ENG-2000 — Page 463

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

Cantonese Opera items, works of master painter Chao Shao-an and collections of important Chinese antiquities. There is also a gallery designed for children, in which they can discover their cultural legacy through games and hands-on exhibits. Such a facility for children is the first of its kind in Hong Kong.

The museum provides a wide variety of programmes. In addition to exhibitions, it organises workshops, seminars, lectures, demonstrations, film shows and various other activities. All these play an important part in helping the community to learn. more about Hong Kong's heritage and the development of local arts and culture. The museum has built up about 69 000 items of artefacts. These are mostly New Territories relics and Cantonese Opera items, and there is also a sizeable collection of design and works of art by contemporary artists.

Sam Tung Uk Museum

This museum in Tsuen Wan was originally a Hakka walled village built in 1786. The village layout resembles a checkerboard with an entrance hall, an assembly hall and an ancestral hall along the central axis. The village, a declared monument, was furnished with traditional Hakka furniture and farming implements. Two thematic exhibitions, Public Art Scheme Competition and From Study Hall to Village School, were staged during the year. Visitors to the museum totalled 428 260 in 2000.

Hong Kong Railway Museum

Located in the town centre of Tai Po Market, this open-air museum consists of the old Tai Po Market railway station building, a narrow-gauge steam locomotive and six historical coaches. The Chinese-style station building was built in 1913 and declared a monument in 1984. The museum attracted 368 560 visitors during the year.

Sheung Yiu Folk Museum

This museum is housed in a fortified Hakka village built in the late 19th century at a scenic spot near Pak Tam Chung in Sai Kung Country Park. It comprises eight domestic units, an open courtyard and an entrance gate tower, and pig pens. The village and a nearby lime kiln were gazetted as monuments in 1981. Though relatively remote, being located on the Pak Tam Chung Nature Trail, the museum attracted 59 235 visitors in 2000.

Public Art Projects

The artworks commissioned under the Public Art Scheme launched by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department will be completed in early 2001. The seven public artworks are displayed at three venues: Tai Po Central Town Square, Tsing Yi Complex and Kwai Tsing Theatre. The purpose of the scheme is to embellish and enrich public places with site-specific works of art. The artworks add charm and attraction to public places and also stimulate the public's awareness of and interest in art. Moreover, in order to enhance the life of people through the provision of specially designed living environment, to encourage artistic creations and to further the development of Hong Kong art as a whole, the department is jointly organising a new public art project with the Housing Department. In this, 29 public artworks will be displayed at the Yuet Tung Estate in Tung Chung, and Stage I of the project began in late 2000.

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