ENG-1989 — Page 364

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

Various activities including film shows and lectures organised by the museum through- out the year were well received, drawing 2 900 participants.

Hong Kong Museum of Art

The Hong Kong Museum of Art presented 12 exhibitions during the year on local and overseas contemporary art, Eastern and Western art, Chinese antiquities and Chinese fine art. They attracted 385 109 visitors and 191 school parties with 8 593 students.

Four of the exhibitions were organised in association with overseas cultural institutions. They were Power and Gold - Jewellery from Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines with the Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition Service, Imperial Porcelain of the Yongle and Xuande Periods Excavated from the Site of the Ming Imperial Factory at Jingdezhen with the Jingdezhen Museum of Ceramic History, The Reader's Digest Collection of Modern Masters with the Reader's Digest Association Far East Limited, Views from the Jade Terrace: Chinese Women Artists, 1300–1912 with the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

Significant features of the museum's programme were the organisation of three major art competitions and exhibitions Tea Wares by Hong Kong Potters, Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition, 1989 and Contemporary Open-air Sculptures of Hong Kong. The competitions and exhibitions were to promote creativity and interest in art, to encourage public participation and to discover local artistic talents.

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The branch museum, the Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, continued to stage exhibitions on tea drinking and Yixing tea ware. The semi-permanent exhibition of Chinese Tea Drinking was a major attraction. Other exhibitions presented at the museum included the Floral Deities and Chinese Export Porcelain, China de Commande from the Royal Museums of Arts and History in Brussels.

During the year, the Urban Council received a generous donation of over 30 items of Chinese calligraphy and seals by Jian Qinzhai, an important local artist of the last generation. The donation was honoured in the exhibition Calligraphy and Seal-carving of Jian Qinzhai – donation from Mr Wong Hon-kiu.

Other than donations from generous individuals, the museum continued to acquire important art objects from local and overseas sources. Important acquisitions included a gilt bronze bodhisattva and a stone Shakya Triad of the 15th century, an important flower painting signed by Sungua and the unique Robert H. Clague Collection of 92 pieces of Chinese glass of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

To make the Museum of Art more accessible to students and the public, various educational and extension activities were organised. These included gallery demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy, jewellery and pottery making, gallery talks, art lectures and films corresponding to the themes of exhibitions, and small-scale travelling exhibitions to public libraries. A special workshop was organised for teachers to prepare them for conducting student group tours and on-site sketching exercises during the Reader's Digest Collection Modern Masters exhibition. A series of pottery classes was held during the summer vacation for students learning potting and glazing techniques.

To further promote local art, the museum expanded the art sale service to include artists whose works were selected for the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibition, 1989. Work commenced on the construction of a sculpture, ceramic and print centre at the Hong Kong Park to provide fully-equipped studio facilities for trained artists and art students. The centre is scheduled to be completed in 1991.

Construction of the new Hong Kong Museum of Art at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre at Tsim Sha Tsui progressed well and the new museum should be ready in 1991.

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