art@online.com

Sizzling summer days failed to cramp the spirits of over 760,000 book lovers who filled to overflowing the exhibition halls of the annual Hong Kong Book Fair between 18 to 24 July.

The Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) was the event co-organiser for the seventh straight year. The ADC booth, art@online.com, featured an Internet highway motif to illustrate the dynamic interaction and mapping of the arts and with other forms of media. ADC-sponsored publications and audiovisual titles were displayed for sale. The booth also doubled as the stage for performing arts practitioners to spruce up the shopping and literary experience.

A Cultural Fiesta

Members of seven arts groups took the stage at the invitation of the ADC. Joyous Group performed a cappella music in many genres. Doing away with instruments and music accompaniment, the group delivered a brilliant 45-minute mimic medley of pop songs, hymns and English classics, amazing the audience with their vocal ingenuity, and gave glimpses into the “secrets” of their craft as they worked their mojo on stage. The guitar duet featuring Wong Yik-hung and Tse Wing-cheung, Alex played memorable string tunes before proceeding to outline the long, rich history of classical guitar to a crowd of enchanted spectators.

Dance made its debut in the booth this year. Pai Yeo Theatre brought effortless contemporary elegance to the stage with a lineup of over 30 primary and secondary student dancers, fusing the moves of Jazz and the refinement of ballet. Artistic director Chan Mei-sim, Vannizza provided the commentary to explain messages embedded in the choreography. Parents and their children were treated to a collage of literature with poetry, music, dance and painting narrated by Poon Ming-chu and Poon Kam-ying. The seamless blend of literature and visual representation was also demonstrated by illustrator Shum Lap Hung who simultaneously translated poems recited by the students into a visual vernacular of colours, images and symbols.

Sky Bird Puppet Group greeted the audience with the candour of the Chinese folk art and introduced the four schools of Chinese puppetry— string puppet, hand puppet, rod puppet and shadow puppet. Nimble fingers of amateurs were put to good use, animating the marionettes with poses and gestures. Members of the c who enjoyed a stint in the limelight as leading actor or leading actress clad in elaborate Cantonese opera costumes. The troupe also gave a crash course on make-up, costumes and accessories as well as the highly codified posing and movements of the body. Cha Duk Chang Children’s Cantonese Opera Association encouraged the crowd to get hands-on with the stage language, practising with them stylised poses, hand gestures and vocal techniques. The young apprentices wowed the audience with spectacular leg split, back bridge arch, and rolling.

Mixing Reading with Write-Up

The annual Reading Write-up Competition for Students is a collaboration with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC) to foster language and literacy growth in local students. Co-organising the competition this year were the Chinese Language Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, the Hong Kong Teacher-Librarians’ Association and Education Convergence.

Participants entering Primary (Primary 4-6), Junior Secondary (Forms 1-3) or Senior Secondary (Forms 4-6) category were requested to either base their write-up on a title of their own choice or one selected from the recommended booklist. Twenty pieces were first selected from the over 1,100 submitted write-ups to enter the final round of the competition. The seven final panelists representing the academic and cultural world were Ho Pui Hung (Honorary Professor of the Chinese Department, the University of Hong Kong), JY Zhou (Associate Professor of the Department of Chinese Language and Literature, the Chinese University of Hong Kong), Tang Chi-kay (Associate Professor of the Chinese Department, the University of Hong Kong), Leung Sun-wing (Librarian, Lingnan Secondary School), Fong Foon-lit (Head of Society of Literary and Historical Studies) and renowned writers Sze Yau-peng and Choi Yick-wai. The champion, first and second runner-ups and a merit prize were chosen on the basis of content, linguistic creativity and fluency, and the winners received a cash prize of $2,000, $1,000, $500 and $300 respectively for each category.

An award presentation ceremony was held on 18 July. Ma Chui-law, writer of children’s and youth literature, delivered a talk to encourage students to pursue extensive reading outside the classroom and appreciating its value in enriching their lives. The award list and winning pieces can be viewed online on the ADC website at http://www.hkadc.org.hk/bookfair/rwc07/index.php.

Thumbs Up from the Critics

“Critics’ Recommendation” was held again for the seventh time this year. Its aim is to foster readership by highlighting literary excellence that has emerged during the past year. The ADC Book Fair Selection Panel of writers and scholars (Hon Man-po, Cheung Ping-kuen, Chang Song-hing, Tang Chiu-Kay, Chan Wai-ying, Poon Po-chiu, Chan Ching-fung, Cheung Chi-wo, Lin Man-shu and Chiu Hung) first picked their favourite 60 new titles (expanded from last year’s 40) from the over 400 entries on the exhibitors’ recommended booklists, based on their subject matter, writing approach, graphic and typographical presentation, and mode of publication. Criticisms were written by a panel of 33 renowned literati-scholars on the shortlisted titles and their commentaries compiled into a volume and distributed gratis at the Book Fair. The criticisms can be viewed on the Book Fair web site at http://hkbookfair.tdctrade.com/chi/newsletter/suggest.htm (in Chinese only).

Reading Culture in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan

Three prominent names in Chinese literature, Tie Ning, President of the Chinese Writers’ Association, Chang Hsiao-feng, Professor of the Centre for General Education, National Yang-Ming University of Taiwan, and local writer Chau Mat-mat co-chaired the seminar held on 21 July, bringing together scholars, writers and readers from both side of the Straits for a series of facilitated dialogues to discuss the ever-changing yet distinct reading cultures in the three regions, and exchange views on Chinese literature and current issues. Guest respondents Tse Hiu-hung, budding writer, and Liu Wai-tong, poet and freelance copywriter, represented the voice of a new generation of Chinese writers. The session, moderated by Hon Man-po, Chairman of ADC Literary Arts Group, had generated lively exchanges with an audience of over 100.