â€‹The Hong Kong House at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale in Tsunan, Japan, reopened today (August 10), staging an exhibition entitled "Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread". As an event featuring the summer and autumn festivals of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Field, the exhibition showcases artworks by Hong Kong artist Annie Wan.

     An opening party was held today. The officiating guests included the Assistant Director of Leisure and Cultural Services (Heritage and Museums), Mr Chan Shing-wai; the Mayor of Tsunan Town, Mrs Haruka Kuwabara; the General Director of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Mr Fram Kitagawa; representative of the Kamigo District Promotion Council, Mr Kyoichi Kawata; Annie Wan; the Deputy Director (Administration) of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Professor Philip Wong; and the Director of the Academy of Visual Arts of the Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Louis Nixon.

     Annie Wan stayed at the Hong Kong House to seek inspiration for her artistic creations by interviewing local people about their food culture and taking in the bountiful products from the land of Niigata in March and April. She realised that cooking and ceramic making are both processes of transformation. She then created more than 100 ceramic artworks for the exhibition to explore the relationship between cooking and ceramic making, and to express her humble attitude towards the details of everyday life.

     During the summer festival, the Hong Kong Open Printshop will hold cyanotype workshops near the Hong Kong House with the aid of sunlight and water from nature, allowing participants to experience the interrelationship among people, nature and art. For details of the workshops, please visit the Facebook page of the project at www.facebook.com/apo.hkhouse.

     The exhibition will run from today to August 18 for the summer festival, and from October 12 to November 4 for the autumn festival.

     The Hong Kong House was designed by a Hong Kong architect team consisting of Yip Chun-hang, Otto Ng, Adam Kor, Lau Chun-tat, Lee Lit-kwan, Lau Yip-fay and Yau Chiu-ting, while three artist groups comprising Leung Chi Wo + Sara Wong, Annie Wan, and L sub (Pak Sheung-chuen, Wendy Wo and Yim Sui-fong) have been commissioned to stay and showcase their artworks at the Hong Kong House in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

     The Hong Kong House is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and organised by the Art Promotion Office, with the collaboration of the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale Executive Committee and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The activity collaborators are soundpocket, Fleurs des Lettres, Art Appraisal Club, Hong Kong Open Printshop and the Academy of Visual Arts of the Hong Kong Baptist University. The project is also supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, Tokyo. For details, please visit the project's website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/Museum/APO/en_US/web/apo/hong_kong_house_echigo_tsumari_art_triennale_2018.html, or call 2512 3018, 2512 3019 or 2512 3020.

     The Hong Kong House is located at 29 – 4 Miyanohara, Kamigo, Tsunan-machi, Nakauonuma-gun, Niigata Prefecture, Japan.

    

     Police are investigating a fatal traffic accident in Ma On Shan yesterday (August 9) afternoon in which a 25-year-old man died.

     At about 2.40pm, a public bus driven by a 31-year-old man was travelling along Hang Fai Street towards Ma On Shan Road. When approaching a bus stop near Yan On Estate, it reportedly knocked down the 25-year-old man who was crossing the road.

     Sustaining head injuries, the 25-year-old man was rushed to Prince of Wales Hospital in unconscious state and was certified dead at 9.50pm.

     The bus driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing death. He has been released on bail pending further enquiries and is required to report back to Police in early September.

     Investigation will be followed up by the Special Investigation Team of Traffic, New Territories South.

     Anyone who witnessed the accident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers at 3661 1300.
     
 

     Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Patrick Nip, at a media session after attending a radio programme this morning (August 10):

Reporter: The government has said more than once that the independent inquiry is not an option now. People just don't seem to trust the IPCC. So would the government consider a reform within the IPCC? If not, how do you convince the protesters that the IPCC is accountable and they can trust it?

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs: Thank you for your questions. The IPCC is set up according to the law. So it has the statutory power to exercise its functions and roles. Actually, the IPCC is dealing not just with the reportable individual complaints against the Police, but has also decided to launch a detailed study on all those events which happened from June to early July. And they are also considering extending the coverage to the events that happened after July 2, including what happened on July 21 in Yuen Long. So the IPCC will act in accordance with the law to do a detailed study, and will try to find out what actually happened, the facts, and will then provide a report. The report will be made public. The work has actually started. I think the best way to do is let the IPCC do these studies, and when the results and outcomes are available, I think it is time we see whether it has actually addressed the concerns.

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

     Led by internationally acclaimed pianist and conductor Sir András Schiff, the celebrated Cappella Andrea Barca will visit Hong Kong for two concerts in November. The concerts are part of the celebration events to mark the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre (HKCC).
 
     The first concert will be held at 8pm on November 15 (Friday) at the Concert Hall of the HKCC. The programme will include Johann Sebastian Bach's "Ricercar a 6" (from "The Musical Offering", BWV 1079) and Mozart's "Symphony No. 41 in C, 'Jupiter'". Sir András will also perform in Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, 'Emperor'".
 
     The second concert, which will be staged at 5pm on November 16 (Saturday) at the same auditorium, will embrace Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat" followed by Mozart's "Symphony No. 39 in E-flat" and back to Beethoven's "Piano Concerto No. 4 in G".
 
     Sir András was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1953 and started piano lessons at the age of five. Since childhood he has enjoyed playing chamber music. Recitals and special cycles form an important part of his activities. Since 2004, he has performed complete cycles of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in 20 cities. Sir András has worked with most of the major international orchestras and conductors, and nowadays he performs mainly as a conductor and soloist.
 
     Sir András has been awarded numerous international prizes. In 2006, he became an Honorary Member of the Beethoven House in Bonn, Germany, in recognition of his interpretations of Beethoven's works. He was also awarded the Klavier-Festival Ruhr Prize in 2009 for his outstanding pianistic achievements and to honour his lifetime work as a pianist. He has been awarded Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.
 
     The musicians of the Cappella Andrea Barca, who are primarily active as globally successful soloists and chamber musicians, were selected personally by Sir András for the performance of the complete Mozart piano concertos at the Mozartwoche in Salzburg from 1999 to 2005. Since then, the chamber orchestra gradually widened its scope and toured numerous cities in Europe and the United States. Sir András' ambition is to present the chamber orchestra in a way that allows them to prove themselves in both soloist and chamber music formations, which most established orchestras would struggle to achieve.
 
     The concerts by Sir András Schiff and Cappella Andrea Barca are presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. Tickets priced at $250, $350, $450, $550 and $700 are now available at URBTIX (www.urbtix.hk). For telephone credit card bookings, please call 2111 5999. For programme enquiries and concessionary schemes, please call 2268 7321 or visit www.lcsd.gov.hk/CE/CulturalService/Programme/en/music/programs_805.html.
 
     Two pre-concert talks (to be conducted in Cantonese) will be held at 6.45pm on November 15 and 3.45pm on November 16 at the Foyer Reception Area, 4/F, Auditoria Building, Hong Kong Cultural Centre. The first talk entitled "Schiff: The (Very) Vocal " will be conducted by Ernest Wan, while the second talk entitled "Mozart and Beethoven – Influence and Inspiration" will be conducted by Calvin Lai. Admission is free with limited seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.

     Fifth generation (5G) mobile networks are the catalyst for smart city development and Hong Kong is all geared up for the commercial launch of 5G services and applications in 2020.
 
     News.gov.hk spoke to the Office of the Communications Authority and the Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute for an insight into the preparatory work involved, including technical trials of an autonomous vehicle being carried out at the Science Park.
 
     The story appears on news.gov.hk today (August 10) in text and video format.