Media

HKU weekly notice

27 Apr 2018

 

HKU legal scholar urges new Animal Welfare Law in Hong Kong
Associate Law Professor Amanda Whitfort of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will renew her call on the Hong Kong government to expeditiously introduce a duty of care to benefit all animals in the city at the III Global Animal Law Conference held on HKU campus on May 4 and 5, 2018.

Associate Professor Whitfort will present a paper The 2010 HKU/SPCA Review of Animal Welfare Legislation in HK: Where are we now and where do we need to be?  in the first session of the conference at 10:20 am on May 4, Friday.

The replacement of Cap 169, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance with a new Animal Welfare Law, which imposes a positive duty of care for animals was the primary recommendation for law reform in the HKU-SPCA Review of Animal Welfare Legislation in Hong Kong published by Associate Professor Whitfort and Dr Fiona Woodhouse in 2010. On the back of the findings in that report the government has amended Cap 139B to introduce a duty of care for dogs in commercial breeding, which came into effect in March 2017.

While the introduction of a duty of care towards breeding dogs is an important first step, the amendments in Cap 139B only effect a limited number of animals. The amended law does not apply to other species or to animals kept as pets, or for other reasons. Only with the full implementation of the report’s primary recommendation to replace Cap 169 with a new Animal Welfare Law, will Hong Kong law be in a position to adequately address the instances of cruelty and poisonings seen in the territory in recent weeks.

Professor Mike Radford of the University of Aberdeen, who was instrumental in assisting the UK government in incorporating duty of care provisions in the United Kingdom’s Animal Welfare Act in 2006, will present his paper on 'A Duty to Care: the case for animal welfare legislation' on the second day of the conference on May 5, Saturday at 9:10am.

Members of the media are invited to cover the Conference.

Date: May 4 and 5, 2018 (Friday and Saturday)
Venue: Large Moot Court, 2/F., Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Program details: http://animallawconference.law.hku.hk/program/

For media enquiries, please contact HKU Associate Law Professor Amanda Whitfort, email: whitfort@hku.hk, or Ms Melanie Wan, Communications and Public Affairs Office, tel: 2859 2600/ email: melwkwan@hku.hk.

HKUL - Unveiling the Veil: Muslim Women in Hong Kong Art Exhibition
In collaboration with the Muslim Women in Hong Kong Organisation Committee, the Main Library is pleased to present Unveiling the Veil: Muslim Women in Hong Kong Art Exhibition at the 2nd Floor Atrium/Exhibitions Area of the Main Library from 18 April 2018 to 3 May 2017.

The exhibition will showcase the creative art pieces made by Muslim women living in Hong Kong.

This exhibition seeks to help students discover and understand the often stereotyped and shielded, yet diverse and vivid, voices of the Muslim women, who share with us the same living space of this multicultural city.

Currently, roughly 300,000 Muslims are living in Hong Kong. Indonesians, Chinese, and South Asians are the three major cultural groups while there are also Muslims from other parts of the world such as the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. With Hong Kong positioning itself as a multicultural hub, mutual understanding, cultural relationships, and social cohesion among the city’s sub-communities are crucially important.

To complement the exhibition, the Committee has also organised two "meet-the-artists" talks:
1. Location: KB112, Knowles Building, HKU
    Date/Time: 29 April 2018 (Sunday) 3:00 – 5:00 PM

2. Location: Global Lounge, G/F Fong Shu Chuen Amenities Centre, HKU
    Date/Time: 30 April 2018 (Monday) 7:30 – 9:30pm  

Details for the Exhibition:
Date: 18 April 2018 – 3 May 2018.
Location: Atrium/Exhibition Area, 2/F Main Library, The University of Hong Kong
Time: During Main Library Hours
http://lib.hku.hk/general/hours/index.html

Admission: Free
HKU Libraries Website: http://lib.hku.hk/

Connect with the Libraries on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hkulib/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/HKULibrariesCollection

Media Contact:  Mr. Gary Chin, Tel: 2859 2211 / Ms. Marina Yeung, Tel: 2859 8903

First public display of historical photos on Hong Kong's major infrastructure projects between 1972 to 1988
Historical photos taken between 1972 and 1988 by Heather Coulson, a leading construction and architectural photographer, about Hong Kong’s major infrastructure projects including the Cross Harbour Tunnel, Mass Transit Railway, Castle Peak Power Station, Plover Cove Water Reservoir, will be on display for the first time at the City Gallery from March 24 to May 16, 2018.

