C&W DFMC Paper No. 72/2012 Annex I

Full Utilisation of LCSD Venues in the Central and Western District

Response from Performing Arts Division, Cultural Services Branch, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

There has always been a keen demand for the performing arts venues under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) from the performing arts field as well as different sectors of the community. A variety of high-quality arts and cultural programmes have been organized by the Department at these venues to promote the development of arts and culture. To further promote the development of performing arts in the community, the LCSD has also in recent years actively explored the use of other alternative venues in the district, such as piazzas, parks, sitting-out areas, community halls, basketball courts and soccer pitches, and organized suitable performing arts activities in these venues for further promotion of culture and performing arts to the general public.

Question:

1. Which venues under the LCSD in the Central and Western District are available for use by groups?

Hong Kong City Hall and the Sheung Wan Civic Centre are the two performing arts venues under the LCSD in the Central and Western District. Brief introduction of these two venues is as follows:

(i) City Hall Opened in March 1962, the Hong Kong City Hall is our first multi-purpose cultural complex and also one of the major civic centres in Hong Kong. Over the years, the City Hall has been an ideal performing arts venue for both local and visiting arts groups and one of the main venues for major arts festivals. The facilities of the City Hall include a 1 434-seat Concert Hall, a 463-seat Theatre, a Recital Hall with a seating capacity of 111, an Exhibition Hall with an area of 590 square metres, an Exhibition Gallery with an area of 260 square metres and two Committee Rooms.

(ii) Sheung Wan Civic Centre

Opened in December 1988, the Sheung Wan Civic Centre is a district performing arts venue in Hong Kong West. Its facilities, which include a 480-seat Theatre, a 150-seat Lecture Hall, an Exhibition Hall with an area of about 360 square metres and 6 minor venues, are suitable for organizing various cultural and entertainment activities.

2. What are the Conditions of Use?

All performing arts venues managed by the LCSD are open for hire by the public. Applications for hiring the facilities of the Hong Kong City Hall and the Sheung Wan Civic Centre can be made either by individuals or groups/organizations.

To encourage private organizations to promote arts and cultural activities actively, the LCSD has implemented the Rental Subsidy Scheme whereby reduction of hire charges is granted to non-profit-making organizations. Under the Scheme, eligible non-profit- making organizations can enjoy concessionary rental at 65% and 50% of the normal rates for hiring major and minor venues respectively for organizing arts and cultural activities at the Hong Kong City Hall and the Sheung Wan Civic Centre.

In addition, non-profit-making district arts organizations of Central and Western District which have hired the facilities of the Sheung Wan Civic Centre for organizing arts and cultural activity in direct promotion of arts and culture in the district are eligible to apply for venue sponsorship to waive the hire charges and ticketing services charges.

3. Activities organised at LCSD venues in the Central and Western District in the Past

The LCSD has all along adopted diversified performing arts policies. Apart from regularly organizing arts and cultural programmes/activities in its performing arts venues (including the Hong Kong City Hall and the Sheung Wan Civic Centre) to enrich the cultural life of local residents, the LCSD also strives to promote arts and culture at the district level to promote arts and culture to all strata of the community.

To support the District Councils’ enhanced role in the implementation of the community involvement programmes at the district level, the LCSD has since 2008 allocated the financial provision for organizing regular district free entertainment programmes in each financial year to the District Councils to suit their own needs. To assist District Councils in the organization of district free entertainment programmes, the LCSD will formulate the direction of programmes according to the requirements of each District Council and arrange these programmes at suitable leisure facilities and community halls of the District Offices, with a view to promoting culture and performing arts to the general public and enriching the cultural life of the residents through the provision of various cultural and entertainment activities at different venues in the district. In 2012/13, the Department have identified as many as ten performance venues in the Central and Western District, mostly outdoor or indoor non-performance venues under the LCSD, which are suitable for the organization of district free entertainment programmes. Details of the venues and the types of activities are listed in Appendix (I).

To further promote the development of arts and culture in the district, the LCSD also brings performing arts to different non-performance venues in the district, including parks, shopping centres, community halls and schools, through different channels such as audience building activities of various arts promotion schemes like “Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme”, the “School Culture Day Scheme”, the “Arts Experience Scheme for Senior Secondary Students” and the “School Arts Animateur Scheme”, so as to enhance the public’s and students’ knowledge and appreciation of arts and to create an artistic and cultural ambience in the district. The “Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme”, in particular, has fully utilised the non-performance venues under the LCSD. In 2012/13, the activities under the Scheme were held in the following venues in the Central and Western District: Peak Road Garden, the Rest Garden at the junction of Bonham Strand and Wing Lok Street, Hollywood Road Park, Belcher Bay Park Amphitheatre, Olympic Square, the Dance Room at Shek Tong Tsui Sports Centre, the Dance Room at Sheung Wan Sports Centre, the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre, the Extension Activities Room at the Hong Kong City Hall Public Library, the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall, Central Pier No. 7 at Pier and the Sheung Wan Promenade. Details of the programmes are set out in Appendix (II).

