The Hong Kong Prize aims to recognise and reward excellence in Hong Kong arts. It is an open submission arts award that encourages artists to express their ideas freely on any topic of human rights. It also seeks to build a broad base of support for the arts, and inspire the civic imagination.
The HKHRAP has been a vital part of the city’s arts scene for five years now, and is the longest-running arts prize in Asia. This year, the prize has a focus on human rights and their impact on society.
This year’s finalists explore topics including Hong Kong’s relationship to China, the Chinese Communist Party, and human rights in the world today. They are addressing issues that many people can relate to – and they are not just about Hong Kong, but about human rights around the world.
These stories are powerful because they show how Hong Kong’s cultural history and cosmopolitanism are a driving force in the city’s identity, and how the arts can contribute to that. They are also a reminder of how far Hong Kong has come as an arts hub.
Senior reporter Kate Li Bingcun was awarded the HKHRAP’s top prize and two second-runner up awards in the Best Arts and Culture News Reporting category for her three-part series “In dialogue with time”. She tells the story of the ship-transportation of national treasures from Beijing to Hong Kong Palace Museum, Hong Kong’s creative ways of displaying these treasures, and an ardent art fan’s commitment to the restoration of cultural relics in his post-retirement life.
She also writes about the city’s unique approaches to art and its efforts to become a culture and arts hub. In addition to winning the HKHRAP’s top prize, she was awarded Best Arts and Culture News Reporting by China Daily.
Another top prize winner was senior editor Jennifer Chan Wing-ho. She drew on her experience as an art critic to write about the Hong Kong arts community. She explored the city’s unique approaches to arts education and public participation in the arts, and her story about a young woman’s journey to Hong Kong as an international artist was particularly poignant.
Her article was a fusion of fiction and non-fiction, and it was also a very personal story about a girl who is fighting for her rights as an artist. It was a beautiful example of how art can challenge and change the world.
The winner of this year’s HKHRAP will be announced at the upcoming China Daily Arts and Culture Awards ceremony on December 14. In the meantime, here are some highlights from the finalists:
1. Senior reporter Katie Vajda (KV) was awarded the HKHRAP’s first ever prize for her story “Humans in the Making” about the work of human rights activists.
2. The HKHRAP’s focus on human rights and their impact on society has resulted in a huge range of entries for this year’s competition.
3. This year’s finalists were invited to submit their works in any medium, and a large proportion of the entries focused on human rights and their impact on society.
