ENG-2002 — Page 484

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RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

activities, a number of seminars and workshops for film students, researchers and the general public were organised.

The resource centre, equipped with computers, independent video booths and a rich collection of film-related printed materials, was well patronised by the public, attracting a daily average of 300 users. Overall, the Film Archive had a total of 214 284 visitors in 2002.

Art Promotion Office

The Art Promotion Office promotes local visual arts, with a focus on public and community art. Through different art projects, sometimes undertaken jointly with an outside partner, the office brings visual arts to citizens in their daily life and to different communities.

A Mobile Art Gallery was jointly organised with the New World First Bus Services Limited and the Hong Kong Arts Development Council, with 21 buses displaying the works of local artists on the roads from May to November. Art.Care is a one-year partnership project with the Art in Hospital. Between June 2002 and May 2003, a series of activities including painting activities, mural workshops and exhibitions is being held at five hospitals.

As part of a joint art project with the Housing Department, the final batch of 13 works was selected through an open competition in 2002 for display at Yat Tung Estate in Tung Chung. Another public art project, the Public Art Scheme 2002, was launched early in the year. Also through an open competition, six works were selected, one for each of the LCSD's six cultural venues. With the continued support of the MTR Corporation Limited, works by 12 artists and one art group selected under the second Artists in the Neighbourhood Scheme have been on display at various cultural venues and at MTR stations since August.

Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre

The Art Promotion Office is also responsible for the management of the Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre. Apart from the continued provision of art facilities, including art studios and an exhibition hall, for hiring by the public at subsidised rates, the centre has also strengthened its visual arts training programmes. The first Art Specialist Course was launched in October 2001 to provide structured professional training in visual arts; 43 artists took part in the course as tutors, providing guidance as well as sharing their experiences. In September, an exhibition was held in the centre to celebrate the graduation of 36 participants. In view of the encouraging feedback, a second Art Specialist Course began in November.

Central Conservation Section

The Central Conservation Section continued to provide essential conservation services to 13 public museums and the Art Promotion Office as well as the Antiquities and Monuments Office. It has 13 conservation laboratories. In 2002, the section provided conservation treatment for 3 626 cultural objects including paintings, paper artifacts, textiles, photographs, metals, ceramics, organic materials and archaeological finds. It has devised preservation programmes for more than 200 000 museum collection items, and also provided technical support to a total of 68 thematic exhibitions.

With the opening of the section's Resource Centre at the Museum of History, the public can now make use of the conservation reference materials there for study or