HONG KONG 2005

In 2005, the Hong Kong Museum of Art staged 12 special exhibitions — drawn from local and overseas sources. The highlight of the year was the exhibition 'Impressionism: Treasures from the National Collection of France', a joint presentation with the Association Française d'Action Artistique and the Musée d'Orsay that was part of the 'Year of France in China' programme. The exhibition not only provided the public with the opportunity to see works by major artists such as Renoir, Monet and Cézanne, but also marked the close cultural relationship between China and France.

Another special exhibition, Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition 2005, featured successful entries selected from an open competition that was launched as a territory-wide art event. The exhibition illustrated the most recent developments in contemporary Hong Kong art as well as the creativity of local artists, in particular budding young artists.

Throughout the year, the museum continued to collaborate with eminent local artists and collectors to present exhibitions, including 'Secret Codes — The Art of Hon Chi-fun', 'Chinese Paintings from the C.P. Lin Collection' and 'Auspicious Emblems: Chinese Cultural Treasures — 45th Anniversary Exhibition of the Min Chiu Society'.

To stimulate the public's interest in art, the museum also organised a wide range of education and extension programmes, including video shows, art lectures, and meet-the-artist gatherings. Other educational activities, such as Chinese paper cutting, festive story-telling and auspicious ceramic making were specially arranged to coincide with the 'Highlights of the Collection — Festive Hong Kong' exhibitions. The museum also joined forces with the education and cultural sectors to present the International Museum Day 2005, School Culture Day, the International Arts Carnival 2005 and a series of academic seminars co-organised with the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Together with the various education and extension programmes, the exhibitions attracted more than 504 000 visitors and participants during the year.

The Museum of Tea Ware collection features various kinds of tea ware and related vessels from the collection of the late Dr K S Lo and rare Chinese ceramics and seals donated by the K S Lo Foundation. Two special exhibitions were held in 2005. 'Pottery and Porcelain: A Journey of Discovery' featured refined ceramics dating from the Ming dynasty to the 20th century and 'Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters 2005', a display of work by 70 local potters selected from the 2004 competition.

The museum also organised a variety of educational activities, such as demonstrations on pottery making and Chinese tea drinking. During the year, it attracted more than 192 000 visitors.

The year 2005 marked the 30th anniversary of the Hong Kong Museum of History. A series of activities was arranged to celebrate the event, including the Interactive Theatre that showed the social changes of Hong Kong from the late 1950s to the reunification of Hong Kong with China in 1997, and the Open Day held on August 27. More than 8 000 people participated in these two programmes.

Throughout the year, the museum continued to present a wide range of exhibitions from 'Dr Sun Yat-sen and Nanyang' jointly organised with the Sun Yat-sen Nanyang Memorial Hall from Singapore to 'The Paris Reflections: Photographs from the Centre Pompidou' jointly organised with the Centre Prompidou to 'Impressions of the East: The Art of George Chinnery'.

'The History of Ta Teh Institute' jointly organised with the Museum of the Peasant Movement Institute in Guangzhou traced the history of this art college established by the Chinese Communist Party in the 1940s and 'East Meets West: Cultural Relics from the Pearl River Delta Region' revealed the extent of commercial and cultural contact between China and the West in different dynasties by displaying cultural relics from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. The museum received a total of 562 700 visitors during the year.

The museum also organised regular lectures and workshops. Two series of lectures in particular — 'The Growth of Hong Kong' and 'The 60th Anniversary of the Victory of the War of Resistance against Japan— jointly presented with the Modern Chinese History Society of Hong Kong received an overwhelming response from the public and schools.

The Hong Kong Museum of History also manages three branch museums — the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence in Shau Kei Wan, the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum in Sham Shui Po and the Law Uk Folk Museum in Chai Wan. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum completed its improvement works by the end of the year. They attracted 177 500, 30 300 and 23 500 visitors respectively.

Converted from the old Lei Yue Mun Fort in Shau Kei Wan, the Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence occupies about 34 000 square metres and its standing exhibition, '600 Years of Hong Kong's Coastal Defence in Hong Kong' depicts Hong Kong's history of coastal defence from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the British period, Japanese invasion to the period after Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty. Thematic exhibition galleries stage displays on topics related to the military history and defence of Hong Kong. Visitors may also explore the military relics in the Redoubt and on the Historical Trail, such as the gun batteries, torpedo station, caponiers and magazines.

