ENG-1970 — Page 266

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RECREATION

the commercial cinemas of the Colony. These included Indian and Pakistani films, regular presentations by Studio One (the Film Society of Hong Kong) and a number of travel and documentary films.

CITY MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY

The City Museum and Art Gallery's collection of historical pictures consist of the Chater, Ho Tung, Law and Sayer Collections. This has been augmented steadily over the past five years by purchase and, occasionally, by gift. There are at present more than 700 items in total, including paintings, prints and engravings. They form a unique pictorial record of Sino-British contacts in the 18th and early 19th centuries and provide interesting illustra- tions of life in Hong Kong, Macau and other ports on the China coast in those days. In addition, the City Museum now holds about 1,300 old photographs of Hong Kong since 1870. The 'limited space in the Museum and Art Gallery does not allow a permanent display of all these collections, or of the collection of contemporary paintings and prints by Hong Kong artists, but temporary exhibi- tions or material from them are arranged from time to time.

The donation of examples of painted pottery of the neolithic period by the Hong Kong Archaeological Society greatly enhanced the value and importance of the Museum's archaeological collec- tion. The pottery was discovered by members of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society during their excavations in April and May

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1970.

In addition to the permanent display of Chinese antiquities and the monthly exhibition of art collections, the City Museum and Art Gallery organise regular temporary exhibitions from its own collections and loan material. These exhibitions cover a wide field of interests reflecting the rich and complex cultural back- ground of the people of Hong Kong.

Among the most important of the exhibitions of Chinese art organised so far by the City Museum and Art Gallery was that of Chinese Paintings of the Ming and Ching Periods held in June- July 1970. This exhibition was assembled from loan items from local collections and was organised in co-operation with the Min Chiu Society. The exhibition was specially visited by many