HKADC’s “Arts Criticism Recognition Programme 2024–Tertiary Students” Recognises the new generation of outstanding art critics
Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC)’s Arts Criticism Group launched its first "Arts Criticism Recognition Programme 2024 - Tertiary Students" this year to encourage tertiary students to publish reviews of works in five art forms: visual arts, literary arts, film arts, music and theatre (including drama, dance and xiqu).
A total of 148 entries were received through an open call. After scrupulous assessment by 25 examiners from three aspects - content, structure and expression, and understanding of the artwork, an award presentation ceremony was held on 20 November to recognise the winners (see annex for the full list). Among the winning entries, there are works with insightful and unique perspectives.
Presiding at the ceremony, Prof Eva Man Kit-wah, Chairperson of the Arts Criticism Group of the HKADC, said: “A good piece of arts criticism can let people enter into the world of an artist to learn and appreciate his/her work. This plays an important role in the arts ecology.” Besides the traditional text-based arts criticism, the programme also welcomed arts criticism works presented in the form of short videos. Prof Man noted that the new initiative allowing students to share their reviews through different media was a proven success to inspire the creativity and passion of the younger generation. She hoped in today’s digital and visual era, short videos, as a more intuitive and resonant form of arts criticism, will undoubtedly attract greater attention and engagement from the audience.
Below is a brief introduction of the championship works from the five categories:
| Categories | Champion | Introduction |
| Music | Jayson Chan | Jayson Chan from the Chinese University of Hong Kong demonstrated his professional and precise analysis on music in his article Sincerity, the Greatest Skill in Music - Discussing Joyce Cheung’s ‘Once in a Blue Moon’ Performance #. |
| Visual Arts | Betsy Kwong | Betsy Kwong (The Hong Kong Baptist University)’s well-structured article Fairytale-esque Estrangement in Shin Youngmi’s Artwork raised thought-provoking questions for its readers. |
| Literary Arts | Huang Junning | Huang Junning from the Chinese University of Hong Kong clinched the top spot with his article Behind the Profound Language - Sentimentalism and Nature in Ng Hui Bun’s Novels#. Huang’s critique was well-written, structured and clear. Within the word limit, his article presented a rich argument by incorporating citations, theories and the viewpoints of other critics. |
| Theatre | Wu Pui-ga | Wu Pui-ga (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)’s article Snow in a Dance Spanning Thirty Years – A Review of ‘As If Snowing’# provided a concise and insightful description of the work, including the dance movements, with smooth writing and precise language. |
| Film Arts | Cheung Yan-kiu | Cheung Yan-kiu (The Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong)’s review is about a short film Deep Sea #. The examiners praised the work for its insightful analysis, clear structure and in-depth examination of the characteristics of animation, demonstrating Cheung’s exceptional understanding of animation art. |
Full version of all winning critiques are available on the website of the Arts Information Centre of HKADC, and excerpts will be shared on the Instagram and Facebook accounts “@talk.hkarts” later.
The programme also offers a subsequent reward activity. If the winners continue to publish more arts critiques (articles of 1,000 words or more, or video clips of five minutes or more) within the next six months, and the arts critiques are recognised as being of a good standard, they will receive an additional cash reward of HK$800 for each published critique. Each winner can receive a maximum of HK$2,400 as additional reward. This is to encourage the winners to remain active in arts criticism. For more details, please contact the Arts Criticism Group at 2820 1074.
For photos of the award ceremony, please click here to download.
