Media

HKU weekly notice

23 Dec 2016

 

Hong Kong hosts more than ¼ of all marine species recorded in China－HK’s first comprehensive study on marine biodiversity reveals
Hong Kong is best known as a bustling harbour, a financial centre and a shoppers' paradise, with a dense burgeoning population of seven million impacting its natural environment. Yet, a recent study by the University of Hong Kong (HKU) published in Biodiversity and Conservation have revealed a record of 5,943 marine species in Hong Kong waters!

The Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) of HKU has conducted the first comprehensive review of local marine biodiversity. The study shows that with only　~0.03% of China’s total marine area, Hong Kong already accounts for ~26% of the total marine species recorded in the country. Hong Kong also contributes to more than 30% of the species records for several groups of organisms in the South China Sea.

This study contributes to the knowledge gap of marine biodiversity in the Southeast Asia. The study is also very timely in the light of the implementation of Hong Kong’s first Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) by the Hong Kong Government in which biodiversity assessment is a crucial initial step to better conserve our biodiversity.

In addition, to establish a platform for the international scientific community to access the marine species in Hong Kong for conservation, research and education purposes, the research team, in collaboration with international experts, has also launched Asia’s first Register of Marine Species.

Prof Gray A. Williams and Dr Terence Ng Pun-tung from the SWIMS will meet the media to elaborate the research finding and introduce the Hong Kong Register of Marine Species database. Media can also take this opportunity to visit the SWIMS which is seldom open to the public. Details of the media briefing are as below:

Date: December 29, 2016 (next Thursday)

Time/Activity/Venue:

1:00p.m. HKU shuttle bus to pick up reporters taking public transport at Shau Kei Wan MTR station C exit to Cape d’Aguilar (Map 1) (Contact person: Ms Julie Chu, Mobile phone number 6347 2221)

1:40p.m. For those media which will drive to SWIMS at Cape d’Aguilar, please gather at the main entrance of the Swire Institute of Marine Science (Map 2) (Contact person: Ms Rhea Leung, Mobile phone number 9022 7446)

1:40p.m. All media to gather at SWIMS, Cape d’Aguilar

1:50p.m. Photo taking (outdoor session) on seashore at Cape d’ Aguilar

2:10p.m. Photo taking (indoor session) and press briefing at Conference Room, SWIMS (Map 2)

**Sandwiches and drinks will be provided.

3:10p.m. End of press briefing

Spokespersons:

Professor Gray A. Williams, Director, The Swire Institute of Marine Science; Professor, School of Biological Sciences, HKU

Dr Terence Ng Pun-tung, Postdoctoral Fellow, The Swire Institute of Marine Science; Honorary Assistant Professor, School of Biological Sciences, HKU

Media enquiry:

Communications and Public Affairs Office Ms Rhea Leung (Tel: 2857 8555/ 9022 7446; email: rhea.leung@hku.hk) or Ms Julie Chu (Tel: 2859 2737/ 6347 2221; email: juliechu@hku.hk);

Faculty of Science Ms Cindy Chan (Tel: 3917 5286/ 6703 0212; email: cindycst@hku.hk) 

UMAG exhibitions
1.  Rising Above: The Kinsey African American Art and History Collection on display for the first time outside of the United States

Period:  Now till February 26, 2017 (Sunday)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will work with The Kinsey African American Art and History Collection on the exhibition Rising Above. The exhibition includes over 120 items that range from paintings and sculptures to rare first editions and manuscripts, letters and official records that testify to the courage and hope of African Americans rising above the challenges they faced – and still face – to make their voices heard.

The Kinsey Collection has been seen by over six million people in 24 cities around the United States. It is the first privately owned collection to have been displayed at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and is now on long-term display at Epcot, a theme park at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, that attracts millions of visitors every year.

