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Thirty-six local museums and institutes taking part in the International Museum Day 2012, Hong Kong (IMD 2012 HK) to be held on Saturday and Sunday (May 19 and 20) will present more than 100 educational activities and programmes to the public. In addition, 34 participating museums, including all the museums under the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) and other local museums, will organise open days this Saturday and Sunday, allowing the public free visits to their permanent exhibitions.
The cultural institutions that will join the open days are the Hong Kong Museum of History and its branches, the Hong Kong Museum of Art and its branch, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and its branches, the Hong Kong Science Museum, the Hong Kong Space Museum, the Antiquities and Monuments Office (Wun Yiu Exhibition, the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and the Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery cum Heritage Trail Visitors Centre only), the Hong Kong Film Archive, the Art Promotion Office, the Museum of Ethnology, the Tung Wah Museum, the Po Leung Kuk Museum, the University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong, the Stephen Hui Geological Museum of the University of Hong Kong, the Art Museum of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Dr & Mrs Hung Hin Shiu Museum of Chinese Medicine of the Hong Kong Baptist University, the Hong Kong Museum of Education of the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the Hong Kong Racing Museum, the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences, the Hong Kong Correctional Services Museum, City Gallery, the Lions Nature Education Centre of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, the Police Museum, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Drug InfoCentre (closed on May 20).
Most of these cultural institutions will offer free admission this Saturday and Sunday, except for the Hong Kong Heritage Museum's special exhibition "PICASSO - Masterpieces from Musˆme National Picasso, Paris", the Hong Kong Space Museum's Stanley Ho Space Theatre, the Hong Kong Film Archive Cinema and the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences.
Members of the public are encouraged to visit the exhibitions and join the activities, through which they will be able to better understand the unique characteristics, collections, facilities and services of each museum. For more details of IMD 2012 HK, please visit the LCSD's website at www.lcsd.gov.hk/specials/imd2012/en/index.php.
Now in its 12th year, Hong Kong's International Museum Day (IMD) is one of the major cultural events organised by the LCSD in support of the International Council of Museums, which designated May 18 as the annual IMD in 1977. IMD aims to promote the activities and services provided by museums and interact with people from all walks of life to help raise public awareness of museums' functions and missions in society.
Under the theme of "Museums in a Changing World: New Challenges, New Inspirations", IMD this year aims to prompt thinking on the role of museums in the rapidly evolving society, and how museums create the basis for their own sustainable development.
Ends/Thursday, May 17, 2012
Issued at HKT 17:52
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