing

Public Seminar 1 Topic: Co- Creation: Cultural Integration and Creative Collaboration

Time: 2.45pm to 4pm

Speakers: Chen Rui, General Manager, Zhuhai Jinwan Art Center and Producer of Musical "I Am What I Am"

Naomi Chung, Head of Xiqu, Performing Arts, West Kowloon Cultural District

Moderator: Tseng Sun-man, Chairman of Advisory Group, University Arts Centre, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Artists and producers from different cities are together exploring their creativity and producing new works. This kind of collaboration has become a new trend in the creation of performing arts. Speakers will share their valuable experiences and insights and reflect on the possibilities of co-production in the future.

Public Seminar 2 Topic: Sustainability: Cultural Tourism and Audience Development

Time: 4.45pm to 6pm

Speakers: Chang Hsien Ching, Director, Shekou Theatre Festival

Benny Lim, Associate Professor of Practice in Cultural Management and Director of the Master of Arts in Cultural Management Programme at The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Moderator: Anna Chan, Dean, School of Dance, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Speakers will share how to transform cultural resources into sustainable tourism experiences, attract more audiences and stand out from the competition as well as their views on the benefits and challenges of integrating culture and tourism.

Roundtable Discussion

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Date: October 26 (Saturday)

Time: 10am to 1pm

Venue: Auditorium of Ko Shan Theatre New Wing

Moderator: Louis Yu, Veteran Arts Administrator

Part 1: Cultural Space: Cross-boundary Exploration of Memory and Creativity

Speakers: Annie Feng, Consultant of Beijing Nanyang Theatre and Suzhou Suyi Show Zone

Mok Sio Chong, President, Macao Theatre Culture Institute

Liu Hankun, Founder and CEO of Focustage

Liu Xiaoyi, Artistic Director, Emergency Stairs in Singapore

The four speakers will discuss the operational strategies of emerging cultural spaces in Mainland China in recent years, the advantages and challenges of site-specific creations and mobile performances in Macau, the production and theatre operation of cultural spaces, as well as the benefits of combining culture and space for cultural development from different perspectives.

Part 2: Strategies and Perspectives on Audience Development

Speakers: Li Siyao, Founder and Artistic Director of "Yao Theatre", drama educator

Joe Li, Producer of Frankenstein by Nick Dear, President of Beijing ATW Culture Media

Mia Shen, Founder of Mad Attic

Yang Xiaoluan, Founder of the drama self-media "Theater Ferris Wheel"

Erik Kuong, Managing & Creative Director, Creative Links Limited

Based on their own experiences, the five speakers will share strategies for expanding the audience for children's theatre, analyse the shift in Mainland audience consumption patterns before and after the pandemic and share how producers respond to the shift, as well as how specific themes can stimulate audience reflection and development. The speakers will also analyse the characteristics of Mainland audiences and the role of self-media in audience development, and discuss the characteristics of the Greater Bay Area audience and share how to introduce programmes to target audiences.

Admission to the above-mentioned public seminars and roundtable discussion is free and members of the public are welcome to join. Online registration is required (www.art-mate.net/doc/77002) with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. For programme details, please visit www.gbacxlo.gov.hk/en/programmes/greater-bay-area-culture-and-arts-symposium-2024. For enquiries about event registration arrangements, please contact the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong) at 2974 0542.

The Symposium has also invited industry practitioners to participate in workshops and city walks, with a view to enhancing exchanges among participants and showcasing the unique cultural expressions of Hong Kong. The four topics of the workshops are "Latest Development of Performing Arts Spaces", "Promotional Collaboration and Social Media", "Arts Festivals and Exploration of Cultural and Creative Development" and "Art Organisation in Rural Areas and the Revitalisation of Art Space". The instructors include Drama Producer and Production Director of Real Atypical Omnipotent Theatre, Wang Ruipu; Head of Marketing and Development of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Tracy Huang; Founder and Manager of Xixi and Vice President of Hangzhou Binjiang District Drama Association, Dong Yunyan; and Producer of Ergao Dance Production Group Pan Xiong. The city walks will explore four communities - Tsuen Wan, Sham Shui Po, Central and Sheung Wan, and To Kwa Wan - examining Hong Kong's cultural strategies for conservation, revitalisation and community innovation from different perspectives.

Hong Kong is the host city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival for the first time this year. It organises and co-ordinates over 260 performances and exchange activities to be held across the "9+2" cities of the Greater Bay Area. The festival aims to showcase the vibrant and diverse cultural richness of the region and foster cultural exchange and co-operation among the cities. For detailed information about the festival, please visit www.gbacxlo.gov.hk.

Remarks by SCST and AD of AFCD (Inspection and Quarantine) on incident of animal death at HKZBG at media session

Following is the remarks by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung; and the Assistant Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation (Inspection and Quarantine), Dr Thomas Sit, on the incident of animal death at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens (HKZBG) this afternoon (October 18):

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism: Eight monkeys were found dead in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens on October 13, while two others feeling unwell were being isolated, and one of which passed away on October 14.

With concerted efforts from relevant departments, expedited autopsies, pathologic diagnosis and tests, and after discussions among the relevant departments, it is confirmed that the monkeys’ death is due to infection of melioidosis. We are saddened by the passing of the nine monkeys.

Under normal circumstances, melioidosis infection is through contact with contaminated soil and surface waters but not person-to-person or animal-to-person.

The park had soil digging works in early October. Together with the following possibilities, the monkeys might have had contact with the bacteria.

• Staff working at the Mammals Section carried the contaminated soil with the shoes they wore to the cages, or

• Infected monkeys with high counts of bacteria in close contact with other monkeys etc.

In addition, the incubation period for melioidosis in primates is about a week, and this matched with the period after the soil digging works. The nine monkeys died of melioidosis may be related to the soil digging works in proximity.

The LCSD has already taken several precautionary measures after animals were found dead:

1) The Mammals Section of the Gardens (HKZBG) has been closed since October 14.

2) Thorough disinfection and cleaning have been carried out in the animal cages involved.

3) Appropriate protective gear have been provided to staff who work there and staff’s health condition is being closely monitored. At present, their health is normal.

4) Staff concerned are all tested negative for the bacteria.

We will continue monitoring the mammals in the gardens and remind staff to pay attention to their own condition, and to report immediately if any of them feels unwell.

Reporter: Did the monkeys show any symptoms of the disease? Why operators did not realise that prior to their death? Because this is also a disease which can also affect human, is there a need to close the whole facility to prevent visitors from being affected?

Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism: Let me tackle the second question first, whether there is a need to close down the whole garden. As I said, we have taken all the cleansing and disinfection measures on the cages. So, with all these measures, we believe that it is now clean and free of the bacteria. We have also cordoned off the whole Mammal Section for the time being, so there will be no sort of contact between normal citizens and the animals. At this stage, I think these measures are sufficient to protect both the citizens as well as the animals in the zoo.

Assistant Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation (Inspection and Quarantine): As far as I know, according to the vet in charge of the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, he said before that the animals have already lost their appetite. They were a bit of inappetence and a bit quieter than normal. The onset of all the clinical signs only took two days, and then there was a sudden death of animals. The vet has already taken all the measures to treat the monkeys. However, these affected monkeys could not make it. And he had to perform post-mortem and isolate other animals to prevent further spread of the disease.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the remarks.)