Dr Florian Knothe, Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery said: “This rising above adversity is not a localised historic phenomenon, but one as much known in Asia as in America. The documents and artifacts shown in our exhibition – the very first display of The Kinsey Collection outside of the U.S. - pertain to African emigrants and their life-stories, but, beyond a specific people, they speak for the social engagement and success, inclusion and exclusion, as well as the massive contribution of a minority group in our increasingly globalised world. In both East and West, minorities deserve recognition for their accomplishments and the requisite political freedoms to embrace and develop their own cultures. ”

Professor Derek Collins, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, HKU, said: “It is fitting that The Kinsey Collection makes its debut outside the US in Hong Kong. As a vibrant, open and globally connected city, the citizens of Hong Kong will find many kindred spirits in this collection. If you only have one “aha” moment while experiencing this exhibition, then all of our efforts to bring this collection to Hong Kong will have been worth it: because in that moment, you will recognise yourself.”

As described by Mr Bernard W. and Mrs Shirley Pooler Kinsey: “This is an exhibition where art and history intersect, containing a balance of rare and authentic historical objects and fine art from 1595 to the present, which shares the incredible experience and contributions of African Americans that are often left out of American History books.”

The exhibition is organized in collaboration with KBK Enterprises, Inc. and the Bernard and Shirley Kinsey Foundation for Arts & Education. Goldman Sachs is a Silver Sponsor and American Airlines is the exhibition’s Official Airline. Supporting organizations include the Consulate General of the United States of America in Hong Kong and Macau, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Tourism Board, the Lan Kwai Fong Group, and the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong.

Venue: 1/F, T.T. Tsui Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

2. Nostalgia for Ancient Times: Contemporary Chinese Art to showcase contemporary techniques and styles in Chinese ink

Period: Now till January 8, 2017 (Sunday)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) collaborated once again with the Chinese Modern & Contemporary Art Document Research Centre and ZArt to present Nostalgia for Ancient Times: Contemporary Chinese Art. This innovative exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink paintings presents recent works by six young, established artists: Cheng Bao-zhong, Hao Liang, Kang Chun-hui, Liu Qi, Peng Jian and Qin Ai.

When viewed as a group, the exhibiting artists refer to a shared nostalgia that each expresses through ink on paper. Whether it is Cheng Bao-zhong’s finely rendered landscapes, Hao Liang’s depiction of a scholar or Peng Jian’s boldly coloured scholars’ books, the theme suggests a melancholic return to the past. Kang Chun-hui’s bird painting and Liu Qi’s “bamboo” further underline the contemplation of traditional painterly topics. In so doing, the painters appear to long for ancient times, as they depict some of the best-known and most celebrated motifs of bygone eras.

This development is no isolated phenomenon, but rather a more general trend as Chinese cultural practices are being re-explored more broadly. Artists — both nationally and internationally — have taken creative inspiration from China’s continuum of traditional arts. In the tradition of scholar artists, this young generation of highly skilled talent is steeping itself in the system of applied materials and techniques while moving forward through modes of self-cultivation and reflection.

Venue: 2/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, The University Museum and Art Gallery, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

3. Pictures of the Past: Hungarian Photographer Dezső Bozóky in Hong Kong -- captured Hong Kong’s past through a foreign lens

Period: Now till January 8, 2017 (Sunday)

Poised to learn more about Asia and to experience China firsthand, naval doctor Bozóky (1871–1957) travelled to the East during the first decade of the twentieth century, recorded his journey in a diary and photographed and self-developed hundreds of images that today present rare visual resources of the former colonial city and its busy and world-famous Victoria Harbour.

In an ever more developing Hong Kong, Bozóky’s beautiful black-and-white and hand-coloured pictures present historic documents that allow us to re-trace their master’s steps and offer insights into the bustling merchant town, culturally mixed society and lush natural landscape that he encountered. Bozóky’s images displayed a foreign world to his compatriots at home where they formed a treasure trove of information in the early 1900s Budapest, just as they do today.

Venue: 1/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, The University Museum and Art Gallery, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk
Admission: Free
Website: www.umag.hku.hk/en/

Connect with UMAG on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umag.hku
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMAG_HKU

Media enquiries:
UMAG Communication Officer Miss Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk.