Hong Kong Prize A series of prizes has been established in Hong Kong to recognize and foster local arts. These awards recognize veteran arts practitioners, emerging young artists and those who have made a substantial impactful contribution towards building Hong Kong’s arts sector.
One of the premier awards in Asia, the Sovereign Asian Art Prize recently took place in Hong Kong and was won by Pakistani artist Sameen Agha for her sculptural installation, A Home is a Terrible Place to Love – consisting of a house being torn apart and crumbled down, created out of red marble – to represent natural disaster destruction of buildings.
HK$250,000 prize money was divided among three categories for winners this year: Grand Prize, People’s Choice Award and the HSBC Young Artist Awards. A record number of entries vied for this year’s Grand Prize with some works addressing issues like human rights, social change and environmental sustainability.
Although most winning works were focused on Hong Kong, this show celebrated artists from all around the globe – in fact nearly two-thirds of shortlisted works came from Hong Kong alone, making it the city most often represented at these awards.
Participating in the Mark Six draw requires purchasing an entry for just HK$10. Your unit investment will then be used to calculate prize payouts in each draw result; 54% will go toward funding the Prize Fund while any surplus proceeds will go toward various taxes or causes.
An important cultural event is the Hong Kong Prize, an annual award to recognize innovative research on Hong Kong history and to remember Professor John D. Young (deceased), former Chair of the Department of History. To be eligible, research must have been published in an academic peer-reviewed journal; applicants should submit both copies of their published full article along with blinded abstract, as well as their completed application forms to qualify.
Tai Kwun’s revitalized Old Central Police Station complex serves as a thriving hub of heritage interpretation, contemporary arts and culture events and fine dining – activities which were all recognized by UNESCO with their Award of Excellence this year.
Restoring this 170-year-old compound was an intricate, painstaking task. Today, Old Central stands as a vibrant urban village offering modern commercial office space alongside historical architecture and community services. It has breathed new life into this historic district and set an example for other cities worldwide to transform heritage buildings into cultural spaces that thrive today. It was also the inaugural time this award was bestowed on a public project. The judges also commended the project team for their hard work in producing an award-winning result, emphasizing the value of working collaboratively across industry players to advance Hong Kong.