HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
113
Space is always a constraint in displaying the collection items of the two museums. In the case of Museum of Art, it was only after the Museum was moved from its City Hall accommodation to the current premises in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1991 that the Museum had more galleries for exhibition or display its collection items on a rotation basis. At present, about 10% of the collection items are exhibited, and so far, over 50% of the collection items have been put on display. Similarly, it is expected that upon the opening of the permanent Museum of History and the Lei Yue Mun Museum in 1999, about 10% of the Museum of History's collection items will be put on display at any one time instead of the current 2%. It is in fact quite common among major museums of the world that only a small percentage of the collection items are put on display. For example, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Shanghai Museum only display 2% and 1.5% of their collections respectively.
The collections of the Museum of Art and Museum of History are also used for research both by their own curatorial staff and bona fide researchers from outside. The current computerisation of the Museum of Art's collection and that of the Museum of History's collection in the near future will afford more convenient public access to information relating to their collections through public computer terminals and the Internet. The end product of research done on or with the aid of the museums' collections is very often publications in various media, which function as useful educational tools for the public.
(c) The Museums Select Committee's Five-year Plan, which is being prepared, does include deliberation on how to maximise the use of the two museums' collections. It is planned to organise more short term thematic exhibitions to supplement the permanent ones at the museums, more roving exhibitions at suitable local community venues as well as outside Hong Kong. The Council has also recently established a policy for long term loan of local works of art from the Museum of Art's collection for display in significant public buildings. These measures will ensure that the two museums' collections will be put into effective use as far as possible.
MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):—I am raising this question exactly as Mr. Mok's last remark that the two museums' collections should be put into effective use as far as possible. The Urban Council has a large collection, but the role of the Council is not that of a collector. It would not be all right if our role is that of a collector because we would be just collecting, not exhibiting. Under the circumstances and since the Museums Select Committee has a Five-year Plan, I would like to ask the following questions.
First of all, what do we call suitable community venues? Is the new airport or a major transport interchange or the Convention and Exhibition Centre where
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Page 116 of 654
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
113
Space is always a constraint in displaying the collection items of the two museums. In the case of Museum of Art, it was only after the Museum was moved from its City Hall accommodation to the current premises in Tsim Sha Tsui in 1991 that the Museum had more galleries for exhibition or display its collection items on a rotation basis. At present, about 10% of the collection items are exhibited, and so far, over 50% of the collection items have been put on display. Similarly, it is expected that upon the opening of the permanent Museum of History and the Lei Yue Mun Museum in 1999, about 10% of the Museum of History's collection items will be put on display at any one time instead of the current 2%. It is in fact quite common among major museums of the world that only a small percentage of the collection items are put on display. For example, the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Shanghai Museum only display 2% and 1.5% of their collections respectively.
The collections of the Museum of Art and Museum of History are also used for research both by their own curatorial staff and bona fide researchers from outside. The current computerisation of the Museum of Art's collection and that of the Museum of History's collection in the near future will afford more convenient public access to information relating to their collections through public computer terminals and the Internet. The end product of research done on or with the aid of the museums' collections is very often publications in various media, which function as useful educational tools for the public.
(c) The Museums Select Committee's Five-year Plan, which is being prepared, does include deliberation on how to maximise the use of the two museums' collections. It is planned to organise more short term thematic exhibitions to supplement the permanent ones at the museums, more roving exhibitions at suitable local community venues as well as outside Hong Kong. The Council has also recently established a policy for long term loan of local works of art from the Museum of Art's collection for display in significant public buildings. These measures will ensure that the two museums' collections will be put into effective use as far as possible.
MR. SAN STEPHEN Wong Hon-CHING (in Cantonese);—I am raising this question exactly as Mr. Mok's last remark that the two museums' collections should be put into effective use as far as possible. The Urban Council has a large collection, but the role of the Council is not that of a collector. It would not be all right if our role its that of a collector because we would be just collecting, not exhibiting. Under the circumstances and since the Museums Select Committee has a Five-year Plan, I would like to ask the following questions.
First of all, what do we call suitable community venues? Is the new airport or a major transport interchange or the Convention and Exhibition Centre where
Page 116 of 654
Page 116 of 654
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