The Works：Women in art: Guerrilla Girls & Nilima Sheikh, HKBUAVA & CUHK Fine Arts Grad shows & HK Ba

In today’s show: two graduation exhibitions, one from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the other from Hong Kong Baptist University. Every year, a new crop of young artists graduates. It’s never easy to make a living and a reputation as an artist, but the signs are that for women it’s even harder. It’s no secret that while more men than women study the STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math, women predominate in social studies and liberal arts courses. In Hong Kong, four out of every five visual art students are female. Yet only around one in every five will go on to have a solo show in local galleries or museums.
Many local university students are either in the middle of, or have just completed, examinations and final projects and theses. For those who study visual art, it’s time to show their work in the annual graduation shows. Among those shows is the graduation exhibition of Hong Kong Baptist University’s Academy of Visual Arts. It includes works by 110 graduates, the academy’s 11th cohort of students, displayed in a variety of locations across the Kai Tak campus. A moment ago we looked at works by graduates from the Baptist University’s Academy of Visual Arts. The Chinese University of Hong Kong was the first tertiary institute to offer visual arts education in Hong Kong. It focuses on creativity, studio practice, and the history of visual arts. Titled “Forever young forever weeping” this year’s graduation exhibition includes works from 29 graduates, many of whom confront tough issues and explore the values of art.

The Hong Kong Ballet has a new artistic director this season. Septime Webre has joined the company after 17 years at the Washington Ballet. Blending classics with contemporary pieces, the company opened its new season with “Alice in the Wonderland”, following up with a new take on “Giselle” and “The Great Gatsby”. Just last week, it put on a triple bill of works by three of today’s most influential choreographers, one of them an original rock ballet that uses 12 songs by The Beatles.