Archives: Activity

In celebration of the 120^th anniversary of Zhang Daqian’s birthday, Sotheby’s and Xi Zhi Tang Gallery presents a large-scale solo exhibition, “Zhang Daqian: The Master”, featuring nearly 60 paintings sourced from the artist’s family and private collectors around the world. 

Annie Wong, Deputy Director Specialist of Modern Chinese Paintings at Sotheby’s, will provide a guided tour of the exhibition of the important works spanning different periods of the artist’s oeuvre, with an emphasis on splashed ink paintings, many of which have been featured in major exhibitions while some have never been seen in public before.

Zhang Daqian was a remarkable artist from a young age, though his characteristic splashed ink painting technique was developed at a later stage in his life, during his long residency overseas when he found himself immersed in modern Western art developments and the pioneering output of the Abstract Expressionists.  Combining Chinese painting materials and semi-abstract imagery, Zhang Daqian developed a new style that encapsulated an aesthetic rooted in traditional Chinese painting, while imbuing his compositions with a spontaneity to create ravishingly beautiful works with a strong visual impact, making his mark on the history of 20^th century art.

Christie’s is delighted to invite the members of the University of Hong Kong Museum Society to a private guided tour of Important Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art from our forthcoming Hong Kong Autumn Auctions. The guided tour will be given by  Rosemary Scott, Senior International Academic Consultant Asian Art, Christie’s, and Pola Antebi, Deputy Chairman, Asia Pacific & International Director, Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art Department, Christie’s.

 

Resource Persons

 

Rosemary Scott

Rosemary Scott joined Christie’s in 1997 and in 2006 was appointed International Academic Director to Christie’s Asian Art Departments. In 2017 she changed to a part-time role as Senior International Academic Consultant to Christie’s Asian Art departments.

Ms Scott was formerly the Head of the Museums Department at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and was responsible for the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art and for the Brunei Gallery.

After completing a degree in Chinese Art and Archaeology at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Ms. Scott undertook postgraduate research into early Chinese lacquer and its relationship to other materials, particularly textiles and inlaid bronze. In 1979, she joined the Burrell Collection in Glasgow as an Assistant Keeper with curatorial responsibility for Oriental works of art and was appointed Deputy Keeper of the entire collection in 1980. In December 1983, Ms. Scott took up the post of curator of the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and in January 1995 she became the first Head of the SOAS new Museums Department.

Ms. Scott has researched and written numerous books and articles on subjects related to Chinese ceramics and decorative arts, and has also presented papers at many international conferences, in addition to organizing and editing the proceedings of several such conferences in the UK. She has travelled widely in East Asia, America and Europe, lecturing and undertaking research. She served as President of the Oriental Ceramic Society 2006-2009.

 

Pola Antebi

Drawing from over 30 years of professional experience, Pola Antebi is a global ambassador representing Christie’s in its operations around the world. As one of the most senior Chinese ceramics and works of art specialists in the firm, Pola regularly meets with prominent collectors, dealers and museum representatives in Hong Kong, Japan, South East Asia, Europe and the United States to advise about her market, assist with curation of collections and to secure art objects for sale.

Pola began her career in the field in New York in the mid-1980’s. Her dedication to further the prominence of Chinese works of art brought her to Asia and she joined the Hong Kong office in 1990. As part of a pioneering team, Pola quickly grew the department, and supported the expansion of Christie’s presence throughout Asia. By 1998 Pola was promoted to Head of department, a role she held for 14 years. During this period of unprecedented growth, she was instrumental in elevating the category globally; her department regularly shattered auction sale records.

Through her passion, commitment and engagement with notable academics, Pola has made substantial contribution both to Christie’s and to the study of imperial ceramics and works of art, with a personal emphasis on Chinese imperial ceramics, lacquer and jade carvings from the Song to Qing dynasties.

Pola is also passionate in sharing her knowledge and experience with the younger crop of Christie’s specialist; she actively supports the mentorship program and has initiated a learning and development specialists’ forum which she chairs.

