Congratulation Messages from Stakeholders

Thanks to all partners and service users who shared their feelings with us on Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Scheme receiving the Award for Arts Promotion from Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2014. (In alphabetical order)

CHAN, Tsun Kit

Director, Chosen Power (People First Hong Kong)

Congratulations to Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong on receiving the Award for Arts Promotion from Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2014. I witnessed how the Association has been striving to promote arts despite the difficulties at first and I feel really glad to see their work being acknowledged.

Arts accessibility is very important because arts are not only for a group of people or solely for appreciation. It is everyone’s right to enjoy arts. Services provided by the Association mean a lot as they allow everyone to perform, enjoy and appreciate arts through which they can create impacts and influence others.

Society begins to change. Today, provided in the ceremony are audio description and theatrical interpretation. For people with intelligence differences like us, the Association provides simplified versions of brochures so that more people can have their lives enriched through enjoying and performing arts. I am really happy to see the Association receive this award. Congratulations again, thank you!

CHAN, Tung Mui

Registered Artist with Disabilities, ADAHK

Today, I am very pleased to receive the Award for Arts Promotion on behalf of Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong. I hope that more people can know about arts accessibility.

I feel very glad to see two of my paintings be converted to tactile diagrams which allow people with visual impairment to touch and understand what I have painted. Thanks Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Service Centre for giving me a chance to get more people to know about the Association as well as artists like us!

CHENG, Kevin

Green Leaf Artist, ADAHK

First of all, congratulations to the Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Scheme on receiving this award. Earlier in January 2015, I had a solo arts exhibition. As a local artist, I am grateful to have had collaboration with Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Service Centre in working out many new ideas. Instead of traditional booklets, we used videos as a guide for everyone  so that audience could navigate around the exhibition with an iPad. Everyone could listen to the artist directly and understand what the artist wanted to express through the iPad guide tour. Moreover, there was an amazing touch-read pen.  By touching the corresponding barcodes with the pen, audience could listen to the introductions and contents of my works.

Arts accessibility supports people with different abilities, such as people with visual or hearing impairment, through services and facilities like barrier-free access in arts venues. I hope the Centre keeps up  their work.

CHEUK, Hang Chi

Chairperson, Chosen Power (People First Hong Kong)

Congratulations to Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong on receiving the Award for Arts (Promotion). I feel so happy and proud of them.

Not only are we users of arts accessibility, but also wheelchair (users) and people with visual impairment. In Hong Kong, all of the (arts accessibility services) are introduced and learnt by from foreign countries where they, as well as arts development and information accessibility, are very common. Introducing those services, including Braille, into Hong Kong has greatly improved the accessibility here. Again, congratulations to the Association!

HO, Yuk 

Sign interpreter

I am glad to have joined Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) as a voluntary Sign interpreter since 1995. In the past 20 years, I witnessed the many efforts ADAHK has put in arts promotion. Even though Dr. Marion Fang had left us, the Association has been striving to carry forward and spread her ideas and objectives. Today, I feel as happy as I am being awarded because I regard ADAHK like a part of my family.

The arts accessibility services of ADAHK means so much to me. As a Sign interpreter, I had an opportunity to learn theatrical interpretation when the Association was developing stage arts. This enriched my expressions of face and body languages, making my conversations with people with hearing impairment more natural and sincere and benefitting me a lot in my professional development in interpretation.

In fact, people with hearing impairment watch theatrical performances more often now because of the Sign interpretations provided. I used to want to invite people with hearing impairment to arts activities, but they often found that boring. Without Sign interpretation, those events seemed unrelated to them. Nevertheless, recently many of them have been watching performances with me or even buying tickets themselves to support arts and Sign interpreters.

To me, the greatest contribution of ADAHK is not just bringing arts to people with hearing impairment (and different abilities); more importantly, they have made them become artists. Lately, many artists with disabilities have shown up in society. Some have even been awarded for their artistic and creative abilities. It is, on one hand, a great encouragement for the development of inclusive arts; on the other, a breakthrough for people with different abilities that they can pursue their dreams in the arts. Arts are now related to them. I think that ADAHK has been doing a great job on cultivating talents. Congratulations to them again!

