Helen So

Opinion | As arts institutions embrace technology in a Covid-19 world, where is Hong Kong’s vision?

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the digitisation of art, making the innovation of arts tech inevitable. Hong Kong must articulate its vision and establish funding for this emerging space, or risk being left behind

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The Hong Kong Museum of Art in Tsim Sha Tsui on March 11, after its partial reopening. The Covid-19 shutdowns have forced many museums worldwide to embrace digital technology. Photo: Dickson Lee

Helen So

Published: 11:00am, 28 Jun 2020Updated: 10:23am, 1 Jul 2020

The smorgasbord of virtual arts and cultural offerings has helped keep people sane during this time of Covid-19 social distancing. Indeed, over the past six months, the spotlight has turned to “tech-savvy” arts institutions and universally accessible digital resources.

Notably, the J. Paul Getty Museum has developed an “art generator tool” allowing any image from its open-access collection to be imported into Animal Crossing: New Horizons , Nintendo’s new community-building video game that became the first console game to reach 5 million digital sales within a month.

Social distancing has made these “new” and digitised modes of interaction and engagement commonplace, challenging the limitations of time and place. This space where the arts meets technology has been identified in many parts of the world, and certainly deserves more attention from cultural policymakers.

This is especially so in Hong Kong, which lacks a long-term vision or ambition for arts tech, leaving us trailing others which are already reaping the benefits of such policies.

Noting the discrepancy, Our Hong Kong Foundation’s latest arts innovation research report on optimising arts tech development is the first of its kind in Hong Kong, with recommendations derived from policy trends observed worldwide.

Back in 2018, before the pandemic struck, the British government launched the Culture Is Digital blueprint, its first report calling on the cultural and technology sectors to work together. The blueprint includes £33 million (US$41 million) in funding dedicated to encouraging the creative and tech sectors to jointly submit proposals to develop new technologies to improve visitor experiences.