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The Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung, announced today (October 9) that the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will launch Hong Kong's largest and most diverse dinosaur exhibition next month.
"Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs" will run from November 8 to April 9, 2014 and is expected to be very popular. Presented by the LCSD and organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum, the exhibition is solely sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and is the third exhibition in the 2013 Hong Kong Jockey Club Series. It is also one of the highlight programmes of "Vibrant Hong Kong" under the territory-wide "Hong Kong: Our Home" Campaign.
Speaking at today's press conference, Mrs Fung said that the Hong Kong Science Museum had organised several dinosaur exhibitions, including those featuring robotic dinosaurs and dinosaur fossils, and all were well received by the public. "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs" will, however, be the largest and best in terms of quality, content, number of collaborating parties and international involvement ever held in Hong Kong.
With a floor area of 2,500 square meters, the exhibition will be divided into four sections, namely the Dinosaur Fossils Gallery, Multimedia Theatre, Robotic Dinosaurs Park and Dinosaur Fossils Excavation Site. The exhibition will feature more than 160 exhibits, about half of which will comprise fossilised dinosaur skeletons, vertebrae and eggs. Other highlights include life-size dinosaur models, robotic dinosaurs and interactive exhibits. Multimedia programmes and computer animations combined with lighting and sound effects will create a captivating ambience to take visitors back to the prehistoric world of more than 200 million years ago and experience the creatures that dominated the planet for more than 100 million years.
Mrs Fung noted that among the 100 and more exotic fossils and exhibits to be shown, the biggest draw will be the gigantic Titanosaurus. Titanosaurs were a diverse group of dinosaurs, some of which had huge bodies and were among the heaviest creatures to walk the earth.
Mrs Fung said that the main aim of the exhibition is to introduce species of dinosaurs found in Mainland China, including gigantic and feathered dinosaurs which have been discovered in recent years. Visitors will also be given the opportunity to view a number of exhibits which have never before been seen in public. To enable visitors to understand the differences and similarities between dinosaurs of East and the West, the exhibition will also showcase cast skeletons and skulls of dinosaurs that were found in the North America, South America and Europe, such as the Tuojiangosaurus of China and the Stegosaurus of North America, which share a number of similarities.
The Acting Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Science Museum, Ms Karen Sit, explained that the Titanosaurus was mainly thought to have lived in the South America. However, the Daxiatitan binglingi and the Ruyangosaurus giganteus, excavated in Gansu and Henan respectively in 2007, provide evidence that these gigantic dinosaurs flourished and evolved in China. The 30-metre long Daxiatitan binglingi, which will be on show at the exhibition, is one of the largest dinosaurs in Asia. A huge backbone belonging to Ruyangosaurus giganteus, probably the world's largest dinosaur, will also be displayed in the exhibition together with the latest discoveries about those massive dinosaurs.
Ms Sit added that there have been breakthrough findings in the research on feathered dinosaurs in China in recent years. Scientists have revealed the feather colours of these bird ancestors by studying pigment from the fossils. The exhibition will also feature the precious fossils of these feathered dinosaurs, their reconstructed models as well as related research to enable visitors to understand more about the important discoveries and the newly discovered dinosaur species of Mainland China.
Other highlights include huge robotic dinosaurs which will greet visitors outside the museum. A group of robotic dinosaurs will be on show at the Hong Kong Science Museum's Ground Floor Piazza starting from early November. Most spectacular among them will be the 30-metre long, 10-metre high Daxiatitan binglingi. With a swaying head and tail, this gigantic robotic dinosaur can even roar. Mrs Fung said it would be the first outdoor display of such a gigantic dinosaur ever made in Hong Kong.
Mrs Fung noted that the fossils and exhibits to be put on display come from eight major natural history museums in Mainland China as well as five overseas museums and professional institutions. She said that bringing together exhibits from 13 institutes was a breakthrough for local museums and represented a rare achievement for an exhibition anywhere in the world.
