The Exhibition of 18 Districts ID Design Competition is open today at Lok Fu Plaza, featuring an array of artworks denoting the uniqueness of the 18 districts in Hong Kong made by local students. The exhibition will open from 11 to 21 August for public appreciation.

Jointly organised by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council (ADC) and The Link Management Limited, the 18 Districts ID Design Competition is one of the major events of the ADC's 2nd Arts Ambassadors-in-School Scheme. The competition has a two-fold objective: to ignite students' creativity through artistic creation; to instill students to understand and observe the unique local flavours of the 18 districts towards realising the vision of fostering care and concern for different neighbourhoods.

The exhibition kick-off ceremony was held this afternoon (11 August) at Lok Fu Plaza, officiated by Mr Ko Tin-lung, Chairman of ADC's Arts Promotion Committee and Mr K T Poon, Director of Corporate Communications and Strategy of The Link. Also joining the occasion were adjudication panel member Mr Kan Tai-keung and guest curator Mr Stanley Wong (alias anothermountainman). Following the ceremony, a guided tour was hosted with students of winning teams explaining their artwork concepts and characteristics.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Ko Tin-lung said "What we want to achieve through this activity is to encourage students to involve in group artistic creation and foster team spirit. Today's exhibition not only showcases the distinctive works of the participating students, but also allows us to view our districts from a new perspective."

Mr K T Poon said it was The Link's honour to co-organised with ADC the competition and provide the venue at Lok Fu Plaza for the exhibition. He said, "The Link's shopping centres are at the doorstep of 40% of Hong Kong population. We emphasize the importance of improving the overall community environment when we renovate our shopping centres. The theme of this competition to encourage students to take care of our community is in line with our caring objective."

The competition was inundated with entries of high standard from over 90 schools. It is categorised into primary and secondary school divisions. Arts Ambassadors, representing their respective schools, were required to form and lead a team of fellow students in designing a logo, a poster and a sculpture that best represent the sights and sounds, colours and flavours of their districts to compete for various awards.

To ignite students' creativity and broaden their vision, guest curator Mr Stanley Wong (alias anothermountainman) and illustrator Ms Rainbow Leung hosted a pre-competition talk to enlighten the students with their impressions of urban landscapes while sharing with them basics and many helpful tips and techniques of visual arts design.

The adjudication panel of this competition comprises experts in the visual arts field. They are Mr Kan Tai-keung, Creative Director of Kan and Lau Design Consultants; Mr Stanley Wong, renowned designer and multimedia artist; and Prof Kurt Chan, Associate Professor of Department of Fine Arts of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Assessment was conducted earlier and the panel has shortlisted the artworks according to their theme, aesthetic values, creativity and forms of expression.

The panel members were impressed by the high standards of the artworks in illustrating and presenting the theme. The students also demonstrated knowledge and keen awareness of their local milieus and applied a variety of materials and techniques to render their impression and sentiments in truly creative forms. The result was also announced during the presentation ceremony on 3 July. (Please refer to attachment for awardees list)

Come and visit the Exhibition of 18 Districts ID Design Competition and you will be amazed by the creativity of the students! The exhibition will run till 12 noon, 21 August 2010 at Lok Fu Plaza (1/F, Food Square).

For enquiries, please contact Ms Chan at 2820 1016.

About the Arts Ambassadors-in-School Scheme
The Arts Ambassadors-in-School Scheme was first introduced by the Hong Kong Arts Development Council in 2008. By providing students with a flair for the arts, a willing mind and spirit oriented on community services the opportunity to become arts ambassadors for their schools, the scheme aims to take their passion for the arts beyond campuses into the larger community. This year, the response was overwhelming with a total of 639 students from different primary, secondary and special schools enrolled as arts ambassadors. The Arts Ambassadors have participated in a wide range of arts activities including creative arts workshops, theatre magic workshop, meeting the artists, as well as sharing of arts experience in television, radio programme and newspapers. For details of the Scheme, please visit http://www.aais.hk.

Attachment: Awardees List