Through the display of 231 items/sets of rare artefacts including goldware, glassware, bronze sculptures and ivory carvings, unearthed from the four famous archaeological sites of Tepe Fullol, Aï Khanum, Tillya Tepe (Hill of gold) and Begram, now in the collection of the National Museum of Afghanistan, the exhibition Glistening Treasures in the Dust – Ancient Artefacts of Afghanistan demonstrates the profound influence of foreign ancient cultures such as Greek, Indian and Roman on Afghanistan and its surrounding regions from the Bronze Age to the first century AD, as well as a cultural diversity embracing the features of different Steppe cultures.  These artefacts also attest to the role played by ancient Afghanistan as the cultural crossroads of the Silk Road, which subsequently promoted the exchange and integration of world civilisations.

We are pleased to organize this guided tour with Dr. Joseph Ting.  The exhibition is jointly presented by the Hong Kong Museum of History and Art Exhibitions China.

 

Resource Person

Dr. Joseph Ting majored in Chinese Literature and Chinese History from HKU and graduated with a BA degree in 1974. He was conferred an MPhil in 1979 and a PhD in 1989, both from HKU. Dr. Ting joined the Hong Kong Museum of Art as an Assistant Curator in 1979 and was appointed Chief Curator of the HK Museum of History in 1995. He retired in 2007 after serving for 28 years. He is currently an Honorary Assistant Professor in the School of Chinese at The University of Hong Kong, as well as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Pair of clasps with cupids riding dolphins
Tillya Tepe, Tomb 3
AD 25-50

“King and Dragons” pendants
Tillya Tepe, Tomb 2
AD 25-50

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 “Silk Poems”.  We will be guided by Museum Director Dr. Florian Knothe, and author and artist of Silk Poems Jen Bervin.

 

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

Following the success of UMAG’s 2016 exhibition “Two Years in Asia: Travelling in Hong Kong 1907–1909″, the Museum 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.

 

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.

Bervin’s Silk Poems began as a six-year research project developed with expertise from more than thirty international textile archives, medical libraries, nanotechnology and biomedical labs, and sericulture sites in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

In 2016, Bervin began collaborating with scientists at the Tufts University Bioengineering Department on fabricating her poetry at nanoscale. In this process, a mask was used to etch her poetry in gold spatter onto a silicon wafer, and then liquid silk was poured over the wafer. As the silk dried, the letters remained suspended in the film, resulting in a work that can be viewed through a microscope. Throughout the exhibition, Bervin’s poetry is recreated in the form of strands of DNA so as to reflect both the filament pattern that silkworms create when making their cocoon and the genetic structure of silk, which forms like the weft thread in weaving.

 

Resource Persons

Dr. Florian Knothe studies and teaches the history of decorative arts in the 17^th and 18^th centuries 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 joining The University of Hong Kong where he now serves as Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery.

 

Jen Bervin is the author of ten books, including “Silk Poems”, which was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award and a New Museum Book of the Year. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, fellowships and grants, including from The Foundation for Contemporary Art (1917), The Rauschenberg Residency (2016), and The Asian Cultural Council (2016). She is currently an artist in residence with SETI Institute, a program that facilitates an exchange of ideas between scientists and artists. Her work has been covered in media outlets such as “Artforum, Huffington Post, The Nation”, “The New Yorker” and “The New York Times”.

The Executive Committee is pleased to present a guided viewing of “Ink, Colour and Water – The Art of Marina Pang” with the artist Marina Pang (also known as Marina Choa) at the HK Central Library. 

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Marina graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Nazareth College in Rochester, New York, USA before completing a postgraduate certificate in Education from the University of London, UK.  Her passion and mastery of art developed from 1970 when she began studying Chinese ink painting from Masters Huang Chun Pi, Chao Shao An, Bao Siu Yau, He Baili and Song Yu Gui; calligraphy from Master Ou Da Wei; and oil painting under Master Ma Dok Yuan. 

 

Artist

Marina Pang is one of the founding members of the HKU Museum Society and has served as the Treasurer of the Executive Committee for many years.  Her paintings have been selected for exhibition at the Contemporary Hong Kong Art Biennial Exhibitions in 1989, 1998, 2001 and 2005, the Hong Kong Contemporary Art Awards in 2012, and the “Tradition to Contemporary: Ink Painting and Artistic Development in 20^th Century China” at the University Museum and Art Gallery in 2018.  Since 1994, she has held numerous solo exhibitions in Hong Kong, including the City Hall, the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery, The Hong Kong Club and the Central Library.

