The Struggle between Commercialization and Preservation of Heritage and Art

1.  Introduction

Tai Kwun is a renowned cultural heritage located in the center of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the former Central Police Station compound, Tai Kwun has remained as the epitome of British colonial architecture since the mid-19th century. Owing to its immense historical value in Hong Kong, its constituent compounds, which include three major establishments: a police station, a magistracy and a prison, were declared as historical monuments. Its revitalization project is led by ‘The Jockey Club CPS Limited’, a not-for-profit company set up by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to operate the Centre for Heritage and Art at the revitalized compound (The Hong Kong Jockey Club, 2015).

Figure 1. The Prison Yard in Tai Kwun. (Photo by Wpcpey/ CC BY 3.0)

However, criticism and doubts on the heritage’s role in promoting art and heritage conservation arose because of its financial dependency on rent received from tenants of shops and restaurants (The Jockey Club CPS Limited, 2018). While various evidences suggested that the emphasis has been placed on commercial elements that underlie the financial sustainability instead of the preservation of the historical heritage, this research aims to analyze the relationship between commercialization and heritage conservation in Tai Kwun through a cultural geographical perspective with respect to Anderson’s notion of dominating power (2009).

2. Cultural Geographical Perspective in Use

One of the key aims of Cultural Geography is to examine the intersection of geographical context and culture in how, where and who produces various cultural traces. While these traces may exist in material, non-material or a combination of both forms, they are essential in understanding the values and beliefs that constitute a place. Therefore, the interaction between various cultural ideologies and geographical context may create a varying and yet unique cultural landscape that represent the unique stories that are exclusive to different cultures and locals.

Cultural geographical approach, as highlighted by Anderson (2009), also argues that while multiple cultural traces may co-exist in the same context, these traces are always conformed to the ideologies of the dominating power and cultural hegemony (Anderson, 2009). Stakeholders and ideologies with greater influence may presents their ideology or their beliefs to other people as ‘common sense’. The dominating groups will then instill their own cultural values on the traces in different ways to maximize their benefits. They may then try to persuade the public that these values are the “gospel truth”. Cultural hegemony will be achieved if the dominating power successfully convinces the mass that their cultural values are ‘natural’. Therefore, when a society allow a particular cultural group to dominate over the others, this hegemonic group has successfully transformed their own beliefs and values into the ideological order of their culture.

Therefore, this project aims to examine how the cultural traces in Tai Kwun are reshaped by the dominating group through commercialization. Entrusted by the Hong Kong government through a partnership, the Hong Kong Jockey Club is currently operating Tai Kwun. As an initiator of the development plan, the organization generally represents the dominating power in the development of Tai Kwun. The concept of dominating power and cultural hegemony raised by Anderson (2009) will be illustrated through the following empirical analysis.

3. Empirical Analysis

Trace 1: Layout Planning

One of the essential traces in reflecting the values of a dominating power exerted to a place is Tai Kwun’s layout planning. Through studying the allocation of prime areas and non-prime areas of Tai Kwun, we can analyze how the dominating power – The Jockey Club CPS Limited – presents Tai Kwun to the public. Although heritage preservation and art promotion were repeatedly claimed to be the significant motives of Tai Kwun, a stronger emphasis on commercial elements was observed, as the prime locations were all rented out to restaurants, bars, and shops.

Figure 2. A Map of Tai Kwun. (Reprinted from Map & Directory, Tai Kwun. Copyright by The Jockey Club CPS Limited. Retrieved from https://www.taikwun.hk/en/visit/map_directory)

During our visit to Tai Kwun, it is observed and noticed that the Storytelling Spaces are particularly small and located in non-prime areas. For instance, the room for “The Story of Central Police Station” is on underground level two. The obscurity of the location reduces the interests of visitors to explore. On the contrary, the prime areas, such as ground floor and upper floors with terraces, are rented out to shops and bars. As a case in point, the Parade Ground, located closest to the entrance, is surrounded by restaurants and shops including famous brands such as Vivienne Tam. These dispositions have done the purpose of heritage preservation and promotion of art a disservice. Another prominent example is the JC Contemporary, originally designed to promote contemporary art, sits at the furthest corner of the structure, requiring visitors to go through the Parade Ground and the relatively long Tai Kwun Lane before reaching the museum. Since the easily accessible areas have been designed for commercial instead of serving historical and artistic preservation purposes, it is hence deduced that the Jockey Club CPS Limited is placing such a stronger emphasis on commercial gains to the point where they overshadowed the “main motives”.

