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A spokesman for the Hong Kong Heritage Museum said today (April 8) that the "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation", the museum's latest thematic exhibition, had attracted more than 48,000 visitors since its opening on March 27 - an impressive average attendance of more than 4,000 visitors a day.
"We had more than 9,400 visitors last Sunday (April 3) and more than 8,800 visitors on April 5, which was a public holiday," the spokesman said.
"Most of the visitors are very enthusiastic and took it as a not-to-be missed opportunity to learn more about the technical artistry required to create Pixar's hugely successful animations and films.
"The exhibition's peak visiting hours are in the afternoons at weekends and on public holidays. During these periods, visitors might need to spend 30 to 60 minutes lining up to buy admission tickets. Mornings are usually a quieter time to visit the exhibition.
"We would also like to remind visitors that photo-taking and video-taking are not allowed inside the exhibition galleries," the spokesman said.
The spokesman added that a series of educational programmes had been organised by the museum and these would start rolling out from May onwards to enable the public to learn more about animation production as well as the job of filmmaking, and to give visitors an artistic insight into Pixar Animation Studios' hugely successful films.
Tailor-made for both adults and children, these programmes include "Animated Imaginary: Global Pioneers of Contemporary Art Animation: USA, Europe and Asia" Symposium, "Between Virtuality and Reality: Behind the Scenes @ ALiVE", "Around the World of Animation: A fun with English Tour", and a talk series including "3D Film-making in Hong Kong", "The Pixar Factor: Artistic Creation from Directing to Screenwriting", and "A New Era of 3D Animation".
Jointly organised by the Heritage Museum and the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong (CityU), the "Animated Imaginary: Global Pioneers of Contemporary Art Animation: USA, Europe and Asia" Symposium has invited a panel of scholars and experts in creative media from Europe, the US and Asia to ponder the global animation phenomenon from their own local perspective and to talk about their experiences and work in the field. Speakers include Professor Tamás Waliczky from the School of Creative Media, CityU; Miao Xiaochun from Central Academy of Fine Arts in China; Professor Mitsuko Okamoto from Department of Animation, Tokyo University of the Arts; Mr Alex Woo and Ms Gini Santos from Pixar Animation Studios. This symposium, to be conducted in English, will take place from 1.30pm to 6.30pm on May 28 at the Heritage Museum, offering places for a maximum of 350 participants.
Another programme jointly organised with the School of Creative Media, CityU, is the "Between Virtuality and Reality: Behind the Scenes @ ALiVE", which will take participants behind the scenes at ALiVE, where the virtual world meets reality, and introduce them to new interactive experiences. Initiated by CityU's School of Creative Media, ALiVE is an imaginative new incubator for interdisciplinary research and a platform for innovation in creative media. The programme will take place from 3pm to 4pm on June 4, 11 and 25. It offers places for a maximum of 20 participants per session.
"Around the World of Animation: A fun with English Tour" consists of two parts, "Journeying through the Animated Gallery" and "Colouring Art: A Drawing Workshop". The "Journeying through the Animated Gallery" invites native-speaking English tutors, who will be dressed as Pixar characters, to lead a tour of "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation", giving participants the chance to learn and practise everyday English inside the marvellous world of computer animation. The "Colouring Art: A Drawing Workshop" allows participants to learn basic cartoon-character sketching techniques and the opportunity to pick up some common English phrases from the world of computer animation and everyday life. The "Around the World of Animation: A fun with English Tour" will take place from 10.30am to 12.30pm and from 2.30pm to 4.30pm on Mondays, Thursdays, and Fridays between June 23 and July 8 (except July 1). It offers places for a maximum of 30 children per session and is open to school groups only.
The talk series "3D Film-making in Hong Kong", to be hosted by Percy Fung, Chairman of Association of Motion Picture Post Production Professionals, will focus on 3D animation theories and techniques. The speaker will discuss the ways in which Hong Kong cinema harnesses the latest technology to meet the challenges and possibilities of a new era of film-making. The talk will take place on May 14, from 3pm to 4.30pm. "The Pixar Factor: Artistic Creation from Directing to Screenwriting", to be hosted by Shu Kei, Dean of Film and TV, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, will shed new light on the ingenuity of computer graphics created by the Pixar team of technical artists and offer an artist's insight into the studio's critical and commercial successes. The talk will take place on June 5, from 3pm to 4.30pm. Desmond Chan, Executive Producer of Imagi International Holdings Limited, presents "A New Era of 3D Animation", including examples taken from projects and case studies, showing how the inventive brain works in this new era of computer technology. The talk will take place on June 18, from 3pm to 4.30pm. The talk series will offer a maximum of 80 participants each session.
During the exhibition period, there will also be free guided tours for schools and the general public as well as for registered charitable and non-profit making organisations.
For details of the educational programmes of "Pixar: 25 Years of Animation" exhibition and enrollment, please visit hk.heritage.museum or call 2180 8260.
Running from March 28 to July 11 at the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, the exhibition is presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and organised by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and is fully supported by the Walt Disney Company (Asia Pacific). It is also an affiliated event of Hong Kong Entertainment Expo 2011.
The standard admission tickets of this exhibition are priced at $20 (Thursday to Monday) and $10 (Wednesdays only). Full-time students, senior citizens and people with disabilities can enjoy concession fees, which are $10 (Thursday to Monday) and $5 (Wednesdays only).
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum is located at 1 Man Lam Road, Sha Tin. It opens from 10am to 6pm from Wednesday to Saturday and Monday, and from 10am to 7pm on Sundays and public holidays. It is closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays).
Ends/Friday, April 8, 2011
Issued at HKT 20:31
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