Archives: Activity

 

A member of the design team of The Mills will guide us through the Centre for Heritage, Arts and Textile (CHAT), which is a part of the heritage conservation project of The Mills and is scheduled to open in mid-March 2019.

A destination consisting of a business incubator (Fabrica), experiential retail (Shopfront), and CHAT, a non-profit art centre, The Mills is a landmark revitalization of the defunct cotton spinning mills of Nan Fung Group in Tsuen Wan. Anchoring on the textile metaphor, CHAT weaves creative experiences for all.

Through CHAT’s own curated multi-faceted programmes that will include exhibitions and co-learning programmes, visitors can experience the spirit of the innovative legacy of Hong Kong textile industry and engage in new dialogues and inspirational journeys that exemplify the confluence of contemporary art, design, craft and textile culture.

CHAT’s collection encompasses two fundamental categories: objects that witness the heritage and legacy of the local textile industry from 1940s onwards, as well as contemporary artworks by outstanding artists mainly from Asia Pacific region.

CHAT’s inaugural exhibitions consist of (1) a permanent exhibition at The D. H. Chen Foundation Gallery which will present an interactive journey through Hong Kong’s textile industrial history, through various visual experience, hands-on experiential workshops and communication with CHAT team and (2) a contemporary art exhibition which will feature various artists from Asia Pacific region with site specific works.

CHAT’s Vision

In the state of geo-political turmoil in Asia Pacific in the 1950s, the textile industry in Hong Kong sowed its seed and achieved the rapid development throughout the latter half of the twentieth century. Today, CHAT will represent a new place for new beginnings in the next phase of Hong Kong and Asia’s textile arts and innovation.

Paying homage to the progressive energy in Hong Kong’s textile industry in the past and taking advantage of multiple meanings associated with plain cotton yarn, CHAT will tell the stories of Hong Kong’s textile industrial history and beyond, challenge the conventional meanings of textile arts and present myriad interpretations of textile material and subject matters.

The 2018 edition of Art Central had its highest ever attendance, welcoming 39,041 international collectors, curators and art enthusiasts. With over 100 leading international galleries, 75% of which hailed from the Asia Pacific, the Fair’s extensive gallery line-up included 30 new galleries making their Art Central debuts and showcased striking works from across the globe alongside a critically acclaimed programme, featuring performance, talks, large scale installations and new media.

Joyce Ng, VIP Manager for Art Central, will give us a personal introduction and overview to the highly anticipated fifth edition of this contemporary art fair ahead of its opening to the general public.

Art Central will showcase over 100 international galleries alongside a dynamic programme that includes ambitious installations, engaging panel discussions and experimental film.

 

Glow Like That is one of K11 Art Foundation’s highlight contemporary art exhibitions in 2019. It will take place in Hong Kong’s New Art and Design district, Victoria Dockside, during Hong Kong Art Week 2019. As urbanites, we are so used to the presence of light – and especially artificial light – in the city that we become blind to it. Featuring an international group of artists who work in a wide range of mediums, including luminous and reflective materials, the exhibition reveals a diversity of forms of ‘glow’ that are often unnoticed in our lives and examines their socio-cultural implications in the contemporary world. This ‘glowy’ exhibition perfectly blends in with the exhibition venue – the 21/F of K11 Atelier – which boasts a huge expanse of floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the city’s dazzling skyline and shimmering harbour.

Victoria Dockside is situated on Hong Kong’s iconic harbour-front. The site was formerly known as Holt’s Wharf. Founded in 1910, Holt’s Wharf served as a global freight and logistics hub that helped establish Hong Kong as a gateway to the Far East and played a major role in the city becoming the busiest port in the world. The location has a long history of transformation.

The first phase of Victoria Dockside — K11 Atelier, the iconic mixed-use Grade A office opened in late November 2017, which has now transformed into the Glow Like That exhibition venue.

About K11 Art Foundation

Founded in 2010 by Adrian Cheng, K11 Art Foundation (“KAF”) is a registered not-for-profit organization that promotes the long-term development of the contemporary art scene in Greater China by providing support to emerging Chinese artists and curators and taking them to the international stage.

KAF has created countless platforms for the production, presenting and interpretation of contemporary art in Greater China and beyond. It has been at the forefront to connect an international art community of diverse tastes, charging the contemporary art scene with vitality. KAF continues its mission of providing local communities, especially young and inquisitive members of our generation, easy access to appreciate art and thereby elevates our collective understanding of culture. Through our innovation educational programmes, art spaces, art database across Greater China and unique collection of contemporary art.

 

Our annual boat trip takes us to yet another fascinating area of Hong Kong. In this boat trip we will visit 3 sites in Tolo Channel namely: Sham Chung, Lai Chi Chong and Tap Mun Island.

 

Brief itinerary:

1. Start from Ma Liu Shiu Pier(馬料水) ;

2. From the boat, view the new town development of Ma On Shan and Plover Cove Reservoir.

3. Landing at Sham Chung Village (深涌), it is a beautiful Hakka village surrounded by mountains with streams in between. Part of the village has been acquired by a developer and the rest remains abandoned. There had been a church, village houses, school and agricultural land in this village. It is also surrounded by Country Parks as one of the excision areas. It has been rated as one of 12 important ecological sites since 2004. It is rich in habitats such as mangroves, Fung Shiu Woodland (風水林), abandoned agricultural land, mudflats (沿岸泥灘), streams and grassland.    

4. Landing at Lai Chi Chong (荔枝莊). The coastline is part of the UNESCO Global Geopark. A belt of Early Cretaceous volcanoclastic sedimentary rock strata called Lai Chi Chong Formation can be found along the coast. Many micro geological features can be observed such as bedding, folding and faults and many other interesting features.

5. Lunch at Tap Mun (塔門). This is an island with residents to the eastern part of the Tolo Channel. We will enjoy a simple lunch and look at the Tap Mun’s natural, social and cultural features.

6. Return to Ma Liu Shiu around 16:00.

Resource Persons

Dr. Wong Fook-yee (王福義) is an avid hiker and nature lover. He was formerly the Assistant Director of Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department of Hong Kong (Country and Marine Park Branch), and is now Adjunct Professor of the Geography and Resource Management Department at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Mr. To Ka Yan (杜嘉恩) is a geographer and geomorphologist. He was formerly a teacher trainer specializing in geographical and environmental education, and served as Senior Lecturer in the Education University of Hong Kong.

 

The HKU Museum Society and the University Museum and Art Gallery are pleased to arrange a guided viewing of Searching Through Teaching: Professor Jao Tsung-I’s 16 Years at The University of Hong Kong. The viewing will be led by Dr. Thomas Tang and Dr. Peter Cheng.

The works on exhibit, which date from Professor Jao’s 1952–1968 tenure at HKU, illustrate how this period of teaching, research and international exchange turned Professor Jao into an internationally acclaimed scholar. Dr. Tang and Dr. Cheng will walk us through the exhibition and introduce the life and work of Professor Jao and his achievements, scholarship and teaching at The University of Hong Kong.

Resource Persons

Dr. Peter Cheng is currently Senior Researcher and Deputy Director (Research) of Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, HKU. He has a wide range of research interests, including classic Chinese literature and the history of ancient China. He has published over 50 books and over 100 research articles, and has received 18 academic awards. Dr. Cheng is also a creative writer (penname Weiming) who has authored 11 collections of poetry and other literary genres.

Dr. Thomas Tang is Deputy Director (Art) of the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, HKU, and is an experienced art collector and connoisseur. He was a senior executive in several television corporations in Hong Kong and Macau, and managed the production of numerous programmes, including a series on the National Palace Museum in Taipei and Palace Museum in Beijing. He has lectured in a number of tertiary institutions. He is the author and editor of hundreds of publications on various subjects including Chinese painting.

We will start off the evening with a guided tour in English of the Grand Theatre of the newly opened 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.

The Grand Theatre accommodates over 1,000 seats and a unique feature of the Grand Theatre is its location at the top of the building, which allows for a large open atrium below with space for exhibitions, stalls, and xiqu (戲曲) demonstrations and workshops.

Following a tour of the Grand Theatre, we will visit backstage to see Li Pui-yan (李沛妍) dress and make-up for her female role in the new Cantonese Opera performance, Lady Spring Fragrance《春香傳》.  The performance will be in Cantonese with Chinese and English surtitles

Adapted from a well-known Korean folk tale, this new opera is set in imperial China and recounts the forbidden love between a courtesan’s daughter, Cheng Chunxiang (Lady Spring Fragrance), and Li Wenyan the son of a magistrate. Despite challenges and hardships, Cheng remains committed to her lover. But will Li risk a promising career and fight for Cheng in the face of danger? 

 

Performer 

Born in New York from a family of Cantonese opera heritage and a graduate from Wellesley College, Li Pui-yan (李沛妍) has been taught by 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, 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.

 

Professor Puay-peng Ho, the project’s conservation consultant will guide us on a tour of the Hong Kong Jockey Club University of Chicago Academic Complex/The
University of Chicago Francis and Rose Yuen Campus in Hong Kong and its Heritage
Courtyard and Interpretation Centre.

The site was originally part of the Jubilee Battery at Mount Davis, which formed part of Hong Kong’s western coastal defence system. After World War II, it was occupied as a makeshift housing for refugees before being converted into a British Army Royal
Engineers’ mess and quarters. It became the Victoria Road Detention Centre under
the Special Branch of the Hong Kong Police Force starting in 1961 and was
simultaneously used for police training purposes. Later it was also used by the Force’s witness protection programme. The site was unoccupied since 1997 except for the occasional use as a movie set, including the film Lust, Caution.

