Hong Kong 2006 - Recreation, Sport and the Arts

In 2006, the museum staged 15 exhibitions, comprising nine special and six permanent exhibitions, drawn from local and overseas sources. Types of art works exhibited included masterpieces from French and American museums, relics of ancient Etruscan civilization, Chinese paintings and calligraphy, Chinese antiquities, and works by contemporary artists in Hong Kong and the Mainland.

The highlight of the year was the exhibition 'Artists and Their Models — Masterpieces from the Centre Pompidou, Paris'. The exhibition was one of the major cultural events of the year which attracted wide press coverage and scored an attendance of over 130 000 visitors. To coincide with the 'Year of Italy in China 2006', an exhibition 'The World of the Etruscans' showcasing pre-Roman culture was presented. Twenty-seven masterpieces of Mark Rothko, one of the leading masters of Abstract Expressionism selected from the National Gallery of Art, Washington D C, were featured to explore the inner being of the artist. This exhibition also illustrated the close cultural relationship with national museums in the United States.

Other highlights included 'Likeness and Unlikeness — A Selection of Works by Qi Baishi from the Liaoning Provincial Museum', a retrospective exhibition on the artistic development of this renowned 20th century Chinese painter. A new display 'Hair Dialogue' featured a recent donation of an avant-garde art piece to dialogue with a major installation work by a renowned local woman artist. To pay homage to senior Hong Kong masters, 'At the East-West Crossroads — The Art of Wucius Wong' was put on show to illustrate the profound accomplishments of the veteran Hong Kong master.

To enable the public to appreciate and absorb a deeper understanding of traditional Chinese art, the museum held a range of exhibitions which included 'Early 20th Century Guangdong Painting', 'Modern Chinese Paintings from the Xubaizhai Collection' and 'Gems of Chinese Ceramics from the Hong Kong Museum of Art'.

The museum also took an active part in various art educational and extension programmes such as the International Museum Day 2006, School Cultural Day and a wide range of in-house programmes. The exhibitions, together with different education and extension programmes, attracted over 462 000 visitors and participants.

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 and two permanent exhibitions were held in 2006. The 'Tea Ware by Hong Kong Potters 2005' featured works by 70 local potters selected from a tea ware competition and the 'Poetry and Ceramic Art: Collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art and the K S Lo Collection of the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware' featured refined ceramic tea vessels dating from the Tang dynasty to the 20th century and introduced tea poetry of different eras. During the year, it attracted more than 212 000 visitors.

Apart from 'The Hong Kong Story' permanent exhibition, the Museum of History presented various thematic exhibitions with museums and cultural institutions from the Mainland and overseas, namely 'Sailing West: Admiral Zheng He's Voyages', 'From Bones to Bytes: Chinese Script Decoded', 'Dr Sun Yat-sen in Paper-cut Silhouette' and 'Football'. These joint presentations facilitated academic and cultural interflow among Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas institutions and historical art lovers. In addition, the museum continued collaborating with government departments, non-profit-making institutions and artists to present exhibitions, that included 'Historical Memorabilia on A Distinguishing Civil Service', 'Documentary of Child Development — Footprints of Children from the 1930s to 2006' and 'A Nostalgic Touch: Exhibition on Kong Kai Ming Collection'. Through these exhibitions, different facets of life, local history and cultural heritage were depicted. The museum attracted 581 600 visitors during the year.

To foster public interest in local history and cultural heritage, the museum also organised a rich variety of education and extension activities.

The Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum, a branch of the Museum of History, opened in December with a presentation of two permanent exhibitions, namely 'Dr Sun Yat-sen and Modern China' and 'Hong Kong in Sun Yat-sen's time'. The museum was converted from the historic building Kom Tong Hall, which was built in 1914.

The Museum of History also manages two other branch museums — the Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb Museum in Sham Shui Po and the Law Uk Folk Museum in Chai Wan, which attracted 58 550 and 22 000 visitors respectively.