During the year, three thematic exhibitions were presented on the museum premises, including 'The Eight-year War of Resistance' jointly organised with the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance against Japanese Aggression. In addition, the museum jointly organised 'The Life of Lin Zexu' with the Lin Zexu Foundation and Ta Kung Pao at the Hong Kong Central Library, which attracted a total of 7 400 visitors during the 10-day exhibition period. The museum attracted 177 500 visitors during the year.

Major exhibitions held at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum in 2005 ranged from 'The Silk Road: Treasures from Xinjiang' to 'From Eastern Han to High Tang: A Journey of Transculturation'. Featuring some 300 national treasures from 14 provinces, most of which were grade-one relics, 'From Eastern Han to High Tang' traced the artistic and cultural changes that took place in China from the 3rd to 8th century due to the arrival of non-Chinese ethnic peoples. The exhibition attracted 300 000 visitors. 'The Silk Road' revealed the rich and diverse cultural landscape in Xinjiang in the period from the Bronze Age to the 14th century. The exhibits were assembled by the Xinjiang Cultural Heritage Bureau and featured two rarely seen ancient Xinjiang mummies.

A total of 1 128 educational and extension activities such as seminars, lectures, field trips, performances, workshops and competitions were organised during the year including a two-day exposition to celebrate International Museum Day 2005, Hong Kong in May.

The museum's exhibition programmes, together with its educational and extension activities, attracted 657 671 visitors and participants.

The Heritage Museum also manages three branch museums — Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong Railway Museum and Sheung Yiu Folk Museum. The Sam Tung Uk Museum in Tsuen Wan was originally a Hakka walled village built in 1786. It was declared a monument in 1981 and later converted into a museum. The Railway Museum in Tai Po consists of the old Tai Po Market Railway Station building, two historical locomotives and various coaches. The station building, in Chinese style, was built in 1913 and declared a monument in 1984. The Sheung Yiu Folk Museum in the Sai Kung Country Park is housed in a Hakka village built in the late 19th century. It comprises eight domestic units, pig pens, an open courtyard and an entrance gate-tower. The village and a nearby lime kiln were gazetted as monuments in 1981.

In 2005, the Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong Railway Museum and Sheung Yiu Folk Museum attracted 234 877, 343 801 and 50 672 visitors respectively.

'Flowers in the Mirrors', an exhibition celebrating both the world of mirror science and the work of Qing Dynasty writer Li Ru-zhen, was staged at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris from September 13, 2004 to March 6, 2005 as one of the exchange programmes of the Year of France in China. The exhibition attracted a total attendance of 261 000.

In exchange for 'Flowers', La Cité des Sciences exhibition 'Decoding the Hair' was presented jointly with the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong between March 1 and May 20 in Hong Kong. Scores of exhibits composed of panels, multi-media and computers, and interactive games were on display to cover hair structure, product science and different cultures in the context of hair. The exhibition attracted a total attendance of 78 000.

'Robot Zoo', which ran from June until October, featured eight giant robots and 13 interactive exhibits illustrating the biomechanics of how real animals work. A total of 215 000 visitors attended.

On July 19, the 900-square-metre Telecommunications Gallery was fully opened. With 61 groups of exhibits which are mainly interactive, the gallery portrays the continuous breakthroughs in telecommunication technologies.

The museum jointly produced the 'SARS 100 Days — Overcome in Unity' touring exhibition with the Museum of Medical Sciences to commemorate the community's contribution in the battle against the disease

The Science News Corner staged three exhibitions in 2005, 'Virtual Aquarium', 'Ozone Applications' and 'Health Benefits of Teas', which were jointly developed by the museum and three local universities with the aim of introducing university research projects to the public.

The museum also organised the Summer Science Weeks for family visitors consisting of 106 activities including exhibitions, guided tours, fun experiment classes, workshops, demonstrations and popular science lectures.

Jointly organised by the Science Museum, the China Association for Science and Technology and Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre, the Distinguished Chinese Scientists Lecture Series invited five renowned scientists from the Mainland and Hong Kong to deliver lectures in early December. Professor Zhao Zhongxian, Professor Zeng Yi, Professor Ou-Yang Ziyuen, Professor S M Sun and Profesor S Y Tong spoke about the recent development and achievements of their areas of research including superconductors, viruses and cancers, aerospace technology, genetic engineering and nanotechnology.

Over the year, the museum worked with academic institutions and professional bodies on a number of special projects to promote science. Among them were the Fun Science Competition, Robotic Olympiad 2005, Robot Animal Design Competition, the Eighth Primary Science Project Exhibition and the 38th Joint School Science Exhibition.