The new academic complex for the University of Chicago was designed by
internationally renowned Revery Architecture. The symbolic Flame Tree, also known as Phoenix Tree, on the site inspired the “Treehouse of Knowledge” design concept of the late architect Bing Thom in which a ribbon-shaped building floats above the contours of the site and integrates with the Grade 3 heritage buildings, touching down only at points of least intrusion.

Resource Persons
Professor Puay-peng Ho is currently the Head of the Department of Architecture,
School of Design and Environment, National University of Singapore. Previously he
was Professor of Architecture at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received
his First Class Honours degree in Architecture from the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D in Art History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of
London.

Members are invited to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a private dinner at Café Malacca. Located at the footsteps of the University in the Western District, the
restaurant features authentic Malaysian and Singaporean hawker fares made famous along the Strait of Malacca – Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Under the supervision of Café Malacca’s Culinary Director Mrs. Poon, the culinary
team travels to Malaysia and Singapore to immerse themselves in the proper
preparation and presentation of classic hawker food, including recipes and cooking
techniques, and tracks down interesting and unique dishes for the indulgence of diners in Hong Kong.

Their culinary team will prepare a special CNY menu including some of the national
favourites of Malaysia and Singapore – Satay, Pepper Crab, Char Koay Teow, Laksas,
and the rich and creamy Durian Pudding made from D24 or Musang King Durians.

Resource Person
Mrs. Poon is a Penang native with microbiologist and biochemist background who
contributes to the authenticity and accuracy of every dish served at Café Malacca. To offer the most original flavours from the Malay Peninsula, she ensures that every detail is exact, from the sauces and the garnishes to the way they are plated and cut. She is passionate and meticulous about sourcing only the most authentic ingredients to produce unmistakable Malaysian and Singaporean flavours.

 

The porcelain industry is an integral part of the art, culture and history of Hong Kong. As a world trading port in the 20th century, Hong Kong developed unique painted porcelain with diverse shapes and rich decorations using continually innovative techniques. This particular type of painted porcelain, known as Gangcai, combines Chinese and Western cultural elements, while presenting the distinct local colour of Hong Kong. Popular among both the Chinese and Western communities, Gangcai represents the prime period of the painted porcelain industry in Hong Kong.

 

The exhibition, Golden Splendours: 20th-Century Painted Porcelains of Hong Kong, is jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and The Hong Kong Ceramics Research Society. It showcases painted porcelain made by local painters and factories, including styles in imitation of ancient porcelain and armorial porcelain, produced mainly for export, as well as ceramic items for decoration and household use commonly found in Hong Kong. Complete with historical photos, manuscripts, hand-drawn designs, pigments, tools, and more, the exhibition offers an elucidating study of the development and characteristics of painted porcelain in Hong Kong and of its achievements as an industry.

 

Ms. Lai Suk Yee, a Museum Expert Adviser to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government, and a Researcher at The Hong Kong Ceramics Research Society, will give a talk on Golden Splendours and guide us through the exhibition.  Thereafter, a curator or artist of the exhibition will lead us through the second exhibition, Claylaboration: Contemporary Ceramic Art.

 

Claylaboration is an exhibition presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.  Bringing ceramists and creative talent from other fields together, it will offer you a unique experience in art through their exchanges of innovative concepts and techniques.

 

By transferring photographic images to ceramic plates, Fiona Wong transforms a moment in time into eternity. Immerse yourself in the surreal atmosphere of Yokky Wong’s black-and-white ceramic studio and peek into her intimate world of personal memories. Wy Lee and Ryan Hui will guide you into the world of Zen through hundreds of ceramic bowls. As you admire the elegant dancing ceramic figures by Nick Poon, just one second of evil thoughts will transfer you into Rosanna Li’s purgatory to redeem your sins. Don’t worry! Jakie Leung’s delicate porcelain work will bring you back to the human world, where you can enjoy the artist’s fine craftsmanship under shimmering lights. Annie Wan puts her ceramic books to the test of a searing blaze, and a rainbow rises from the ashes. And what do you find underneath Chan Kiu Hong’s thousands of ceramic scales? Is it a sleeping monster? As you step into this exhibition, it will surely creep into your imagination, making you gasp for breath.

 

 

Resource Person

Lai Suk Yee is currently a Museum Expert Adviser to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department of the Hong Kong Government, and a Researcher at The Hong Kong Ceramics Research Society (HKCRS). Over the last three years, she has been doing research at the capacity of the Research Consultant to the Guangcai/Gangcai Project of the HKCRS. In December 2018, the HKCRS presents with Hong Kong Heritage Museum to share the initial findings of the research with the public in the form of the exhibition Golden Splendours: 20th-Century Painted Porcelains of Hong Kong.