The Hong Kong Museum of Coastal Defence was converted from the old Lei Yue Mun Fort in Shau Kei Wan. Its permanent exhibition, '600 Years of Hong Kong's Coastal Defence' depicts Hong Kong's history of coastal defence from the Ming and Qing dynasties, the British period, the Japanese invasion to the period after Hong Kong's reversion to Chinese sovereignty. Visitors may also see the military relics in the Redoubt and on the Historical Trail.

Four year-long thematic exhibitions were presented on the museum premises in 2006, namely 'Archery Traditions of Asia', 'The Eight-year War of Resistance', 'Ancient Chinese Weapons', and 'Fujian Arsenal: Cradle of Modern Chinese Navy'. In addition, a symposium on 'Ancient Chinese Military History and the Thoughts of Sun Zi' was held in March in which over 80 academics and experts from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and other countries took part. Diversified educational activities such as lectures, drills and field visits to military sites were held regularly. The museum attracted 161 900 visitors during the year.

'Leisure and Entertainment' was the theme of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's programmes in 2006. A series of exhibitions were held, which included 'Enlightening Trivialities — Ancient Chinese Pastimes' jointly presented with the National Museum of China; 'Hong Kong's Popular Entertainment' which traced the changes of Hong Kong's major leisure activities over the past 100 years; 'MEGartSTORE' which showcased some 300 artworks in a shopping mall environment with the participation of local artists, architects and designers; and 'The Fun of Collecting' which featured the unique collections of four local collectors.

A total of 1 214 educational and extension activities such as lectures, field trips, performances, workshops and competitions were organised during the year. Worthy of particular mention were two schemes entitled 'MuseKids' and 'MuseTeens'. The former, launched in 2003 for children from kindergarten to primary six levels, aims to provide the children with more opportunities to explore Hong Kong's history, art and culture. Some 6 800 children participated in the 'MuseKids' scheme. The other scheme, MuseTeens, is a new scheme introduced in mid-2006 for secondary school students. A series of training programmes was carried out under the 'MuseTeens' scheme which successfully stimulated an awareness of, and interest in, local heritage among its participants.

The museum's exhibition programmes, together with its educational and extension activities, attracted 514 300 visitors and participants.

The Heritage Museum also manages three branch museums — the 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, was built in 1913 in a Chinese style and was declared a monument in 1984. The Sheung Yiu Folk Museum in the Sai Kung Country Park is located in a Hakka village built in the late 19th century, which 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 2006, the Sam Tung Uk Museum, Hong Kong Railway Museum and Sheung Yiu Folk Museum attracted 202 100, 264 800 and 51 700 visitors respectively.

Notable exhibitions of the year held in the Hong Kong Science Museum included 'Optical Illusion', 'Genomic Revolution' and 'Mission Earthling'. 'Optical Illusion' was a collection of about 100 illusions that fool the eyes and brains and challenge the perception. 'The Genomic Revolution' exhibition examined the extraordinary developments taking place in the field of genomics and explored their impact on science and on everyday life. The 'Mission Earthling' exhibition studied various body systems of the human being through the eyes of visiting aliens.

Two winning entries from the 'Weather Machines' Kinetic Sculptures Design Competition were selected for commissioning to produce and install weather-related kinetic sculptures at the piazza. The sculpture, 'Singing in the Rain' was completed and unveiled in April and the other sculpture 'Whistling Aloft' will be unveiled in 2007.

New collection items were also installed in the Life Sciences Hall. They included the skeletons of Indo-Pacific hump-back dolphin (Chinese white dolphin) and a rough-toothed dolphin 'Siu Tik' donated by the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department.

To introduce current local research and achievement in medical science, the museum staged two thematic exhibitions at the Science News Corner in 2006, namely the 'DNA Technologies for Chinese Herbs Authentication' and 'Grapefruit Forms Bone?'. These exhibitions were jointly developed with The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong respectively.

The museum celebrated its 15th Anniversary on April 18 with a series of special activities, including the 'Photo Collection Campaign' and the photo mosaic together with the exhibition 'From Aspiration to Achievements', 'Science Fest', 'Bubble Magic Show', 'My Favourite Scientists Election' and 'Science Talks' for students.

