Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts
Hong Kong Science Museum
More than 1,169,300 visited the Science Museum in 2015. Its 'Western Scientific Instruments of the Qing Court' exhibition combined science and history, featuring precious western science and technology collections of the Palace Museum and interactive exhibits that the Science Museum specially produced to explain scientific principles behind the instruments. Other major exhibitions included 'Strange Matter, which introduced the materials used in new products, and 'Out to Sea? The Plastic Garbage Project, which educated visitors on the impact of marine plastic rubbish on the ecosystem and the environment.
The museum co-operated with 26 scientific organisations and government departments to present HK SciFest 2015, offering 80 programmes for families and the public. Science Alive 2015, catering for students, celebrated a century of amazing chemistry-related discoveries. Nineteen secondary students and four teachers took part in the first Young Scientists Study Tour, studying the excavation and reservation of dinosaur fossils in Lufeng, Yunnan.
At the museum's 'Meet the Shaw Laureates 2015' public forum, winners of the Shaw Prize shared the challenges and joy of science. Other education programmes included lecture series by distinguished scientists, competitions and events covering robotics, digital media and fun science.
Hong Kong Space Museum
In 2015, the Hong Kong Space Museum presented one Omnimax Show, two 3D Dome Shows, one Sky Show and two school shows at its Stanley Ho Space Theatre. Besides regular astronomy activities at the museum, stargazing and family programmes were held regularly at its Astropark and iObservatory in Sai Kung.
On the evening of 4 April 2015, the museum organised a 'Night of Total Lunar Eclipse' to observe the total eclipse of the moon at the mid-section of the Avenue of Stars. More than 2,000 people attended the event.
The museum and its permanent exhibition halls were closed for exhibit renewal at the end of 2015. During this closure, the museum launched a new outreach programme, 'Stargazing@School, to bring a portable planetarium and telescopes to schools to introduce stargazing and constellations.
In 2015, some 691,000 people visited exhibitions and shows in the Space Theatre, while more than 27,100 took part in the educational and extension programmes.
Hong Kong Film Archive
In 2015, the Hong Kong Film Archive attracted more than 177,000 visitors. In addition to its permanent exhibition, 'In Memory of Queen's Theatre, it organised three thematic exhibitions: 'The Foundation of Run Run Shaw's Cinema Empire, 'The Labyrinth of Film Scripting' and 'Saving Film: Road to Film Conservation.
The archive acquired 507 films and 23,269 film-related materials in 2015. Major acquisitions included 35mm film prints and trailers from five titles and 16 titles donated by Shaw Movie City
327