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March is a significant month for art in Hong Kong, hosting a variety of annual events that span across the city.
HSBC, Hong Kong’s home-grown global bank, is a major supporter of the arts. Through its “Open To Art” initiative, the bank is expanding its influence on the cultural scene of the city, aligning with its brand promise “Opening up a world of opportunity” as well as deepening its commitment to an evolving cultural landscape. Over the years, HSBC has consistently acknowledged and backed the evolution of the arts in society through various impactful initiatives.
By supporting the arts this year, HSBC aims to promote diverse forms of expression and foster a vibrant cultural community. HSBC has invited director Jack Ng – who is nominated as Best Director and Best New Director for his film A Guilty Conscience for the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards – to step into the director’s chair for HSBC’s latest brand campaign “Make your next move. Make your mark”. Ng uses cinematic techniques to artfully intertwine the narratives of HSBC and Hong Kong, resonating globally. It captures the sounds, energy and ambitions that define Hong Kong as a vibrant and cosmopolitan city.
Luanne Lim, chief executive officer, Hong Kong, HSBC, says: “Our latest advertising campaign involves a collaboration with a talented Hong Kong director to capture the essence and vibrancy of Hong Kong, while also emphasising our bank’s vision and global reach.”
Additionally, HSBC is the first bank to serve as the official banking sponsor for the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards, which takes place next month. “HSBC is proud to sponsor the upcoming Hong Kong Film Awards, which celebrate Hong Kong’s creative industries and highlights its allure as a global city,” says Lim.
Ng says the short film, which captures the unique sounds and imagery of the city, signifies the importance of listening to people’s desires, and embodies the passions and dreams of Hong Kong people and the bank’s ability to connect them to the world. “From the nostalgic ‘ding ding’ of trams to the familiar MTR announcements, the sounds of traffic lights and the lively ambience of wet markets, these sounds deeply resonate with every Hong Kong people,” he says.
HSBC is formalising its Open To Art concept with a series of events that celebrate Hong Kong’s art scene. This includes hosting film screenings during the Easter holidays, featuring films such as In Broad Daylight directed by Lawrence Kan, Nick Cheuk’s Time Still Turns the Pages, Jacky Ng’s A Guilty Conscience, Jonathan Li’s Dust to Dust and Sasha Chuk’s Fly Me to the Moon. To show its commitment to the arts and community, the bank is generously offering tickets to the public via its social media channels and to non-governmental organisations that support young people and the underprivileged.
HSBC has been the lead partner of M+, Asia’s first global museum of contemporary visual culture, located in the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD). M+ is a museum dedicated to collecting, exhibiting, and interpreting visual art, design and architecture, moving image, and Hong Kong visual culture of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
The opening of M+ in 2021 was a significant addition to the city’s art landscape, and reflects the variety of art forms emerging in Hong Kong.
As part of its bid to turn the city into a regional and global arts hub that will drive tourism and boost the economy, the Hong Kong government has renamed the month “Art March”, adding new events. These include the Hong Kong International Cultural Summit 2024, organised by the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority. The summit, held earlier this week, hosted more than 1,000 representatives from arts and cultural institutions from Hong Kong, mainland China and overseas, with the primary objective of fostering collaborations that may bring social and economic benefits to the participating countries.
HSBC’s Open To Art initiative aims to enhance cultural interactions in the wider Hong Kong community by bringing together artists, art lovers and the general public through a series of events, projects and collaborations across the city. The bank hopes the initiative will help transform the way the public experiences and interacts with different forms of art in Hong Kong, one of the largest art trading centres in the world.