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For members only, we are pleased to organize a visit to the newly reopened Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) with the new Museum Director, Dr. Maria Mok.

Established in 1962, The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) is the first public art museum in the city, now custodian of an art collection of over 17,000 items, representing the unique cultural legacy of HK’s connection across the globe. The museum’s art collection revolves around four core pillars of Chinese Antiquities, Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, China Trade Art, as well as Modern and Hong Kong Art, curating a wide world of contrasts from old to new, Chinese to Western, local to international, with a Hong Kong viewpoint. The museum aspires to refreshing ways of looking at tradition and making art relevant to everyone, creating new experiences and understanding.

After renovation, the HKMoA presents 11 exhibitions to showcase its cultural legacy and Hong Kong art lineage through the major donations and core collections housed in the museum. This tour will go through the exhibitions featuring the new spaces of the HKMoA, including “Ordinary to Extraordinary: Stories of the Museum” that showcases star pieces of the four core collections of the Museum, “Classics Remix: The Hong Kong Viewpoint” which incorporates new elements into the four major collections, tracking the people and stories behind the collections, and “The Breath of Landscape”, an exhibition that offers a unique art experience by bringing the sky, the flowing water, mountains and the breeze from nature into The Wing of the museum and its surrounds.

Resource Person

Dr. Maria Mok joined the Hong Kong Museum of Art in 1996, and is currently its Museum Director. She has extensive museum experience, previously curator in charge of different departments, including China Trade Art, Chinese Antiquities, Modern and Hong Kong Art, Educational and Extension Services, and has curated and led a vast number of exhibitions and programmes. She is a specialist in China trade painting with a research focus on dating and authentication, and an extensive collection of published works with particular interest in the artistic interaction of global trade that includes “Images of the Canton Factories 1760-1822: Reading History in Art” (HKU Press: 2015) co-authored with Paul A. Van Dyke. Dr. Mok has a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts Studies, a Master’s degree in Chinese Historical Studies on Guangdong decorative arts of the Qing dynasty, a Doctoral degree on China trade painting, and a graduate diploma in Museum Studies.

Cheng Po Hung, UMAG honorary advisor and renowned Hong Kong historian will lead us on a walking tour of Central and Western District, retracing its early history and development. We will pass through Staunton Street Prison, Alice Memorial Hospital, Queen’s College, celebration venue of Ullambana Festival (Hungry Ghost Festival), Hong Kong News-Expo, Shing Wong Temple, YMCA, Blake Garden, Kwong Fuk Ancestral Hall (Pak Shing Temple) and Tung Wah Hospital, Possession Point, Government Civic Hospital and Ko Shing Theatre, King George V Memorial Park and Facade of the Old Mental Hospital, Centre Street Market, Jardine’s Bridge, Western Police Station (Police Station No. 7), Shek Tong Tsui Towngas Plant and red-light district, etc.

Route: Staunton Street > Hollywood Road > Aberdeen Street > Staunton Street > Bridges Street > Tai Ping Shan Street > Po Yan Street > Hollywood Road > Queen’s Road West > Hospital Road > Centre Street > Shek Tong Tsui

*Itinerary is subject to change with or without prior notice.

漫遊中西區多年來，香港大學美術博物館名譽顧問、著名香港歷史學家鄭寶鴻先生曾帶我們導覽港島東區、油尖旺區等。這次，鄭先生將會帶領我們探索中西區一帶，與大家一起回溯這個地區的起源及發展。

沿途的舊建築及遺跡︰ 第一代監獄 > 雅麗氏醫院 > 皇仁書院 > 士丹頓街(卅間)市集及盂蘭勝會舉行點 > 公理堂( 新聞博覽館) > 城隍廟 > 青年會 > 卜公花園疫區 > 百姓廟及東華醫院 > 佔領角 > 國家醫院 及高陞戲院 > 英皇佐治五世公園及精神病院 > 正街市集及早期華人居住區 > 正街貨倉群 及渣甸橋(碼頭) > 七號差館和石塘咀煤氣廠及塘西風月區等

路線： 士丹頓街 > 荷李活道 > 鴨巴甸街 > 士丹頓街 > 必列啫士街 > 太平山街 > 普仁街 > 荷李活 道 > 皇后大道西 > 醫院道 > 正街 > 渣甸橋 > 石塘咀

*行程改動可能不作預先通知

In view of the COVID-19 public health situation, this lecture is taking place online, free of charge, instead of at The Asia Society Hong Kong Center as originally planned.

