Festival Brazil
A summer showcase of Brazilian art and culture at Southbank Centre, London
Project dates: 19 June to 5 September 2010
Working in more than 88 countries, we see the understanding of different cultures as an essential part of building international business relationships.
This year we are celebrating the vibrancy of modern Brazil with a series of worldwide events and activities as part of our global Cultural Exchange programme. Following our focus on India in 2009 and China in 2008, it will provide insight into one of the world's rapidly growing economies.
Brazil's economic resilience and extraordinary cultural diversity makes it an exciting country on which to focus in 2010, especially as it becomes the subject of intense interest ahead of the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
At the centre is our sponsorship of Festival Brazil at Southbank Centre in London, a summer showcase of Brazilian art and culture from 19 June to 5 September 2010.
Click here to find out more about our Festival Brazil programme
The Perth Festival of the Arts
Perth, Scotland
Project dates: 19 - 31 May 2010
Following the opening of our first retail branch in Perth in 2008, we are sponsoring the Perth Festival of the Arts 2010, which includes three productions by English Touring Opera and a series of concerts by Perthshire Schools.
The HSBC Perth Festival Operas, staged in Perth Theatre, include Don Pasquale by Donizetti, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart and A Midsummer Night's Dream by Britten.
The Festival programme also includes orchestral concerts, rock concerts, jazz, comedy and art exhibitions featuring American soprano Barbara Bonney, The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Opera, US singer-songwriter Don McLean and comedian Rich Hall.
A series of special events coincides with Perth 800, a year-long celebration of the 800th anniversary of the granting of the Royal Burgh Charter to Perth by King William the Lion of Scotland in 1210.
Click here to visit the Perth Festival of the Arts' website
The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme
England, Brazil, China and India
Project dates: ongoing
The Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme works with 18 and 19 year olds in full-time education, training or apprenticeship or who are active in the youth sector in England. It aims to help develop an understanding of the opportunities and challenges that young people face in the new global economy and give them a voice in the debate about Britain's future.
Every year in July and August, 100 promising young people embark on a six week journey to Brazil, China or India to investigate issues of culture, language, education, enterprise and the environmental effects of globalisation and to learn what a positive role they can play in the world.
The trip includes spending two weeks as the guest of a global company, including HSBC, which is a major corporate partner of the programme. We run corporate social responsibility projects around the world, including São Paulo in Brazil, which visiting Fellows have been actively involved in during their stay with us.
For more information on HSBC's involvement in the programme visit the Prime Minister's Global Fellowship programme website.
On their return to England, all Fellows automatically become part of a network of active globally-minded young people in England that share their experiences and learning on local and national platforms to raise awareness of global issues.
Rivers of the World
UK and internationally
Dates: ongoing since 2007
Rivers of the World, the flagship art and education project of The Mayor's Thames Festival, aims to promote cultural understanding, communication and dialogue among 13 and 14 year-old students in major UK cities. It has been supported by our Global Education Trust since 2007.
Using rivers as a theme, the project engages the students through international art projects and a programme of workshops with professional arts facilitators that help them to create large artworks for public display in participating cities around the world.
In London, for example, schools are linked with others overseas and pupils from the participating cities study their river and share what they learn. Other partner cities have included Cape Town in South Africa (focusing on the River Liesbeek), Sao Paulo in Brazil (River Tietê) and Shanghai in China (Suzhou Creek and Huangpu River).
Click here to find out more about Rivers of the World
Click here to find out more about our Global Education TrustExamples of public art displays created during previous projects
Past projects
Indian Summer
A season of programming exploring Indian cultureProject date: May - October 2009
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We partnered together with the British Museum in 2009 for Indian Summer, a season dedicated to Indian culture featuring a unique programme of exhibitions, performances, lectures and film screenings from May to October.
We sponsored the season, comprising Garden and Cosmos: the Royal Paintings of Jodhpur, an exhibition that provided a rare opportunity to view paintings of outstanding interest and variety that had never previously been seen in Europe: an India Landscape, a specially commissioned space presenting Indian biodiversity in the Museum's forecourt in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: and a rich and varied public programme.
Click here to find out more about Indian Summer
Residency programmes
HSBC launched a series of innovative residency programmes in 2008 to facilitate Cultural Exchange, with the first taking place between the UK and China.
Project date: 2008 - 2009
China Design Now
An exhibition of contemporary Chinese design at the V&A, London.
Project date: 2008
China Now
The UK's largest ever festival of Chinese culture.
Project date: 2008
Mongolian Arts Exhibition
An exhibition of works celebrating the Chinese Inner Mongolian grassland painters
Project date: November 2008
Hosted at HSBC's Group Headquarters in Canary Wharf, London this exhibition brought the traditional art of Inner Mongolia to the heart of the capital.
The Inner Mongolia region is a province of 24 million people located in the north of the People's Republic of China. The region is a vast 1.18 million km2. The grasslands that featured in the paintings were symbolic of the region and often appear in traditional Mongolian art, which celebrates the nomadic traditions of the local ‘Horseback People'.
This display celebrated the work of 26 contemporary grassland painters and was on display from 10 - 21 November 2008.
Wimbledon Grass Installations
Capturing the essence of Wimbledon
Project date: June 2008
As the official banking partner of Wimbledon, HSBC celebrated the staff, fans and players who contribute to one of the greatest tennis tournaments in the world by commissioning these innovative grass installations.
With players from over 60 countries taking part and fans from many nations visiting London's SW19, the tournament brings together talent and interest from right across the globe. It is a truly international celebration.
The series of grass portraits captured the essence of the competition - as Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam event played on grass - and told the stories of those people who make Wimbledon the momentous occasion that it is.
These fascinating pieces were conceived by the creative team at JWT and produced by British artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, who used variations in light to change the colour of the grass and reproduce the photos of their subjects.
The installations were displayed at Wimbledon from 27 June to 6 July2008.
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