ENG-2005 — Page 472

410 Recreation, Sport and the Arts

Subways' project were exhibited in the Yuen Long Theatre in May. The photos will be reproduced as pictorial tiles by the Highways Department and placed on the walls of six subways in Yuen Long. Fifty-nine local artists took part in a lantern painting event held at the new West Kowloon Waterfront Promenade in October and their completed works remained on display to the public.

An exhibition featuring the work of nine individual artists and three art groups all selected under the third Artists in the Neighbourhood Scheme was held at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library in June.

Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre

The Hong Kong Visual Arts Centre, with nine art studios, a lecture theatre, an exhibition hall and a multi-purpose room, focuses on training in the visual arts, promotion and providing facilities for professionals to hire. The fourth Art Specialist Course, which covered five disciplines ceramics, printmaking, painting, sculpture and ink painting was designed for art lovers who want to pursue structured professional art training. A graduation exhibition was planned for 2006 to mark the completion of the nine-month course and give recognition to the efforts of the 55 graduates.

Central Conservation Section

The Central Conservation Section continued to play an active role in the conservation of local heritage and cultural property across the territory. During the year, the section had devised, implemented and followed up conservation plans for 860 cultural artefacts including paintings, historical documents, prints and photographs, textiles, metals, ceramics, organic materials and archaeological finds.

The Fireboat Alexander Grantham preservation problems received the section's particular attention during the year. In addition to a major overhaul and restoration work, the site foundation works at Quarry Bay Park where the fireboat would be displayed were completed, with the aim of installing the 500-tonne fireboat in 2006.

The section continued to collaborate with the Airport Authority on the 'Art in Flight - Art Exhibition at the Hong Kong International Airport' project to showcase selected collections from Hong Kong's museums.

The section also organised 26 workshops and guided tours, talks and seminars for the 2005 International Museum Day and received 15 secondary schools that had registered for the year-round School Culture Day programmes. Altogether these educational and extension activities attracted a total of 996 participants including students, teachers, researchers, collectors, overseas museum delegates and the general public.

To foster greater professional exchanges in conservation science and technology, the section was represented at three international conservation conferences and presented two conservation papers at the conferences held in Canada and the United Kingdom. In addition, one conservation intern from Germany and five from the University of Hong Kong were offered short term placements with the section through its Conservation Internship Scheme.