Arts education

With funding from the Hongkong Bank Foundation, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) launched the HKSAR-Mainland Exchange Scholarship Programme in 1996.

Academy students spend up to four weeks at leading conservatories in mainland China studying dance, music, drama and technical arts, while two Mainland students pursue full-time studies for a year at the Academy. 

The Foundation funds two scholarships for Cantonese Opera studies at the HKAPA. It has also donated more than HKD1million to help the Academy acquire traditional costumes and accessories.

The Wayfoong Cantonese Opera Costumes Collection comprises more than 300 costumes, 350 headdresses and 800 accessories, all tailor-made for the Academy.

"The Collection helps enhance the understanding of Chinese culture, history and heritage."

Professor Kevin Thompson, Academy Director

To help develop young people's creativity and lateral thinking, the Hongkong Bank Foundation funded a series of pilot programmes that integrate arts with the school curriculum.

Through direct contact with professional artists, students have the opportunity to try new and varied forms of art, including drama, painting, sculpture, music and multimedia.

The Foundation's partners in the programme include the HKAPA, the Arts Development Council, the Hong Kong Institute of Education and the Education and Manpower Bureau of the Government of Hong Kong.

To enhance the public's knowledge and appreciation of art, HSBC supports various arts exhibitions in the local community.

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, HSBC has sponsored “The Pride of China: Masterpieces of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Palace Museum” exhibition, which ran from July to August 2007. The exhibition displayed 32 of the most important Chinese paintings and calligraphy masterpieces of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties (AD 265 – AD 1368) from the Palace Museum, Beijing, which included Zhang Zeduan’s Along the River During the Qingming Festival from the Song dynasty.

HSBC sponsored the unprecedented "Impressionism: Treasures from the National Collection of France" exhibition in 2005.  Featuring masterpieces by renowned French masters including Manet, Monet and Degas, it gave Hong Kong people an opportunity to discover the uniqueness and richness of Impressionism.

In 2006, HSBC sponsored  the Artist & Their Models - Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris exhibition which displayed paintings and sculptures of modern art masters including Picasso and Matisse. The exhibition also included video showing and education workshops for children.

Find out about how our Bank's archives and art collections support exhibitions in the community.