Participating museums from Mainland China are the Dalian Natural History Museum, Dalian Xinghai Paleontological Museum, Inner Mongolia Museum, Beijing Museum of Natural History, Gansu Liujiaxia Dinosaur National Geo Park, Henan Geological Museum, Chongqing Museum of Natural History and Lufeng Bureau of Land and Resources. The overseas museums are the Natural History Museum in London, Royal Ontario Museum of Canada, American Museum of Natural History, Kokoro Company of Japan and the USA's Science Visualisation.
To enhance the educational and interactive appeal of the exhibition, the Hong Kong Science Museum will employ state-of-art technology including interactive exhibits for Object Recognition and Real-time 3D Rendering. Fun-filled computer games and interactive exhibits have also been designed and produced. For example, visitors can use their smartphones to unlock information, with an audio guide and animations of certain exhibits.
After visiting the exhibition, visitors can go to the Hong Kong Science Museum's Outdoor Piazza to view the laser show "Evolution of Ancient Life". Using the laser to project lively images, the show will tell the story of the evolution of ancient creatures, from prehistoric ocean dwellers to the dinosaurs, the rulers of the planet. Lasting for five minutes, the show will be screened at 6.30pm, 7pm, 7.30pm and 8pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays during the exhibition period.
To promote the exhibition, the museum will also use an augmented reality technique to enable audiences to view the dinosaurs in action and even to interact with them through their smartphones or tablets. Moreover, the museum has specially designed a smartphone application called "Dino Raiser", through which visitors can win a souvenir if they successfully hatch a dinosaur egg.
Mrs Fung said the Hong Kong Science Museum would also organise a variety of education and extension activities to cater for visitors of different ages and needs including teachers, students, families, academics and underprivileged groups. Perhaps most popular will be the family programme, "A Night with Dinosaurs", which will give family groups the unique opportunity to stay in the museum overnight with the dinosaur exhibits and take part in an array of fun-filled activities.
In addition, the "Erth's Dinosaur Zoo" interactive show, conducted by the famous Australian physical performance company Erth Visual & Physical Inc., will allow the kids to get up close and personal with an amazing variety of "dinosaurs". The performers, who will go out in dinosaur costumes to meet the public, will be at Ping Shan Tin Shui Wai Public Library on the afternoon of November 9 and at Hong Kong Cultural Centre on the afternoon of November 12. The "Saving Baby Dinosaur" outreach puppet show by local puppet performance groups will travel to schools and non-profit-making institutions to give children an opportunity to learn more about dinosaurs in an interesting and joyful atmosphere.
Other extension activities will include lectures by dinosaur experts, film shows, a palaeontology study trip to the Mainland China for secondary school students, science demonstrations, science competitions, fun science experiments, family workshops and others. A transport subsidy scheme will also be introduced to provide free transport for schools. For details and enrollment please visit the Hong Kong Science Museum's webpage: hk.science.museum/ .
Mrs Fung thanked all the participating organisations from Mainland China and overseas which have rendered their tremendous support, as well as the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for subsidising the production of the exhibition, education activities and the transport subsidy scheme with a generous donation of $13 million for the third exhibition in the 2013 Hong Kong Jockey Club Series.
The standard admission fee for the "Legends of the Giant Dinosaurs" exhibition is $20. Full-time students, people with disabilities and senior citizens aged 60 or above are eligible for half-price concessionary tickets at $10. Groups of 20 persons or above can obtain a 30 per cent discount, with each ticket priced at $14. The museum will also introduce special combined tickets for this exhibition. Visitors who purchase standard-rate tickets for the thematic exhibition and the permanent exhibition will get a $5 discount. The price of the combined ticket at standard rate is $40. Prices for the concessionary combined ticket and the group combined ticket are $20 and $28 respectively. Free admission on Wednesday is not applicable for this special exhibition.
The Hong Kong Science Museum is located at 2 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon. It is open from 10am to 7pm on weekdays, and from 10am to 9pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. On Christmas Eve and Chinese New Year's Eve, the museum will open at 10am and close at 5pm. It is closed on Thursdays (except public holidays) and the first two days of the Chinese New Year.
For details of the exhibition and related programmes, please visit the Hong Kong Science Museum's website: hk.science.museum/en_US/web/scm/se/se.html or call 2732 3232.
Ends/Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 20:19
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