 

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the Museum Society’s upcoming trip, “Tradition & Modernity: A Tour of Fujian-Taiwan” with Professor David Lung (龍炳頤教授).  All are welcome to attend.

In this lecture, Professor Lung will discuss about the cultural diversity of sites in the Fujian Province where Christianity, Manichaeism, Islamism, Buddhism, Taoism once flourished.  He will talk about the communal way of living of the Hakka people in the traditional mud buildings. The lecture will also touch upon the Kinmen Island, a restricted military combat zone for over 5 decades in Taiwan.

 

Speaker

Professor David Lung led a Museum tour to Chaozhou two years ago.  He has retired from teaching and is currently holding honorary professorships in Department of Architecture and the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at HKU.  His research interest is in the areas of vernacular architecture, heritage conservation and history of Christian thought, liturgy and ecclesiastical architecture.

City University of Hong Kong is proud to present 12 original drawings by Leonardo da Vinci from the Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, brought to Hong Kong for the first time to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the artist’s death.   The Hong Kong University Museum Society is extremely pleased that Dr. Isabelle Frank, Exhibition Curator and Director of the City University Exhibition Gallery has agreed to guide our members on a private tour of this very special exhibition.

Leonardo da Vinci was first and foremost a polymath inventor and creator. Whether looking at plants, musical harmonies, or elliptical curves of cannon balls, he was fascinated by the world around him.  His indiscriminate exploration of the diversity of human and natural knowledge—arts, humanities, sciences and technology—turned him into the exemplar of what is now called a Renaissance man.

Leonardo left behind over 6,000 drawings that reveal his scientific, theoretical, and creative mental worlds that remained largely unknown before the 19th century. Since then, however, his writings, overflowing with artistic, scientific, and technological inventions, have become almost more famous than his artwork. They reveal a polymath whose prescient observations and scientific analyses seem to foreshadow later discoveries.

In tribute to Leonardo’s continuing influence, nine contemporary artists (eight based in Hong Kong) have produced new artworks, imagining what Leonardo might have done in an era of digital media and virtual reality. Fully embedded in contemporary technology, these pieces nonetheless hark back in startlingly direct ways to the legacies of Leonardo’s drawings, paintings, and unlimited curiosity.

 

Biography:

Dr. Isabelle Frank is currently Director of the City University of Hong Kong Exhibition Gallery; she focuses on curating exhibitions that combine technology and the arts and bridge Western and Asian cultures. An art historian by training with a PhD from Harvard University, she first taught at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts and was then associate dean for academic affair at The New School, and dean at Fordham University’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She has published on Italian Renaissance art and decorative art as well as edited many exhibition catalogues for the CityU Exhibition Gallery, including “Cabinets of Curiosities, Art Deco. The France-China Connection”, and most recently  “Leonardo da Vinci. Art & Science. Then & Now.”

 

Swire HK Archive Service works together with Swire’s operating companies in Hong Kong and Asia to preserve and manage their historical archives.

The archive collections of Swire reflect its rich heritage in shipping, industry, aviation, beverages, trade and property and are comprised of a wide range of media, dating from the nineteenth century to the present day. Swire’s principal operating companies are represented in the archives, including Swire Pacific, Swire Properties, Cathay Pacific Airways, and HAECO, as well as Swire’s head office in Hong Kong, John Swire & Sons (H. K.).

Our visit at the Swire Archive will be led by Matthew Edmondson, Archivist of Swire HK Archive Service.  The tour consists of three parts: a presentation about the Archive, an introduction to Swire’s history along their photo gallery wall and a look inside the archives repository to view some of the physical artefacts and hear their stories.

As part of the Swire HK Archive Service’s commitment to share their rich history with the community, they do not charge any entrance fees.  The cost of this tour is charged at the discretion of the HKU Museum Society to support art and cultural programmes at UMAG and the wider community.