Watch the replay here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=5822488268023674&ref=watch_permalink

* Alternative viewing option: Please send your email address (the one you sign up for ZOOM) to [email protected] to register for ZOOM Live.

“Art and its Histories: Scholars in Lecture” is a series of public lectures organized by the Department of Fine Arts, HKU and presented in collaboration with Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art, and The University of Hong Kong Museum Society. The programs aim to deliver current art-historical thinking in an accessible manner presented by specialists in the field. The series is part of the Department of Fine Art’s broader dedication to promoting the importance and relevance of art history in Hong Kong.

Lecture Synopsis
“Rome and her Legacy: Classical Art in the 21st Century”

According to legend, on this date, April 21st, 753 BCE, the semi-divine twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, founded the settlement that was to become the majestic city of Rome. This event spawned a mighty empire and nurtured a visual culture that left a lasting imprint on the subsequent civilizations and (art) histories of the western hemisphere. What better way to acknowledge such a birthday than to investigate and interrogate its continued legacy? Today, some 2,772 years later, remnants of Roman art and architecture are still being discovered meters below the modern cities of Europe, Africa and the Near East, as well as in the deserts and forests of over 40 countries whose modern borders now fall within the territory once controlled from Rome. With a particular focus on wall paintings, this talk details some of these recent discoveries so as to introduce revitalized assessments of “Classical” art for the new millennium.

Speaker

Dr. Susanna McFadden is Assistant Professor and M.A. coordinator in the Department of Fine Arts at the University of Hong Kong. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Pennsylvania and specializes in the art, architecture, and archaeology of the Roman and late antique Mediterranean, with a particular emphasis on the medium of wall painting. She has been a fellow in residence at the American Academy in Rome (2009-2010) and the Getty Research Institute (2016) and since 2005 has been a member of the New York University sponsored team excavating the late Roman site of Amheida in Egypt’s Dakhleh Oasis. Recent publications include essays on the wall paintings from Amheida and a multi-disciplinary exploration of the Tetrarchic era wall paintings in Egypt, “The Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple” (Yale University Press, 2015), which won the 2017 Archaeological Institute of America’s James R. Weisman Book Award.

If you have questions for the Lecturer, please go to http://www.slido.com and enter code #85641

Co-presented by

Following last year’s success, we will organize another evening of Cantonese opera.  We will start with an English guided tour of the Grand Theatre at the new Xiqu Centre located in the West Kowloon Cultural District.  The building’s striking design, created by Revery Architecture (formerly Bing Thom Architects) and Ronald Lu & Partners, was inspired by traditional Chinese lanterns and blends traditional and contemporary elements to reflect the evolving nature of the art form.  Stepping through the main entrance, shaped to resemble parted stage curtains, visitors are led directly into a lively atrium with a raised podium and space for presenting the rich and ancient culture of Chinese traditional theatre.

Following a tour of the Grand Theatre, we will have a special backstage visit with Ms. Li Pui-yan (李沛妍) as she dons her dress and make-up for her leading female role in the Cantonese Opera performance, “Tale of the Purple Hairpin”《紫釵記》.  After the visit, we will attend the opera which will be performed in Cantonese with Chinese and English subtitles.

Opera synopsis

“Tale of the Purple Hairpin”《紫釵記》 by playwright Tang Tik-sang唐滌生is one of the best known and most performed Cantonese operas ever written. Set in the Tang dynasty, “Purple Hairpin” tells the story of female entertainer Huo Xiaoyu霍小玉 and poet Li Yi李益. The lovers were kept apart by a powerful imperial courtier, Lu, who wanted Li to marry his daughter instead. Lu sent Li to a faraway post on the frontier and spread lies about Li’s change of heart over Huo, until Yellow Robe, a mysterious swordsman intervened to set things right and reunite the two.