The LCSD will continue its endeavor to organize different kinds of performing arts programmes at suitable indoor and outdoor venues in the Central and Western District to promote the community involvement in arts activities, so as to enrich the lives of the residents and to give an impetus to the development of arts and culture in the community.

(Received on 10 October 2012)

C&W DC Secretariat October 2012

Appendix I 2012/13 Venues and Types of Activities of District Free Entertainment Programmes in Central & Western District

Venues Types of Programmes

1. Belcher Bay Park Chinese Traditional Puppet Show

Chinese Instrumental Concert

Oriental Dance

2. Hollywood Road Park Operatic Songs

Western Folk Dance

Chinese Folk Songs and Dance

3. Li Sing Street Park Basketball Court Chinese Folk Songs and Dance

Magic Show

Cantonese Operatic Songs

4. King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong Chinese Traditional Stage Arts Show

Magic Show

5. Hong Kong Park Olympic Square Children’s Variety Show

Symphonic Band Concert

Children’s Theatre

6. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Variety Show

7. Saxophone Concert

Choral Concert 8. Community Hall, Sai Ying Pun Community Cantonese Opera Complex Chinese Traditional Puppet Show

Cantonese Operatic Songs

9. Blake Garden Hard-surface Soccer Pitch Yue Opera

Folk Concert

10. Sheung Wan Promenade Modern / Jazz Dance

Folk Concert

Appendix II

2012/13 Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme Programmes held in C&W District (April to October 2012)

Date/Time Programme Venue 1. 22 April 2012 Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra: Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park 3pm “Swing Messengers” Touring Concert 2. 28 April 2012 Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble: Belcher Bay Park Amphitheatre 4pm “Touring Hong Kong: China Odyssey” Touring Concert 3. 29 April 2012 Drama Gallery: Peak Road Garden 4pm “The Myths of Hong Kong II” Touring Performace

4. 29 April 2012 Class 7A Drama Group: Belcher Bay Park Amphitheatre 2:30pm “In and Out - Hong Kong Entertainment Era” Touring Performance

5. 5 May 2012 Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education: Extension Activities Room, 2pm “Little Meteor Outreach Troupe - Children Hong Kong City Hall Public Library Theatre” Touring Performance

6. 6 May 2012 Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra: Central Pier No. 7 3pm “Swing Messengers” Touring Concert

7. 13 May 2012 Drama Gallery: Hong Kong Park Olympic Square 1pm “The Myths of Hong Kong II” Touring Performace

8. 20 May 2012 Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra: Peak Road Garden 3pm “Swing Messengers” Touring Concert

9. 26 May 2012 Ming Ri Institute for Arts Education: Hong Kong Park Olympic Square 3pm “Little Meteor Outreach Troupe - Children Theatre” Touring Performance

10. 10 June 2012 Ng Cheuk Yin: Peak Road Garden 11:30am “Round the World of Music in 70 Minutes” Touring Concert

11. 23 June 2012 Prospects Theatre: Rest Garden at the Junction of 12pm “Theatre in Celebration of the Joy of eating Bonham Strand and Wing Lok Street and Cooking II” Touring Performance

- 2 - Date/Time Programme Venue 12. 23 June 2012 Prospects Theatre: Rest Garden at the Junction of 12pm “Theatre in Celebration of the Joy of eating Bonham Strand and Wing Lok Street and Cooking II” Workshop 13. 14 July 2012 Kim Sum Cantonese Opera Association: Sai Ying Pun Community Complex 2pm “Fun and Joy of Cantonese Opera” Community Hall Cantonese Opera Excerpts Performance

14. 3 August 2012 Hong Kong Youth of Chinese Opera College: Sai Ying Pun Community Complex 7:30pm “The Glamorous Cheng School of Peking Community Hall Opera II” Demonstrate Performance 15. 3 August 2012 Hong Kong Youth of Chinese Opera College: Sai Ying Pun Community Complex 7:30pm “The Glamorous Cheng School of Peking Opera II” Exhibition of “Master of Jingju - Cheng Yan qiu, Shang Siu-yun” 16. 19 August to Theatre Space: Dance Room, 9 September 2012 “Harmony in Tin Shui Wai” Shek Tong Tsui Sports Centre 2pm Theatre Game Workshop 17. 22 August to DanceArt Hong kong: Dance Room, 29 August 2012 “Keep Trying, Keep Asking, Keep the Ball Sheung Wan Sports Centre 8pm Rolling” Dance Thematic Workshop 18. 8 September 2012 Alice Theatre Laboratory: Hong Kong Park Olympic Square 5:15pm “Environmental Theatre - One Thousand and One Nights (Hong kong Version) ” Touring Performance 19. 8 to 29 September Asian People’s Theatre Festival Society: Squash Court, Sun Yat Sen Memorial 2012 “Storytelling Under the Banyan Tree” Park Sport Centre 6pm Storytelling Workshop

20. 1 October 2012 Theatre Ronin: Sheung Wan Promenade 12pm “Hong Kong Custom Theatre III: Nanyang Fantasia” Music Theatre Performace 21. 6 October 2012 Asian People’s Theatre Festival Society: Hollywood Road Park 3pm “Stroytelling Under the Banyan Tree” Community Performance