Jointly organised with the China Association for Science and Technology, Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre and the China Association (HK) for Science and Society Ltd, the 'Distinguished Chinese Scientists Lecture Series 2006' invited renowned scholars from the Mainland and Hong Kong to deliver public lectures at the event in mid-November.

During the year, the museum worked with academic institutions and professional bodies on a number of special projects such as 'Fun Science Competition', 'Robotic Olympiads' and '39th Joint School Science Exhibition' to promote science.

In 2006, the museum's exhibitions and extension activities attracted more than 798 000 visitors and participants.

The museum produced two new Sky Shows which ran throughout the year to introduce astronomy and space science using multi-media and special effects. 'The Moon Revisited' reviewed the moon-landing feat and explored future lunar missions while the 'Hubble Space Telescope' took the audience on a journey through the universe and introduced the significant findings of the telescope.

In response to the demotion of Pluto from planetary status, the museum staged a special exhibition entitled 'The New Definition of Planets', developed a new interactive exhibit called 'Exploring the Solar System' and held a forum on the topic.

The museum also cooperated with universities and astronomical societies in organising a series of astronomical training classes for teachers and students. In 2006, the museum's activities attracted more than 703 000 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 storerooms. It has already acquired more than 6 300 films and 786 000 items of related materials, mainly through donations and deposits. Major acquisitions during 2006 included donation of 199 Shaw Studio films from the Celestial Pictures Ltd.

The archive continued to make a positive contribution to film research and conducted oral history interviews with film veterans. Several publications including the 'Oral History Series (3): Director Chor Yuen', '@LOCATION', 'The Glorious Modernity of Kong Ngee' and 'Frame After Frame' were published following popular demand for them. The archive attracted more than 216 300 visitors in 2006.

The LCSD's 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.

A competition held under the Public Art Scheme 2006 was organised to embellish three LCSD venues namely the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre at Kowloon Park in Tsim Sha Tsui, Ko Shan Road Park in To Kwa Wan and Po Hong Park in Tseung Kwan O. Another exhibition, the 'Mobile Art Expedition', was a partnership project in which the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, New World First Bus Services Limited, New World First Ferry Services Limited and Citybus Limited took part. Artworks selected through an open competition were reproduced for a sixmonth display in bus compartments and at ferry Pier 5 in Central. The 'New Face of Heritage — Installation of Public Artworks at Yat Tung Estate, Tung Chung, Stage Two' project, jointly organised with the Housing Department, was completed with 10 outdoor artworks being commissioned and installed. Together with the works of Stage One project, a beautiful art walk paved by 26 art pieces was formed for the first time in a public estate.

A major community art scheme, 'Artists in the Neighbourhood Scheme III' was carried out through a display of the latest works of outstanding local artists in various districts. Fourteen mobile exhibitions were set up for eight selected artists at venues belonging to the department and its partners.

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 '5th 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. To support and promote the development of Hong Kong art, the centre has also organised a series of 'Artist in Residence Programme' to invite the participation of the award-winning artists of the Hong Kong Art Biennial 2005.

The primary role of the Central Conservation Section is to conserve the collections of public museums, for the benefit of the present and future generation. To do this, the section formulated and implemented treatment plans for a total of 940 cultural objects, including paintings, documents, prints, textiles, metals, ceramics, organic materials and archaeological finds.

A conservation programme for Kom Tong Hall was completed during the year.

The historic 511-tonne Fireboat Alexander Grantham was successfully lifted on to land and installed in its permanent site at Quarry Bay Park in March 2006. A gallery is being built for the boat which will go on public display in mid-2007.

As a continuum of the series of exhibitions at the Hong Kong International Airport, the conservation section staged a new thematic display entitled 'Rhyme of White' at Gate 35 of the Departures Hall to feature a fine selection of white ceramics and marble drawn from the collections of the Hong Kong Museum of Art in March 2006.

As part of its educational and extension activities, the section organised 44 workshops, guided tours, thematic talks and seminars, which attracted a total of 1 280 visitors.