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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):—Ladies and Gentlemen, the meeting is called to order.
MINUTES
The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 April 1982 were confirmed.
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in Cantonese):-
Urban Council's Role in the Visual Arts
The Urban Council has always been closely concerned with the visual arts in Hong Kong, and concurrently with the development of a vigorous and balanced programme for the performing arts, the Council has actively sought, through its Museum of Art, to support, encourage and promote visual art activities for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of Hong Kong.
Each year the Council sets aside a sum of money for the purchase of works of art, and in 1982-83 the Council expects to spend $3.6 million on acquiring suitable works for the collections of its Museum of Art. In addition, a Museum Reserve Fund has been established, to ensure that money allocated for acquisitions are used specifically for this purpose.
By judicious acquisitions, with invaluable advice and assistance from its Honorary Advisers, the Council now possesses good collections in the broad areas of Chinese antiquities and crafts, Chinese paintings and calligraphy, and the art heritage of Hong Kong and its neighbouring regions.
Central to this acquisition policy is the collection of contemporary Hong Kong art, and over the years the Council has actively sought to support and encourage established local artists by purchasing suitable works for its Museum of Art. The exhibition last year on Hong Kong Art 1970-80 with its accompanying catalogue indicates both the range of the Council's support and the diversity of artistic talent to be found in Hong Kong.
In addition, the Council has sought to foster the further growth of the visual arts in Hong Kong, by providing encouragement for local artists, both young and established, through its Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Hong Kong Art, and associated Urban Council Fine Art Awards.
For its exhibition programme at the Museum of Art, the Council's aim has always been to provide within the constraints imposed by the space available, a balanced programme of the best that Hong Kong, Asia and the world has to offer in the field of the visual arts.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
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Currently, under the title "The Chinese Response', the Museum of Art has on display a representative collection of the works of leading overseas Chinese artists who have made an impact in the international art scene.
Over the next twelve months, this exhibition will be followed by major exhibitions on British Drawings and Watercolours from London, New American Paperworks from America, Thai Sculpture from Thailand and contemporary Japanese Pottery from Japan, in addition to exhibitions on Chinese ceramics, bamboo carving, and Chinese paintings of the Lingnam School and of the 20th century, drawn from the collections of the Museum and private collectors in Hong Kong. As always, these exhibitions will be accompanied by informative catalogues, which are designed to inform, educate and entertain both old and young alike.
At another level, the Council has sought to help our young people to cultivate a taste for the visual arts by organizing a variety of museum education and extension activities in the form of travelling mini museum exhibitions to schools and other suitable venues, regular screenings of film shows on various fine art topics, and guided tours of the Museum of Art for school parties and other organized groups. In the coming years these activities will be intensified and further expanded to cover a regular programme of lectures, talks and demonstrations on various aspects of the visual arts.
What of the future? Thanks to the generosity of Mr. K. S. Lo, a former Member of the Urban Council, the Council now owns an invaluable collection of over 400 items of tea ware, mainly Chinese, dating from the seventh to the twentieth century. Work is now in hand to convert Flagstaff House into a specialized branch museum to provide a fitting home for this collection.
Concurrently, the Council plans to provide exhibition halls in its various district cultural facilities which are now under active planning, and when these become available they will increase gallery facilities quite considerably and provide increasing opportunities for local artists and art groups to exhibit their works.
Meanwhile, the provision of artist studios is also under consideration, with a view to providing a suitable environment in which our artists, particularly young artists, can work and learn from each other.
Clearly, however, the Council's capacity in the visual arts cannot be developed to its full extent without the permanent Museum of Art in the Tsim Sha Tsui Cultural Centre. In order to plan for this, the Council supported an overseas study visit of museums by departmental staff in late 1981, whilst the Government engaged a specialist consultant early this year to advise on the schedule of accommodation and facilities for the museum. Now that the consultant has reported, it is to be hoped that the Government will give this project the priority that Hong Kong so richly deserves.
(Mr. Edmund W. H. CHOW and Mr. CHAN Chi-kwan arrived during the Chairman's address.)
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