Trace 2: Localization and Language

The second trace is the signs of localization. Localization refers to the process of adapting a product or content to a specific locale or market in order to boost its development (Globalisation & Localisation Association, n.d.). After visiting various restaurants in Tai Kwun, a few interesting names for dishes and beverages were discovered, including ‘Maximum Sentence’, ‘1997 Punch’, ‘Vet Antidote’ and ‘D Hell Curry Chicken’. It is hence deduced that the history of Tai Kwun influenced the naming process, integrating commercial elements with revitalization. Those “localized” names are inspired by the original functions and the history of Tai Kwun. However, without adequate information, visitors will find difficulty in understanding the hidden meanings and stories. The attempts of location serve the sole purpose of commercialization. In an 8-page menu at one of the bars, only three localized drinks are provided, while the others are box-standard drinks that can be found anywhere. Visitors may hence find it difficult to discern the preservation of cultural and historical value of Tai Kwun by this mean. Besides, only a few bars or restaurants, such as Hidden Bars, have adopted the theme of prison cells to match with the original function of Tai Kwun. Though the localization of catering in Tai Kwun helps to promote the historical value of Tai Kwun, there is indubitably more emphasis on the commercial and business aspect.

Figure 3. "Localized” names for drinks in the Dispensary, a bar at Tai Kwun.

Trace 3: Commercialized nature of Tai Kwun

The third trace is the overriding value of profit maximization over cultural conservation. Owing to Hong Kong’s long tradition of economic development, integration of business elements into heritage conservation is genuinely accepted as a normality for locals and visitors. The dominating group, Hong Kong Jockey Club, advocates the ‘Value of Central District’ - a pursuit of economic wealth, efficiency, development and globalization. These elements served as the index for social progress and further developed into the core value of Hong Kong. The economic benefit, therefore, became a critical consideration in developments of every aspect. One of the interviewees mentioned that allocating public funds to financially support heritage conservation is not sustainable in the long run. This is due to the operation model of heritage revitalization is being heavily influenced by the ideology of the Hong Kong Jockey Club: minimizing the loss and increasing the profits by adding business elements in operation of the heritage. This allow the project to achieve self-sufficiency and sustainability in management, rather than solely relying on insufficient government funds, which would have never broken even, not to mention made a profit. Therefore, business elements have to be added into Tai Kwun revitalization project in order to follow the cost-effectiveness principle. As suggested by the interview, under the influence of the dominating ideology of the dominating power, Tai Kwun revitalization tends to focus on cost-effectiveness.

Figure 4. The Jockey Club Contemporary, an art gallery displaying various contemporary arts in Tai Kwun. (Photo by Chengting Xie/ CC BY 3.0)

Besides, it will be a huge generalization to declare the idea that heritage conservation merely requires preserving the original hardware of the building and brief introduction of history. Interviewees acknowledged the alteration of space utilization in Tai Kwun, as long as the architectural style of the building is intact with the location’s history in mind. They also found development acceptable as long as it the space is used to its full potential. Extra commercial elements also enhanced the attractiveness of the site. Therefore, it is concluded that under the influence of cultural hegemony - ‘value of central district’, the inheritance and importance of history and culture of colonial Hong Kong have been gradually minimized. Instead, the financial gains brought by the commercial elements are far more paramount. Moreover, only 2 out of 6 halls of Victoria Prison in Tai Kwun are kept in their original design and are used for history introduction. The remaining halls, however, were redesigned into restaurants or abolished. The evidence reveals that the most fundamental element of revitalization, the original function of the building, has already been abandoned. Unable to retain its function of illustrating colonial history, Tai Kwun seems to have lost its core purpose. The significance of historical heritage conservation is not fully shown in this preservation project.

4.  Conclusion

Through studying the three aforementioned traces, the Hong Kong Jockey Club, as the dominating power, enforces the ideology that commercial elements are indispensable in Tai Kwun revitalization. They justified their actions taken to achieve financial sustainability of heritage revitalization. Initial evidence reveals the financial sustainability is of greater emphasis than the preservation of history and art. However, further investigation is required for a comprehensive assessment of the effects of commercial elements in the Tai Kwun revitalization project. Tai Kwun is not only a tangible cultural heritage illustrating the colonial history of Hong Kong, but also a community landmark for our contemporary society. Therefore, we should rethink whether commercial gains or cultural preservation should be prioritized when revitalizing historical establishments.

5.  References

Anderson, J. (2009). Understanding cultural geography: places and traces. Routledge.

Globalization and Localization Association. (2017, September 15). What is Localization? Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.galaglobal.org/industry/intro-language-industry/what-localization

The Hong Kong Jockey Club. (2015, November 6). Open call for an art exhibition and request for retail proposals at revitalized heritage site - The Jockey Club CPS Limited will operate as Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Art. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.hkjc.com/english/corporate/racing_news_item.asp?in_file=/english/news/2015-11/news_2015110601410.html

The Jockey Club CPS Limited. (2018). Revitalization Timeline. Retrieved December 1, 2018, from https://www.taikwun.hk/en/taikwun/conservation/restoration_story