An Emerging Style - Hong Kong Art (2005)
Who said Hong Kong was a desert of art?
Art is where you want it to be, where it is, where inspirations are. Who then challenges the artistic sense of Hong Kong?

The coming of the new century has already been an exciting time for artists within Hong Kong. The political atmosphere has been the title of much work surfacing from the Asian arena, but it doesn't stop there. The territory is at a period in which ambitious artists are striving to create their own little style for the name Hong Kong, one that will be recognizable to all those who see it. Such a style comes derived from the traditional principal upon which Hong Kong itself was born, that being the idea of a rendezvous, the point where East meets West.

Artists from the city have nothing to lose. After all, what is right and what is wrong in art? There only exists a matter of like and dislike. Hong Kong is already known worldwide as a place of business, its people seemingly tired-less and hard working. Yet, business and art are not and shall not be thought of as exclusive. Can the two not exist side by side, just as the mandarins of China with the traders of the West in the 19th century?

No matter professional or just taking it as a hobby, artists who live in Hong Kong are at an advantage. Where else in the world are you to find a city with so many opportunities? The freedom to voice out your desires? Atop of this, no where else exists the possible inspirations one can no doubt find within the city. Aided by its convenient geographical size, contrasts, possibly one of the most important aspects to art, exists side by side. From the quiet Sai Kung to the vibrant Causeway Bay, from the aging Sheung Wan to the growing new town of Tsang Kwan O, from the upscale Mid-Levels to the down to earth Mongok, all offer a different setting, a different stage to artists there.

Hong Kong has the potential, perhaps not to be a new Paris, but a modern art setting similar to New York. With the development in the West Kowloon district, a large site at the harbor front dedicated entirely to culture and the arts, the moment is set for an explosive wealth of talent from the small island and its peninsula.

Hong Kong is growing in the field of the arts and design. It has all the arsenal it ever needs to prepare a new generation of artists and designers for the world stage. The world, take note. A new trait grows from a place that's hardly distinguishable except for the two words that mark its existence. Hong Kong.