The Arts Bus: On the Move! 2013-14” project, co-organised by The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd), New World First Bus (NWFB) and Citybus, marked its debut today (3 May) at the K11 Art Mall with 20 winning students from primary and secondary school categories awarded in the “Courtesy Along the Journey” Bus Body Design Competition . It signalled the beginning of a series of arts events throughout the year.

The Arts Bus project has entered into the third consecutive year. This year, the theme “Courtesy Along the Journey” is chosen to highlight the importance of mutual understanding and respect. Ms Florence Hui Hiu-fai, Under Secretary for Home Affairs; Professor John Lee Chi-kin, Vice President (Academic) of HKIEd and Mr. William Chung, Head of Operations of NWFB and Citybus, officiated at the ceremony with the presence of the first Arts Bus of the year. With different characters applied on the bus body design to represent a dynamic and diverse cultural metropolis of Hong Kong, the Arts Bus is going to advocate in-bus etiquette and raise civic awareness in every single trip.

In collaboration with the Hong Kong Museum of Education to enrich the project,, the compartment of the Arts Bus was elaborately decorated as a time tunnel, recalling the old clips of the 60’s and 70’s with pieces of precious historical photo exhibited. In addition, local famous actor Plato Lai Kwok Fai (Ah Kam), together with the HKIEd students, had delivered a brand-new interactive drama on the Arts Bus to tell a story of family kinship by recalling collective memories on the bus, bringing a new theatre experience to audience.

The main event, “Courtesy Along the Journey” Bus Body Design Competition, invited participation by all primary and secondary school students across the territory to submit their creative artworks. The champion, Cheung Cho-tung, a secondary school student from Pope Paul VI College, proved her ability applying rich colours and a 3D projection on her artworks, demonstrating various scenarios of good behaviour on bus, such as offering seat to people in need and greeting fellow passengers. The officiating guests presented awards to the winners together with Mr. Leung Chung-kei, a local comic artist; Mr Kevin Li, Public Affairs Manager of NWFB and Citybus; Professor Samuel Leong, Associate Dean (Quality Assurance and Enhancement) of Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and Head of Department of Cultural and Creative Arts at HKIEd, and Ms Rebecca Woo, Mall-In-Charge of Hong Kong K11 Art Mall and Executive Committee Member of K11 Concepts Limited. All winning artworks would be exhibited at the Hong Kong Museum of Education and displayed on the bus body of 20 buses starting from May, bringing arts to every corner in the city.

Professor Lee said that “the Bus Body Design Competition aims to promote social interaction and nurture creativity in community, hoping to benefit citizens through popularisation of arts. It is the pleasure of the Hong Kong Museum of Education to participate in this project, moving arts out from museum to community, making a small but significant contribution to community arts. Arts bus is a meaningful cross-sectorial collaboration between academia and business sector, as it utilises arts to get the message of social harmony across.”

Mr William Chung said, “being a major mode of public transport in Hong Kong, bus has become indispensable in our daily lives. The Arts Bus project has successfully transformed the vehicles into mobile public art galleries, bringing arts and civic education messages to the community. Over the past 2 years, the project has made remarkable outcomes in promoting the message of ‘Road Safety’ and ‘Go Green’. We have been striving to bring in various new concepts to the project and the theme of ‘Courtesy Along the Journey’ is used to highlight the diverse culture of Hong Kong.”

“Arts Bus: On the Move!” is a large-scale community arts project co-organised by HKIEd, NWFB and Citybus with the aim of promoting arts development in Hong Kong through a series of activities including workshops, competitions, arts tours and exhibitions, thus enhancing the public’s interest and participation in arts.