ISPA Award Recipient

Winsome Chow

2022 International Citation of Merit Recipient

Ms Chow is the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Arts Development Council (HKADC). She is a veteran arts administrator of Hong Kong with extensive experiences. Graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong with a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree, she obtained a Distinction honor in the Certificate Programme in Arts Administration of the University of Hong Kong, a Master degree on Human Resources Management and Development of the University of Leicester, UK, and completed a Senior Executive Programme of the London Business School.

As the mastermind behind some of the city's most memorable arts and cultural events before her retirement as Assistant Director (Performing Arts) at the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), Ms Chow managed 14 government-run performing arts venues over the past decades and organised a string of audience favourites that added to a rich and growing calendar of high quality cultural experiences for the public.

Ms Chow was involved in the organization of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and the Festival of Asian Arts as well as the opening festival of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in 1989. Since 2000, she founded three arts festivals including the New Vision Arts Festival, World Cultures Festival and the International Arts Carnival which have become significant performing arts events every year in Hong Kong. She was then involved more on planning, supervision and corporate development and coordination matters, handling new initiatives such as the organization of the 2006 Hong Kong Congress of the International Society for the Performing Arts, the Venue Partnership Scheme, the project design and implementation of the Yaumatei Theatre and Ko Shan Theatre New Wing as well as the large scale programmes in celebration of the 10th and 15th Anniversary of the Establishment of Hong Kong SAR. She was instrumental to the smooth roll-out of new arts funding schemes including the Arts Capacity Development Funding Scheme that fostered a tripartite partnership involving the Government, arts groups and the private sector to promote arts and cultural development through strengthening the cultural software and building the capacity of the arts sector of Hong Kong.

Ms Chow’s great leadership was imperative in bringing the HKADC to a new era. Since joining the organization in August 2015, she laid down a road map including initiatives to showcase Hong Kong artists abroad, programmes that bring the arts to the community, new funding schemes and research plans to draw data on the city’s cultural sector in order to attain new goals towards improving Hong Kong’s arts ecology and reaching new heights. Under her meticulous plan, the grant reform enabled arts groups ranging from incubating young talents to well established arts organisations to focus on developing the artistry and creation that were fundamental ways to empower local professional arts groups and artists to grow brilliantly through years of development. She was dedicated to steer the promotion of culture in supporting artistic creation and activities and facilitated donors and commercial corporations to join hands in promoting vibrant development of the arts in the community of Hong Kong through setting of the Matching Fund Scheme.

With exceptionally strong international network, Ms Chow steered the collaboration initiatives strategically so as to create extraordinary opportunities for Hong Kong arts practitioners to engage in overseas exchange programs in order to allow more arts talents shining in the international arena. Under her stewardship, strong delegations comprising local arts practitioners were led by HKADC to attend the Gwangju Biennale and Performing Arts Market in Seoul, Korea and the Oz Asia Festival in Australia in 2016, as well as the Venice Biennale. Since 2016, Ms Chow materialized three dance industry delegations to Classical:NEXT in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, the internationale tanzmesse nrw (tanzmesse contemporary dance biennale) in Dusseldorf, Germany, and CINARS (Conférence internationale des arts de la scène/International Exchange for the Performing Arts) in Montreal, Canada. In 2016-17, she also steered the collaboration with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices in both London and Sydney in providing opportunities for Hong Kong artists to showcase their talents in international cities, demonstrating to the world the creativity and vibrancy of the Hong Kong music scene and strengthening cultural ties between Hong Kong and other cities.

Ms Chow spearheaded a new festival titled Jockey Club New Arts Power to nurture home-grown artists and encourage creative practices, and introduced Arts-in-school Partnership Scheme to enable partnership between schools and local small and medium-sized arts organisations as well as individual co-partnership artists with local schools to embark year-long partnership and bring arts into the school community.

As a respectful visionary, Ms Chow has frequently taken part of performing arts related associations, forums and training programmes in both local and overseas contexts, such as being speaker/ panelist of the 2013 Cultural Leadership Summit, Asia Society’s open forum ‘The Importance of Sino-American Cultural Diplomacy’, the 2016 ‘Arts Centres – Connecting Communities’ Conference organized by the Association of Asia Pacific Performing Arts Centres (AAPPAC), the 11th Cross-Straits and Hong Kong and Macao Regional Art Forum in 2019, and the Eventide Conversations ‘Arts Advocacy: We are essential’ organized by the Hong Kong Arts Administrator Association and Australian Performing Arts Market in 2021. She has been part-time lecturer of the Master of Arts in Cultural Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2008-2012).

Currently, Ms Chow serves for board or arts related committees of several institutions including being a co-opted member of Performing Arts Committee of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, member of The Jockey Club CPS Limited Advisory Committee, Arts & Culture Council of Asia Society Hong Kong Center and the Arts and Culture Advisory Committee of Airport Authority Hong Kong.

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