Exhibition: Infrastructure Imagination: Hong Kong City Futures, 1972-1988 is organised by the Division of Landscape Architecture of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) based on photographs drawn from the Heather Coulson Photograph Collection, generously donated to the HKU Libraries by Heather Coulson.

The exhibition is divided into four sections: 1) Mass Transit Railway, 2) Highways and Tunnels, 3) Electricity Networks, and 4) Water Works. Each section consists of displays of large-format photographs as well as scaled drawings that illustrate the physical configurations of selected projects. These are supplemented with video footage and archival records that document the construction boom in Hong Kong in the 1970s and 1980s.

Exhibition: Infrastructure Imagination: Hong Kong City Futures, 1972-1988
Period: March 24 to May 16, 2018
Venue: City Gallery
10am - 6pm Daily (closed on Tuesdays, except May 1)

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Melanie Wan (Senior Manager (Media), Communications and Public Affairs Office) Tel: 2859 2600 email: melwkwan@hku.hk.

UMAG exhibitions
1. Bosshard in China: Documenting Social Change in the 1930s captures the tumult of the 1930s through historical photographs and films

Period: Now till August 5, 2018 (Sunday)

The exhibition is organised into thematic sections that give insight into the photographer’s mind as he traversed myriad landscapes and social conditions, from Beijing to Lake Qinghai in western China; from the bombing of Hankou to Mongolian shepherds on the steppe. Apart from filming daily life, Bosshard also photographed and interviewed key political figures, including Mao Zedong in Yan’an, Chiang Kai-shek and Soong Mei-ling, Madame Chiang Kai-shek.

Following earlier exhibitions at UMAG of Magnum photographers and their oeuvres in the West, Bosshard in China documents China’s landscape and its people during a time when China was undergoing significant sociopolitical upheaval. During this same era, photojournalism was developing into a serious mass medium of information, and Bosshard’s work in the 1930s was one of the primary means by which the Far East came to life across living rooms in Europe and America.

As Bosshard’s journeys through China are well documented, his imagery offers valuable contextual information. He provides views into a society—and now past—that benefits from the objective view of the camera lens. Bosshard’s work is of historical significance, as most Western photographers only went to China for individual assignments, but did not live there for extended periods. Many of the Chinese photographers were politically engaged or had been commissioned, which resulted in a more selective subject matter and consistent narrative.

Bosshard’s documentary photography and film are neither colonialist nor otherwise politically motivated. Though he lived alongside the Chinese people during the Japanese invasion, he did not take sides but rather let his images—both still and moving—capture the scenes unfolding around him. This phenomenon is remarkable, as traditional reports of political and military campaigns, and especially images of warfare, often aimed to communicate either nationalist or anti-nationalist sentiments. Bosshard documented urban centres and rural regions, peaceful everyday as well as wartime activities, and throughout all of these moments he strived to remain a neutral observer. His oeuvre presents a more holistic view of a country that was perceived internationally as highly important but altogether remained little known.

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

2. From Two Arises Three: The Collaborative Works of Arnold Chang and Michael Cherney
A visual duet of traditional ink painting and photography

Period: Now till May 6, 2018 (Sunday)

Since 2009, Chang and Cherney have experimented with merging traditional ink with photography in a manner that remains true to the essence of traditional Chinese landscapes, while simultaneously bringing both media into the 21st century. At the edges where two worlds meet, where film grain and ink dots come together, the artists are able to look beyond specific cultures, definitions, borders and geographies.

The full range of traditional formats is represented in the exhibition—hanging scrolls, handscrolls, albums, individual prints and fans—while the collaborative pieces display a highly contemporary feel. By also presenting several individual works from each artist, a clearer understanding is gained of the journey that each artist has taken to their collaborative works.

Venue: 1/F & 2/F Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU, 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 Senior Communications Officer Ms Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk
UMAG Programme Assistant Miss Chelsea Choi, Tel: (852) 2241 5509, Email: cchelsea@hku.hk