SCST extends congratulations to twelve Hong Kong arts projects supported by China National Arts Fund

     The Council of the China National Arts Fund announced today (March 1) the list of arts projects to be funded by the China National Arts Fund 2024. Twelve Hong Kong arts projects are selected this year, which marks a new record.

     The Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung said, "I would like to express heartfelt thanks to our country for the support and recognition to Hong Kong's arts and culture sector. I would also like to congratulate the twelve Hong Kong arts projects on being selected and awarded by the China National Arts Fund. A wide variety of projects have been selected this year, including traditional Cantonese Opera as well as ballet production, which manifests Hong Kong's unique characteristic as a melting pot of East and West cultures. We are delighted to see that projects submitted by the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts have been selected for two consecutive years" 

     The selected projects this year cover areas such as small-scale productions, visual arts creations, cultural exchange, training of arts talents, and youth in arts creation. This is the third time that Hong Kong projects are selected since the opening up of the China National Arts Fund for projects from Hong Kong and Macao in 2022.

     Mr Yeung said, "The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government will continue to capitalise on and consolidate Hong Kong's role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, help extend the reach of Chinese culture and tell the good story of China."

     The China National Arts Fund also announced the application guide of the China National Arts Fund 2025 today. The application period will be from April 15 to June 15, 2024.

     The HKSAR Government announced in the Policy Address 2022 to take forward policy measures to support the awardees of the China National Arts Fund in Hong Kong by providing them funding to conduct cultural exchange activities, with a view to bringing these recognised quality arts projects from Hong Kong to the international community, and enhancing overseas audience's understanding of Chinese culture. Many of the funded programmes were successfully held in the Mainland, Macao, North America and Central and Eastern Europe in 2023. Other cultural exchange projects will be presented progressively in the Mainland and overseas in 2024. The Hong Kong arts projects selected his year will also benefit from the measure.

     In addition, the HKSAR Government will organise the Chinese Culture Festival on a regular basis from this year onwards. It will include outstanding local works recognised by the China National Arts Fund, providing the public with more opportunities to enjoy programmes on Chinese culture, and enabling them to understand the essence of Chinese culture in a more holistic and multifaceted manner, thereby promoting the inheritance and development of Chinese culture. In October this year, we will organise the first Hong Kong Performing Arts Expo and the 4th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival in Hong Kong to consolidate our role as an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange. The second Hong Kong Pop Culture Festival will be launched in April. The on-going Art March 2024 covers events like arts exhibition, pop and film events and cultural summit. These showcase the diverse arts and cultural offerings in Hong Kong.