Director of HKETONY officiates at opening of “Contemporary Hong Kong
Through a Chicago Lens” exhibition” at Northwestern University

For more information, please contact:
Melissa Ng /David Hsieh at 212-752-3320
Daniel McAtee at 202-238-6360
Wing Yan Tong at 415-835-9315

May 1, 2009 - An exhibition featuring contemporary Hong Kong through the eyes of Chicagoans is launched today (May 1, Chicago time) at the Northwestern University Evanston campus.

Opening the exhibition, the Director of Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office, New York (ETO), Monica Chen, said, “ this multi-media exhibition, comprising photographs, video and blog posts, introduces Hong Kong through the eyes of five students from Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, who were on a sponsored visit to Hong Kong by the ETO.

She said, “As you can see from the photographs, videos, and blog posts, they have made good use of their time exploring the city. They met and interviewed officials, business people, and common folks on the street. They also rubbed shoulders with movie stars at the Asian Film Awards and even managed to score tickets and backstage passes to the Coldplay concert in Hong Kong.”

The video produced by the Medill students included interviews with officials from Invest Hong Kong, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, where they spoke on Hong Kong as a gateway to China and the various virtues of doing business in Hong Kong, including the openness and transparency of the government as well as a level playing field.

The exhibition is one of the programs encapsulated under the “Hong Kong Comes to Chicago 2009” festival, held in conjunction with Chicago’s month-long celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, throughout the month of May.

Ms. Chen said these programs will introduce Chicagoans to economically and culturally vibrant city of Hong Kong that is now known as Asia’s world city.

“We hope that you will take the opportunity to see the Hong Kong movies, check out the “This is Hong Kong” exhibition and gallery talks at the Chicago Cultural Center and attend the music performance featuring a Chinese music ensemble with Chicago’s Fulcrum Point New Music Project during this month-long festival.

“I hope all of you will have the opportunity to visit Hong Kong soon and see for yourself why Hong Kong is Cosmopolitan, Connected, Enterprising, Innovative, and Leader,” said Ms. Chen.

“Contemporary Hong Kong Through a Chicago Lens” exhibition at the McCormick Tribune Forum at Northwestern University runs from May 1 – May 15. Thereafter, the exhibition will be incorporated into the “This is Hong Kong” exhibition to be held at the Chicago Cultural Center between May 18 and 29.