RECREATION, SPORTS AND THE ARTS
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Museums
Hong Kong Museum of Art
The Hong Kong Museum of Art received 149 870 visitors and 503 school parties of 14 483 students in 1994.
The museum's permanent galleries on contemporary Hong Kong art, historical pictures, Chinese antiquities and Chinese fine art continued to display selected items from the museum collection on a rotation basis. The special exhibition gallery was devoted to the staging of local and overseas exhibitions on both Chinese and Western art.
Major events held during the year included the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition 1994; The Passionate Realm - Restrospective of Fang Zhaoling; Encounter with Zhu Qizhan - Selection of Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy from the Zhanyuantang Collection; the Marc Chagall exhibition, a joint presentation with the Consulate-General of France; and The Arts of the Indian Courts, a joint presentation with the Victoria and Albert Museum. A special acoustic guide service on the exhibits at the major shows was available to visitors.
The Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware organised exhibitions on Chinese Tea Drinking; Selected Works of Contemporary Yixing Potters and Ancient Chinese Tea Wares from the National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing, to cultivate interest in the art of tea- drinking and teaware appreciation.
The Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre provides studio support for practising artists. It is equipped with workshop facilities for ceramics, sculpture and print-making for hire by artists at subsidised rates.
Hong Kong Space Museum
The Hong Kong Space Museum provided an educational and entertaining experience for its visitors through its 55 groups of permanent interactive exhibits housed in the Hall of Astronomy and Hall of Space Science. In 1994, 291 000 people visited the exhibition halls. Temporary exhibitions on U.S. Environmental Technologies, Comet Crash, 25th Anniversary of the Moon Landing and Yellowstone National Park were also mounted.
Attractions offered by the museum's Space Theatre included three Omnimax shows (Tropical Rainforest, Fires of Kuwait and Yellowstone), three sky shows (Eyes in the Sky, Comet Crash and Moonlanding — 25 Years On) and two school shows (The New Solar System and The Friendly Sky). These shows attracted 530 000 people.
Hong Kong Science Museum
The Hong Kong Science Museum was a popular place for visitors to discover the wonders of science and technology. In 1994, 660 000 people visited the museum. Altogether, 194 activities were held, attracting 13 000 participants.
Some 500 exhibits were displayed in the permanent exhibition areas. Predominantly interactive, these exhibits illustrated various scientific principles and the daily applications of technology. Live demonstrations were also presented by museum staff. Three special exhibitions entitled Dinosaurs, Our Time in Space and Sports Works were presented during the year.
In addition, the museum provided lectures and workshops for teachers and students, 'fun' science experiments for children, and computer courses for families and the general public.