ENG-2020 — Page 370

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Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

Hong Kong Science Museum

In 2020, Hong Kong Science Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui organised an exhibition 'Robots - The 500-Year Quest to Make Machines Human! Featuring over 100 robots, the exhibition explores the 500-year story of humanoid robots and the artistic and scientific quest to understand what it is to be human. To complement the exhibition, the museum also presented a new local robot exhibition, 'Robohelpers, at its Telecommunications Gallery. Five sets of robots demonstrated how local scientific institutions apply robotic technologies in construction and

commerce.

Jointly organised with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the 'Fighting. Viruses - Innovations to Safeguard Our Health' exhibition provided an introduction to coronaviruses, the science behind COVID-19, antiviral treatments and preventive vaccines, as well as examples of the university's research projects and innovations related to prevention, mitigation and treatment of COVID-19. More than 124,000 visitors came during the year.

Hong Kong Space Museum

Hong Kong Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui organises regular astronomy activities on-site and holds stargazing and family programmes at its Astropark and iObservatory in Sai Kung. Its Space Theatre is equipped with digital planetarium projection and sound systems and offers Omnimax, 3D Dome and Sky shows.

The permanent exhibition halls, namely Hall of the Cosmos and Hall of Space Exploration, house 100 exhibits, of which about 70 per cent are interactive. Astronomy and space science are introduced through interesting hands-on exhibits and advanced equipment presented amidst lighting effects and other furnishings.

In 2020, some 90,000 people visited the museum's exhibitions and attended shows in the Space Theatre before its closure for renovation in May, while its educational and extension. programmes had more than 16,000 participants.

Hong Kong Film Archive

The Hong Kong Film Archive in Sai Wan Ho preserves Hong Kong's film heritage, facilitates research and brings film art to the community. In 2020, it attracted more than 29,100 visitors to its permanent exhibition, 'In Memory of Queen's Theatre'; two other exhibitions 'Multifarious Arrays of Weaponry in Hong Kong Cinema' and 'A Difference Brilliance - The D & B Story'; and 50 screenings, seminars and post-screening talks.

In 2020, the archive acquired 78 film titles and 3,354 film-related materials, including picture negatives, optical soundtracks, subtitles, inter-negatives, film prints, trailers and digital cinema packages. Major acquisitions included 35mm film prints of 64 titles dating from 1994 to 2012, donated by the Media Asia Distribution (HK) Limited. A private collector donated about 1,870 film-related items, including betacam tapes, U-matic tapes, DVDs, VCDs, photos and handbills.

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