On November 14–15, 2025, the 4th Hongwen Culture and Arts Development Forum (HCADF) was successfully held in Hong Kong. Under the theme "Interdisciplinary Possibilities in Arts Education," the forum brought together over 280 education researchers, cultural scholars, and arts practitioners from 12 countries and regions to explore pathways and strategies for arts education to transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Four-Year Journey in Review

At the opening ceremony, the HCADS Secretary-General delivered a welcome address on behalf of the Society, reviewing the forum's four-year development. From the inaugural forum's "Educational Innovation and Cultural Regeneration" to this edition's "Interdisciplinary Possibilities in Arts Education," the forum's themes have steadily deepened and participation has continued to expand, establishing it as an important academic exchange platform in education, culture, and arts across the Asia-Pacific.

The Secretary-General noted that the forum's trajectory reflects the Asia-Pacific education community's growing attention to humanities education issues. The first forum focused on fundamental questions of educational innovation; the second responded to the era-defining challenge of digital transformation; the third delved into the contemporary transformation of traditional culture; and this edition broadened the horizon to the integration and innovation between arts education and other disciplines — forming a logically coherent, progressively deepening arc of scholarly exploration.

Keynote Speeches

In the keynote session, Professor Zhou Yifan from the Institute of Education at Nanjing University delivered a speech titled "Humanities Education in the Age of AI: Challenges and Responses." He noted that the development of artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the form and content of education, but the cultivation of humanistic spirit remains an irreplaceable educational core. How to uphold the value of humanities education amid technological change is the fundamental question facing contemporary educators.

Professor Zhou proposed an educational framework of "technology-enabled, humanities-centred," emphasizing that AI should be regarded as a tool for education, not its purpose. Drawing on Nanjing University's curriculum reform practices as an example, he demonstrated how AI-assisted teaching can coexist with the cultivation of students' critical thinking, humanistic concern, and creativity.

Professor Sarah Lim from Singapore Management University delivered a speech titled "Pathways for Cultivating Humanistic Literacy in Entrepreneurship Education." Using Singapore's higher education reforms as a case study, she explored how to integrate humanistic concern into an innovation- and entrepreneurship-oriented education system and cultivate future leaders with both business acumen and humanistic sensibility. Professor Lim's research shows that cultivating humanistic literacy not only does not weaken students' entrepreneurial capacity but can enhance their sense of social responsibility and sustainable development awareness.

Parallel Sessions

This year's forum featured four parallel sessions, focusing respectively on cross-media experiments in visual arts education, synergies between music and language education, drama education and social-emotional learning, and design thinking in basic education. The sessions received over 130 academic papers and case reports, of which 86 were selected for oral presentation following review.

The visual arts education session explored how new technologies such as digital media and virtual reality can expand the expressive space and teaching methods of visual arts education. Multiple presenters shared practical cases combining traditional art education with digital creation tools, prompting deep reflection on the role of technology in arts education.

The music and language education session focused on the intersection of these two disciplinary domains, exploring how music education can facilitate language acquisition and how language education can leverage musical elements to enhance teaching effectiveness. Researchers from several Southeast Asian countries shared unique experiences of integrating music and language education within their respective cultural contexts.

The drama education session centred on the application of drama in social-emotional learning, discussing how to cultivate students' empathy, communication skills, and emotional management through drama activities. Multiple case studies demonstrated that drama education offers unique advantages in promoting students' holistic development.

The design thinking session addressed how to introduce design methodology into basic education to cultivate students' innovative thinking and problem-solving abilities. Presenters shared experiences in developing design thinking curricula from different education systems, offering new ideas for basic education reform.

Roundtable Dialogue and Young Scholars Session

The roundtable dialogue unfolded around "The Future Shape of Arts Education," with six scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds engaging in in-depth discussion on the objectives, curriculum design, teacher training, and assessment systems of arts education. Participating scholars broadly agreed that arts education should not be confined within specific disciplinary categories but should become a pervasive educational philosophy, deeply integrated with science, humanities, society, and other fields.

The Young Scholars Session was a highlight of this year's forum. Twenty-four young researchers under 40 from 8 countries and regions presented their latest research findings. Their research directions spanned cutting-edge topics including digital media arts education, community-engaged cultural projects, and the application of virtual reality in art appreciation education, showcasing the academic vision and innovative spirit of a new generation of scholars.

Forum Outcomes and Outlook

At the closing ceremony, the Society announced that the 5th HCADF will continue to be held in Hong Kong in November 2026. The academic outputs of this forum will be compiled and published as Interdisciplinary Possibilities in Arts Education: Proceedings of the 4th HCADF, to be incorporated into the Society's academic resource library.

The successful convening of this year's forum once again demonstrates that the HCADF has become an indispensable academic exchange platform in education, culture, and arts across the Asia-Pacific, making positive contributions to advancing regional educational innovation and cultural development.