The Hong Kong Jockey Club is delighted to support the French May Arts Festival for the 14th straight year, with the Club’s Charities Trust serving as Major Partner once again.This year’s festival will run from March to July and feature a wide range of arts programmes and educational initiatives. The festival’s opening programme, and a key highlight, is The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation exhibition. It will be on view from 15 March to 13 July at M+ West Gallery and is co-organised by M+ and the Musée national Picasso-Paris, with the Club serving as title sponsor. It’s among celebratory activities to mark the Club’s 140th anniversary.
The exhibition’s opening ceremony was held at M+ West Gallery today (13 March).Attending officials included HKSAR Government Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law; Club Steward Nicholas Hunsworth; Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe; Chairman of the Board of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Henry Tang; Chairman of the M+ Board Bernard Chan; Chief Executive Officer of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Betty Fung; Museum Director of M+ Suhanya Raffel; President of the Musée national Picasso-Paris Cécile Debray; and Co chairman of the Board of French May Arts Festival Mignonne Cheng and Pansy Ho.
Officiating at the opening ceremony of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation exhibition were HKSAR Government Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism Rosanna Law (2nd left); Club Steward Nicholas Hunsworth (1st left); Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau Christile Drulhe (1st right); and Chairman of the Board of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority Henry Tang (2nd right).
Sports and Culture is one of the priority funding areas for the Club’s Charities Trust.Speaking at the ceremony, Club Steward Nicholas Hunsworth remarked that the Club is dedicated to fostering arts and cultural development in Hong Kong. This aligns with the Central Government’s vision of developing Hong Kong into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, as outlined in the National 14th Five-Year Plan. The Club is supporting the festival’s arts education programmes as part of its commitment to make the arts accessible to all, thereby enriching local cultural development.
Club Steward Nicholas Hunsworth delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation is the first major exhibition of Pablo Picasso’s work in Hong Kong for more than a decade. It showcases over 60 masterpieces by the Spanish artist from the Musée national Picasso-Paris alongside around 130 pieces by contemporary Asian and Asian-diasporic artists from the M+ Collections. It’s the first time masterpieces from the Musée national Picasso-Paris are shown in dialogue with a museum collection in Asia.
Installation view of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation,2025.Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong
The Club’s Charities Trust is supporting other programmes at the French May Arts Festival under its theme of “Vive L’art” including French Rendezvous@Tai Kwun. The world renowned French troupe Remue Ménage will present a street parade entitled Le Bal at Tai Kwun’s Parade Ground that marries visual arts, circus, dance and puppetry art. For the duration of Remue Ménage’s stay, a series of workshops will be held for local artists,parents and their children together with an artist-in-residence programme to promote cultural exchange and collaboration between French and local performers.
Installation view of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: Picasso for Asia—A Conversation,2025.Image courtesy of M+, Hong Kong
In collaboration with the National Health Commission (NHC) and funded by the Institute of Philanthropy (IoP), The Hong Kong Jockey Club Medical and Health Scholarship-cum Fellowship for Top Talent in the Mainland (the “Initiative”) has supported 29 top medical and health professionals from the Mainland to undertake Master’s, doctoral studies and post-doctoral training at three universities in Hong Kong. Additionally, in mid-April, the programme supported 25 senior officials of the national health system to undertake a National Health System at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
The inaugural Hong Kong Jockey Club Medical and Health Scholarship-cum-Fellowship for Top Talent in the Mainland awarded a total of 29 long-term programme scholarships and fellowships, supporting top medical and health talent in the Mainland to undertake Master’s, doctoral studies and post-doctoral training at three universities in Hong Kong during the 2024/25 academic year.
Since the signing of the “Collaboration Agreement Between the National Health Commission and The Hong Kong Jockey Club on a Scholarship-cum-Fellowship for Top Talent in the Mainland” between NHC and The Hong Kong Jockey Club (“the Club”) in March last year, and with support from the Health Human Resources Development Centre of the NHC (“Programme Management Office”), preparation and selection work for the Initiative has been well underway. The goal is to nurture a cohort of core talent with professional competence, strategic thinking and a global perspective in the fields of medicine and health. After rigorous assessment by a selection committee comprising leading medical and health experts in the Mainland and Hong Kong, 29 medical and health professionals across the nation were awarded scholarships or fellowships to pursue Master’s degrees, doctoral degrees and post-doctoral training in medical research, public health, biomedical sciences and health management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The University of Hong Kong (“HKU”). The scholarship recipients commenced their studies or training in the 2024/25 academic year.
Chief Executive of the HKSAR John Lee (2nd right), the then Vice-minister of the National Health Commission Lei Haichao (2nd left), Club Chairman Michael Lee (1st right) and Secretary for Health of the HKSAR Government Professor Lo Chung-mau (1st left) pose for a photo at the signing ceremony in March 2024 in Beijing.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Leadership Programme for Senior Executives in the National Health System completed in April 2025 at HKUST was the first short course under the Initiative. It aims to enhance the leadership and professional competency of senior officials in the national health system in support of the implementation of the Healthy China 2030 Blueprint. The 25 scholarship recipients included senior officials from central ministries (including the NHC), as well as health commissions and medical institutions from 19 provinces and cities. The training course not only provided participants with opportunities to broaden their horizons and deepen their professional knowledge, but also laid a solid foundation for future co-operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland in the fields of medicine and health. The Programme Management Office is planning to organise a second short course at HKU in June 2025.
The Initiative also awarded scholarships to 25 senior officials from the central ministries (including the NHC), as well as various provincial and municipal health commissions and medical institutions in April 2025 to participate in The Hong Kong Jockey Club Leadership Programme for Senior Executives in the National Health System at HKUST.
Mr. Lester Huang, Chairman of IoP and a Steward of the Club, stated: “Talent and sector development is one of the key priority areas of our charity strategy. This scholarship programme fully leverages Hong Kong’s role as an international education hub, working closely with local universities to provide training for the country’s medical and health talent, exemplifying our commitment to community betterment. We are grateful for the support given to the scholarship programme by the universities, and will continue to support other local universities in participating in the high-quality development of the national medical
The Hong Kong Jockey Club Medical and Health Scholarship-cum-Fellowship for Top Talent in the Mainland is funded by a donation of about HK$300 million from IoP, established jointly by the Club and its Charities Trust in September 2023. The programme focuses on the development of top professional talent in clinical services and health management, demonstrating IoP’s strong support for the Healthy China 2030 Blueprint and the 14th Five-Year Plan on health-talent development.
