Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2006

Art Museum Celebrates 35th Anniversary Purchases are made carefully and along the following guidelines: first, the item should supplement the existing collection, if possible; second, it must be rare and not available on loan from private collectors; and third, it must serve a purpose in either the teaching or research programme of the Museum and the Fine Arts Department. JamesWatt explained, ‘Auniversity art museum is different from a public museum. The latter serves the interest of the general population. It has an educational function and also serves recreational and social purposes. But a university museum exists primarily to support teaching and research projects at the university.’ At present the Art Museum has garnered a collection of over 12,000 art objects, over 90 per cent of which were donated by local benefactors and institutions, the Bei Shan Tang and the B.Y. Lam Foundation in particular. Objects collected must first be recorded and conserved before entering the hoard. The work is partly the responsibility of the annex, the technical support unit of the Museum, which opened in 1978. Built beside the Museum with a generous donation from the Lee Hysan Foundation, the annex houses a laboratory for the restoration and conservation of art works, a workroom for the mounting and restoration of Chinese painting and calligraphy, a photography and design studio, and a carpentry workshop. The annex provides technical support for the Museum’s exhibitions.Authentication anddating of ancient art objects are jointly conducted by the Museum and the relevant department of the science faculty. Artefacts that have been recorded and conserved are properly mounted in exhibitions and used as specimens in research projects. Most importantly, they are made available to undergraduate courses a n d p o s t g r a du a t e research on Chinese ancient art forms and art history. The Art Museum and the Fine Arts Department exist in a relationship of complementarity. One example of their successful collaboration is the summer work-study programme launched in 1987. Funded by the Friends of the Art Museum and renamed summer internships later, the programme sponsors two fine arts students to work at the Art Museum to familiarize themselves with the structure and environment of a museum and gain practical curatorial experience. Over the years the internship have nurtured quite a number of talents and many of them have chosen to pursue a career in the field after graduation, serving museum and art galleries in Hong Kong and overseas. Retired Prof. Mayching Kao served as director of the Art Museum and chairman of the Fine Arts department concurrently since 1981. Her dual capacity played a significant role in the long- standing collaboration of the two. She recalled, ‘I feel privileged. My dual capacity allowed me to integrate teaching, research, publication, curatorial practice and public service. I have a profound belief in the great achievements of Chinese art and culture in the past and their importance in today’s modern world. Only through education and scholarship would our next generation come to understand and appreciate the significance of their heritage and to contribute creatively to its contemporary developments. I think the Art Museum has done a very good job.’ Exhibitions and Scholarship The establishment of the Friends of the Art Gallery (renamed Friends of the Art Museum accordingly) is pivotal to the growth of the Art Museum. It was thanks to the initiative and