The FAIVA system becomes available via the University Intranet, making it more widely accessible to staff and students. David Clarke establishes the Hong Kong Art Archive to promote the study of Hong Kong art. Shih Hsio-yen dies in May 2001. A memorial dinner is held in her honour and the Professor Shih Hsio-yen Memorial Fund is established.

Edwin Lai joins the Department as a post-doctoral fellow, offering courses in the history of photography. After hovering at around 15-17 new Fine Arts majors per year, the number jumps to 25. The Department organizes an one-day inter-disciplinary symposium, titled “The Image of Marriage and the Family” at Main Building. 

>> The poster of “The Image of Marriage and the Family” symposium.

The Department introduces an annual workshop for majors. The Slide Library is renamed as the Fine Arts Resources Centre in recognition of its wider role. The Hong Kong Art Archive is honoured to be chosen as one of the HKU Faculty of Arts 90th Anniversary projects. 

The annual study skills workshop is opened up to Fine Arts minors as well as majors. The Department starts The Fine Arts Summer School programme, with the aim to stimulate students’ interests in art and cultural histories, as well as enriching their understanding of artworks in different media. 

<< The Fine Arts Summer School 2004 poster.

Wan Qingli takes leave for the academic year and Koon Yeewan is appointed for one year as his replacement. Sandy Ng is appointed to teach part-time. The number of new majors rises to 31, with the total undergraduate enrollment reaching 709. The Fine Arts Summer School continues to take place this year. 

Edwin Lai continues to teach for the Department on a part-time basis. Richard Stanley-Baker retires at the end of the academic year, having served as Head for 5-½ years. David Clarke is appointed as Head. Pikee Kotewall leaves the Department at the end of the academic year. Koon Yeewan leads a field trip to Japan. The Fine Arts Departmental Library Collection is now accessible on the internet. Students could check holdings of the collection, renew and reserve items on the web.

>> Farewell lunch with Prof. Stanley-Baker.

Roslyn Hammers and Koon Yeewan join the Department, bringing it back to a full-time teaching staff of 5, and offering courses in Chinese art, Japanese art and Indian art. Together they lead a field trip to Taiwan. The first Shih Hsio-yen Distinguished Lecture in Art History is held, with Martin Powers of the University of Michigan as the invited speaker. The Department becomes part of the School of Humanities, losing its status as a Teaching Department, following the restructuring of the Faculty of Arts. Sandy Ng leaves the Department at the end of the academic year. 

<< Dr. Hammers leads a group of students to the “Masterpieces of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy of the Jin, Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties from the Palace Museum” at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

Alexandra Green is appointed as Research Assistant Professor, with a speciality in art of Burma and Southeast Asia. Jo-Ann Van Eijck is appointed on a part-time basis to teach a course in African art. As part of a series of RTHK 4 radio programs featuring teachers from the University of Hong Kong’s Faculty of Arts talking about music that relates to their life and work, Dr. Carolyn Muir is invited to host the programme, titled “The American Musical” under “Works for me – HKU Arts Talk”, on Radio 4 FM. The total undergraduate enrollment reaches an all-time high of 806, with an unprecedented number of 41 new Fine Arts majors.

The Department celebrates its 30th anniversary with an alumni dinner in October. Alexandra Green organizes the conference Rethinking Visual Narratives from Asia in June and publishes its proceedings with Hong Kong University Press. The Department organizes the exhibition, “Outside In: Alternative Narratives in Contemporary Art” in the UMAG. In July, Koon Yeewan leads a field trip to Japan, where students spend 3 weeks volunteering at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial. 

>> The Department’s 30th-anniversary celebration dinner.

Part-time lecturers Laura Ng and Jo-Ann van Eijck offer courses on Japanese art and arts of Africa respectively. George Chan becomes the Department’s new Demonstrator. Greg Thomas leads a group of Fine Arts students curating an exhibition, “Seeing China: Antique European Illustrated Books, 1667-1874” in the UMAG.