LEE, Hin (ADA Angel)

ADA Angel

I am glad that Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Service Centre, Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) has received the Award for Arts Promotion in the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2014. This award affirmed the contributions of ADAHK on arts accessibility in the past years. I have used some arts accessibility services, such as audio descriptions provided during performances and exhibitions. For people with hearing impairment, they also provide Sign interpretation. I wish every success in ADA’s future development of arts accessibility services.

LEUNG, Kwong Yiu

Docent (Accessible Guided Tour)

Congratulations to (Jockey Club) Arts Accessibility Service Centre, Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) on receiving this awesome award. To me, arts accessibility services are very important because they allow arts to be spread to people with different abilities so that more people can get to know about and benefit from arts. In Hong Kong, ADAHK is probably the only organisation providing these services.

Although arts accessibility is for people with different abilities, I believe I have actually gained much more than others. As an arts tutor, I have to transform my knowledge into messages that everyone can understand. This requires me to be flexible according to tutees’ needs and I am still learning.

LI, Jack 

ADA Angel

(Remark: This video is in Sign language. For translation, please refer to the script below.)

Hello! Congratulations to ADA! This has been the third time ADA gets this award! Having been working closely with ADA, I very much understand how hard they have been working and am really happy for them on this honor. Congratulations and keep this on! I wish to see more projects and awards of ADA in the future!

LO, Keng Chi Clayton 

Consultant of Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Service Centre

I just heard that Jockey Club Arts Accessibility Service Centre (JCAASC), Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) has received Award for Arts Promotion in the Hong Kong Arts Development Awards 2014. This didn’t sound very special to me because early in 2008 or 2009, another department of ADAHK had received a similar award. As a consultant of JCAASC and a frequent user of (arts accessibility) services, I definitely would like to tell you something good about it.

Before the set-up of JCAASC, I did not participate a lot in the events of ADAHK, as the arts promotion and support of ADAHK in that period focused mainly on some particular aspects, such as community arts and promotion of artists with disabilities to the society. These did not echo what I had been doing in arts. But when (ADAHK) started providing arts accessibility services, they really opened a path for me and others that are artistic yet with disabilities. Whatever dramas, movies or avant-garde art activities we are interested in, JCAASC very often can provide lots of support which was really unprecedented in the history of either the rehabilitation sector, or even the arts support service provided by the government.

I think that JCAASC is set up because they see the needs of society and the biggest difficulty faced by people with disabilities – that we had never been able to know about or join mainstream art activities. Simply learning photography or playing piano does not mean we have been engaged in arts. As long as I am unable to join the annual movie festivals, art festivals or fabulous international art exhibitions held in Hong Kong, I can hardly convince myself to tell others that I have been engaged in art creation and participating in art activities. Although the arts accessibility service is not perfect now, I can tell from my experiences that JCAASC has already done a great job in connecting people with disabilities to arts throughout the past year. They have marked an important milestone for arts accessibility services in Hong Kong.

Now that the work of ADAHK has been proved significant by the affirmation of Hong Kong Arts Development Council, it would be great if arts accessibility services can be institutionalised so that no matter in West Kowloon Cultural District or other recognised art (programmes), good accessibility services such as audio description and theatrical interpretation can be provided. In my opinion, once these can be provided, the infrastructure for arts in Hong Kong can reach the international standard.

NG, William

Audio describer

Congratulations to Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong (ADAHK) on this honorable award. Having known about ADAHK, I realised that the services of (Jockey Club) Arts Accessibility Service Centre can actually help lots of people know more about and get in touch with arts. (The Centre) provides different ways for people with different abilities to participate in various art performances without any barriers. This is very meaningful. Meanwhile, various workshops are provided in different forms for different people. After the training, they can promote the services to others so that more people can step into the arts. Therefore, I am glad that your services are awarded and I hope you can keep going and let more people enjoy every art performance barrier-free. Thank you!

WONG, Anthony

 (Remark: This video is in Sign language. For translation, please refer to the script below.)

Hello! Congratulations to ADA on the award! I hope this award encourages ADA to hold even more inclusive arts activities so that more and more people can promote arts. I look forward to witnessing more achievements in the arts industry as well as in ADA. Again, congratulations!

Ling

Arts accessibility services bring convenience to many people. It provides people with different abilities opportunities to enjoy arts. I think this project should keep going.