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(3) Government's provision of land and funds to support enforcement of the policy on hawkers is vitally important to our street management and improvement of the living environment for the public.
we must
(4) Besides the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangement,
examine the funding position of the Council towards the end of the decade to ensure that Council's work is well provided for post 1997. Mr. Chairman, with these remarks, I support the motion.
DR. PHILIP C. K. Kwok (in English):-
Introduction
As Chairman of the Museums Select Committee, I would like to say a few words about the Council's museum services.
Museum of Art
The Museum of Art presented thirteen exhibitions during the year, of which, four were jointly organized with overseas cultural institutions. These were "The Art of Xu Beihong', 'Chinese Cloisonne The Clague Collection', 'Spaces and Places --- Eight Decades of Landscape Paintings in Alberta' and 'Japanese Quest for a New Vision The Impact of Visiting Chinese Painters'. These exhibitions signify the Council's on-going effort to bring high quality works of art to the people of Hong Kong.
For the tea drinking and teawares lovers, I am sure they would recall very favourably the exhibition on 'Innovations in Contemporary Yixing Pottery', which illustrated the achievement of some 100 contemporary Yixing potters, the largest scale exhibition of the subject, to be held in Hong Kong.
On the promotion of local visual art, the introduction of the 'Art Sale Service' in May was a significant event. Through this service, the works of local budding artists, together with established artists, were made more accessible to the art-loving public. Looking slightly ahead, another major event is the scheduled opening of the 'Sculpture Walk' in the redeveloped Kowloon Park next month. The sculpture work will be the first purpose-built outdoor venue for the display of sculptures.
Meanwhile, planning continued on the new Museum of Art, which is expected to be completed in 1990, and the Sculpture, Ceramic and Print Centre, in Hong Kong Park. When completed in 1991, the Centre will provide fully equipped studies for use by visual artists.
Lastly, on the Museum of Art, I would like to pay tribute to the dedication and enthusiasm of the group of friends who have worked hard during the year to establish 'The Friends Society of the Hong Kong Museum of Art'. I and my colleagues in the Museums Select Committee look forward to the membership recruitment campaign, which the provisional Executive Committee of the Society is now planning.
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Museum of Science and Technology
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A milestone in the development of the Museum of Science and Technology was laid when the ground-breaking ceremony took place in March 1988. Piling commenced immediately after and was completed in five months. The whole superstructure is expected to be completed in early 1990. In parallel, conceptual designs for over 500 exhibits were completed and approved by the Council in November. Work on both the building and detailed design of the exhibits is now intensifying, and the Museum is scheduled to open in August 1990.
Sponsorship from the commercial and industrial sectors to this Museum project is very encouraging. So far, the Museum has secured a DC-3 aircraft from Cathay Pacific Airways; and an entire exhibit area on communication from the Hong Kong Telecom; two large-scale energy machines from the Shell Hong Kong Ltd; and contributions from the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club and Mercedes-Benz AG.
Space Museum
During the year, 1.9 million visitors came to see the exhibits of the Space Museum, and half a million attended the presentations in the Space Theatre. The Omnimax Shows featured 'Niagara: Miracles, Myths and Magic', 'Speed' and 'The Great Barrier Reef'; and the Sky Shows featured 'The Moon Enigma', 'Story of Stars' and 'Wonders of the Worlds'.
Meanwhile, an Exhibit Renewal Master Plan was completed and approved by the Council in October 1988, and detailed design of the new exhibits is now underway.
Museum of History
Turning from space to history, I am pleased to report that the Extension Building is due for completion this month (in mid-January 1989) as scheduled, and will open to the public in June with an inaugural exhibition entitled 'Human Story'. This is an educational exhibition on loan from the Commonwealth Institute in the United Kingdom.
Rapid progress has been made on the permanent exhibition: the design consultant was appointed, and thereafter very interesting schematic designs were worked out and approved by the Council. In support of the permanent exhibition, the Museum at the same time launched a series of research projects on local urban history, local industries, and education.
The exhibition on the history of design of local industrial products, titled 'Made in Hong Kong', attracted two hundred thousand visitors. And visitors to the Lei Cheng Uk Branch Museum numbered three thousand six hundred a month on average. The Law Uk Folk Museum is also expected to be popular when it opens to the public later in the year, where a two-hundred-year-old Hakka House is preserved in situ.
Conservation
Again, the Conservation Section has continued to provide the necessary logistics and reinforcement to the Council's museum services. Over five thousand