In 2005, the museum's exhibitions and extension activities attracted more than 967 000 visitors and participants.

Hong Kong Space Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary with a year of exhibitions, competitions and lectures. A star-gazing gala was held jointly with various astronomical societies on the evening of November 12 at the Avenue of Stars where the 60 telescopes provided were used by over 6 800 participants.

On November 29, the museum jointly organised a seminar with the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups in the Stanley Ho Space Theatre for the astronauts and delegates of Shenzhou-6 to meet the young professionals of Hong Kong.

During the year, the museum launched two Sky Shows, four Omnimax films and four School Shows. They attracted some 380 300 viewers. The museum also organised 208 extension activities that attracted over 28 300 participants. Twelve temporary special exhibitions together with the permanent exhibits in the Hall of Astronomy and Hall of Space Science attracted more than 356 800 visitors.

The Hong Kong Film Archive's major functions are to acquire, preserve, catalogue and document Hong Kong films and related materials. With a gross floor area of 7 200 square metres, its major facilities include a cinema, an exhibition hall, a resource centre and four temperature-controlled collection stores. It has already acquired more than 6 000 films and 760 000 items of related materials, mainly through donations and deposits. Major acquisitions include donations from Universe Film Distribution Co Ltd, Emperor Motion Pictures and Pearl City Video Ltd.

During the year, eight exhibitions were organised and more than 450 screenings and seminars were held at the archive. In addition, the archive launched the Film Education Programme for Students and Film Appreciation Programme for Senior Citizens. It continued to make a positive contribution to film research and conducted oral history interviews with film veterans. It also published the Hong Kong Filmography V (1960-1964) and a number of film-related publications.

The archive's resource centre, equipped with computers, independent video booths and a rich collection of film-related reading materials, was well patronised by the public.

In 2005, the archive attracted more than 212 660 visitors.

The Art Promotion Office aims to promote local visual arts through wide-ranging activities focusing on public and community art. The office places importance on undertaking projects with different partners, which helps further enhance art appreciation and participation among members of the public.

One of the award-winning proposals in the Public Art Scheme 2003-04 was commissioned and installed in the new Ma On Shan Public Library and 10 were commissioned for installation under stage two of the 'New Face of Heritage — Installation of Public Artworks at Yat Tung Estate' project jointly organised with the Housing Department. Seventy-two winning photos of the 'Camera Yuen Long: Art-in-Subways' project were exhibited in the Yuen Long Theatre in May. The photos will be reproduced as pictorial tiles by the Highways Department and placed on the walls of six subways in Yuen Long. Fifty-nine local artists took part in a lantern painting event held at the new West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade in October and their completed works remained on display to the public.

An exhibition featuring the work of nine individual artists and three art groups — all selected under the third Artists in the Neighbourhood Scheme — was held at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library in June.

The Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, with nine art studios, a lecture theatre, an exhibition hall and a multi-purpose room, focuses on training in the visual arts, promotion and providing facilities for professionals to hire. The fourth Art Specialist Course, which covered five disciplines — ceramics, printmaking, painting, sculpture and ink painting — was designed for art lovers who want to pursue structured professional art training. A graduation exhibition was planned for 2006 to mark the completion of the nine-month course and give recognition to the efforts of the 55 graduates.

The Central Conservation Section continued to play an active role in the conservation of local heritage and cultural property across the territory. During the year, the section had devised, implemented and followed up conservation plans for 860 cultural artefacts including paintings, historical documents, prints and photographs, textiles, metals, ceramics, organic materials and archaeological finds.

The Fireboat Alexander Grantham preservation problems received the section's particular attention during the year. In addition to a major overhaul and restoration work, the site foundation works at Quarry Bay Park where the fireboat would be displayed were completed, with the aim of installing the 500-tonne fireboat in 2006.

The section continued to collaborate with the Airport Authority on the 'Art in Flight — Art Exhibition at the Hong Kong International Airport' project to showcase selected collections from Hong Kong's museums.

The section also organised 26 workshops and guided tours, talks and seminars for the 2005 International Museum Day and received 15 secondary schools that had registered for the year-round School Culture Day programmes. Altogether these educational and extension activities attracted a total of 996 participants including students, teachers, researchers, collectors, overseas museum delegates and the general public.

To foster greater professional exchanges in conservation science and technology, the section was represented at three international conservation conferences and presented two conservation papers at the conferences held in Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition, one conservation intern from Germany and five from the University of Hong Kong were offered short term placements with the section through its Conservation Internship Scheme.