Resource Person

Born in New York from a family of Cantonese opera heritage and a graduate from Wellesley College, Ms. Li Pui-yan (李沛妍) has studied under numerous famed Cantonese opera performers.  Since her debut as principal actress in Floral Princess (Youth Edition) in 2007, she has performed for the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Chinese Opera Festival, Macau Arts Festival as well as the benefit inaugural performance at ASHK’s Miller Theatre.  Her repertoire ranges from classics to new productions such as Deling and the Empress Dowager Ci Xi and Arrant Revenge, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.  Recently, through working with artists from other disciplines, such as Ming Wong and Mariko Mori, she is inspired to further explore the cross-disciplinary potential of this traditional art form. Aside from performing, Ms. Li is devoted to the English translation of Cantonese opera librettos and has served on the Cantonese Opera Advisory Committee in Hong Kong for various terms.

The HKU Museum Society and the University Museum and Art Gallery are pleased to present guided viewings of two current exhibitions, Along China’s Coast: Dezső Bozóky’s Travel Photography 1908–1909 and Chak: Landscapes and other Natural Occurences. We will be guided by the artist Chak 翟宗浩 and Museum Director Dr. Florian Knothe.

Along China’s Coast: Dezső Bozóky’s Travel Photography 1908–1909

This exhibition presents a larger group of photographs that Dezső Bozóky took along China’s coast from 1908–1909. A naval officer with the Austro-Hungarian Navy, Bozóky first left Hong Kong for Canton before travelling to Fujian province, Shanghai and Beijing, documenting the countryside and cities as well as their inhabitants. The photographer’s interest in nature and architecture and, above all, the Qing dynasty street scenes and people he met, continue to transmit the excitement and wonder of this early European traveler in a country and culture so far from his own.

Chak: Landscapes and other Natural Occurrences

Chak 翟宗浩 graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the CUHK and later studied with Liu Kuo-sung. In his early years, Chak incorporated a number of contemporary theories and materials into his practice for which he received several prestigious awards, and scholarships in Japan and the USA. After living abroad for nearly 30 years, Chak returned to Hong Kong and continued to create abstract landscapes that explores traditional elements in Chinese art while incorporating more contemporary mediums and motifs.

Resource Person

Dr. Florian Knothe teaches the history of decorative arts in the 17th and 18th century with particular focus on the social and historic importance of royal French manufacture. He has long been interested in the early modern fascination with Chinoiserie and the way royal workshops and smaller private enterprises helped to create and cater to this long-lasting fashion. Dr. Knothe worked at The Metropolitan Museum of Art focusing on European Sculpture and Decorative Arts, and on European and East Asian glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, before his current position as Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery at HKU.

The University Museum and Art Gallery and the HKU Museum Society are pleased to present guided viewings of two exhibitions, “Jen Bervin: Silk Poems” and “Chak: Landscapes and Other Natural Occurrences”. We will be guided by the artist Chak 翟宗浩 and Museum Curator Christopher Mattison.

Silk Poems

Beyond silk’s traditional use in textiles, researchers are now experimenting with the material in novel forms of biomedical technology; as silk is compatible with human tissue, the immune system can accept silk on surfaces as sensitive as the human brain. In the UMAG exhibition Silk Poems, visual artist and author Jen Bervin melds the medium’s traditional applications with cutting edge research – engaging with silk’s cultural, scientific and linguistic complexities.

Chak: Landscapes and other Natural Occurrences

Chak 翟宗浩 graduated from the Department of Fine Arts at the CUHK and later studied with Liu Kuo-sung. In his early years, Chak incorporated a number of contemporary theories and materials into his practice for which he received several prestigious awards, and scholarships in Japan and the USA. After living abroad for nearly 30 years, Chak returned to Hong Kong and continued to create abstract landscapes that explores traditional elements in Chinese art while incorporating more contemporary mediums and motifs.

Resource Person

UMAG curator Christopher Mattison‘s current research focuses on the interplay of text and image in the museum environment. Mattison received his MA in Comparative Literature and MFA in Literary Translation from the University of Iowa, where he worked closely with the International Writing Program and a diverse range of visual artists. After completing the course work for a PhD in Comparative Literature, he abandoned the classroom for Boston, where he re-booted the literary publishing house Zephyr Press and developed projects with private galleries and university museums. Before taking up the positions of curator and publisher at UMAG, Mattison was Assistant Director for the Advanced Institute of Cross-Disciplinary Studies at City University.