Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

Studying the Development of Hong Kong Art Six years ago, the department launched a comprehensive study of Hong Kong art since 1911, the year when Manchu rule was overthrown in China. The study covers different aspects of art in Hong Kong: Chinese painting, calligraphy, sculpture, Western media art, and art education. The objective is to outline the development of art and art education in Hong Kong in the past hundred years. The project broke new ground for art research in Hong Kong. The findings of the research were published in academic journals and presented at conferences. They have also led to many art exhibitions, including one on 'Chinese Handwriting in Hon g Kong: Gleanings of a Hundred Years', staged by the CUHK Art Museum, and the Chinese painting section of the exhibition 'Hong Kong Artist Series', staged by the Hong Kong Museum of Art. Opening of the exhibition on 'Chinese Handwriting in Hong Kong: Gleanings of a Hundred Years' Long-term Project The data collected for the study of Hong Kong art since 191 ar e processed and maintained by the Hong Kong Art Archives. This is a long-term project thatneeds continuous updating. The findingshave also been released via the Hong Kong Art Research Series. The first issue, A Studyof Painting and Calligraphy Associations in Hong Kong (1999), reconstructed the development of local painting and calligraphy associations in the last century. A corner of the Hong Kong Art Archives The Hong Kong Visual Arts Yearbook 1999, edited by Profs. Chan Yuk-keung and Mok Ka- leung with funding from the Arts Development Council, is the first visual arts yearbook for Hon g Kong. It records in detail the many issues related to the visual arts in the year — exhibitions, lectures, awards, auctions, education, and publications. It also carries essays by scholars and experts, which examine development in the visual arts from an academic perspective. It is an important reference for the study of the history of artistic activity in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Culture: A Multiplicity of Colours 25