The big 10 cover stories

Ayra Wang

The first session of the ArtCan Award honored 10 cover stories in the past two years about local art and cultural events, performances, projects, designs and architecture.

Winners included Cantonese musical The Impossible Trial by West Kowloon Cultural District Authority and Hong Kong Repertory Theatre, which was massively popular both in Hong Kong and the mainland, and Our Journal of Springtime, a musical produced by local young talents of Boom Theatre.

Taikoo Square in Quarry Bay and Zaha Hadid-designed commercial building The Henderson in Central were awarded for biophilic design - connecting the community with avant-garde and innovative design.

The award was also given to a Doraemon-themed event organized by Ngong Ping 360, in which 1,500 students and volunteers dressed in various colors to form a huge Doraemon, and to local charity Bridge to China Charitable Foundation's campaign connecting villages in the mainland.

Other winners were an exhibition featuring Song Huai-kuei, a fashion and arts icon in the 1980s and 90s by M+ Museum, Star Street precinct painting campaign by Lamborghini and local graffiti artist Alex Croft, British artist Mr Doodle's visit to Hong Kong arranged by MTR and a feature story on Finnish conductor Tarmo Peltokoski, who will become the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra's music director from the 2026-27 season.

A forum on artificial intelligence art was held after the award ceremony, with local AI artists expressing their confidence in the city to develop generative art.

Gillian Howard, founder of Digital Art Fair Asia, said Hong Kong's developed financial system and East-meets-West culture have set a good foundation for rapid AI applications.

She said many foreign artists are optimistic about their prospects in the area.

He Xiaoyang, founder of Genify, a multichain generative art platform, said the value of AI art properties shows an increasing trend and Hong Kong should seize the opportunity.