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The HKU Museum Society is delighted to present a guided viewing of Kings’ Inscriptions · Contemporary Interpretations with Dr. Sarah Ng, Curator at UMAG and Oil Street Art Space. The guided viewing starts at UMAG and continues at Oil Street Art Space.

In Chinese history, inscriptions in stone, along with written copies and rubbings made to disseminate their meanings, frequently referred to the qualities and actions of kings. In our contemporary era, it is the work of self-proclaimed kings, such as the King of Kowloon and Frog King, among others, that captures our imagination. The selection of artworks by various artists, including the display of rubbings on stone, calligraphic works on paper and the incorporation of script on ceramics. Additionally, the contemporary art installations serve as carriers of both text and meaning. This mixed-media display is a sign of our times. As less text is handwritten and digital presentations become more common, it is inspiring to appreciate the artistic qualities that transcend our increasingly rapid modes of communication.

This exhibition is supported by the University of Hong Kong Museum Society and the University of Hong Kong Libraries.

 

Speaker

Dr. Sarah Ng is a historian of visual arts and material culture specializing in late imperial Chinese painting, calligraphy and ink rubbings. She is the curator of the Hong Kong University Museum & Art Gallery (UMAG). The relationship and reinterpretation of the Chinese tradition in contemporary art practice is her primary area of scholarly interest. Her work also addresses collecting, connoisseurship, canon formation, workshop practices, art conservation, museum studies and bookplates. She lectures on these subjects and other areas of expertise internationally.

 

Photo Credit:
Calligraphy and Printed Ink Rubbings of Inscriptions for the Ultra-space Frog Utopia (Detail) Kwok Mang Ho (Frog King) 2023 Mixed-media installation Dimensions variable
Courtesy of UMAG

The HKU Museum Society is pleased to organize a day trip to Nanshan, Shenzhen 深圳南山 to visit the Nanshan Museum 南山博物館 and the Nantou Ancient City 南頭古城.  At the Nanshan Museum, we will have the privilege to be guided by Ms. Lee Meiyin 李美賢老師 who will share highlights of the exhibition, Oriental Smile – Art of Maijishan Mountain Grottoes (東方微笑 – 麥積山石窟藝術展).

Maijishan (麥積山石窟) is one of the four great Grottoes in China.  It was built during the Sixteen Kingdoms (AD304-439) and displays Buddhist art from the Northern and Sothern Dynasties, Sui, Tang, Song and Ming Dynasties.  It is famous for its clay sculptures and earns the name as the “Showroom of Oriental Sculptures”.  The current exhibits in Nanshan Museum include imitations of these clay sculptures and mural paintings from different grottoes.

Our trip begins with a high-speed train transfer from West Kowloon to Futian.  Upon arrival, we will be coached to the Nanshan Museum for a full morning’s tour of the current exhibitions.  From the Nanshan Museum, we will enjoy lunch at a nearby restaurant before embarking on a visit to the Nantou Ancient City 南投古城 located at the Nanshan District.  Revitalized in 2020, it was once called Sin On 新安 , and was an important centre of administration, commerce, and coastal defence.  The trip concludes with a return transfer by high-speed train, arriving Hong Kong at 17:00. 

 

Resource Person
Ms. Lee Meiyin’s areas of research include the history, art and costumes of the ethnic minorities of China, Buddhist art, Dunhuang art, silk and embroideries. She previously served as HKUSPACE guest lecturer (2000-2010), as well as a member of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee. She is currently a specially appointed research fellow of Dunhuang Academy, a visiting associate professor of the Chu Hai College, and a Vice President of the Friends of Dunhuang (Hong Kong). She also serves on the Board of Dunhuang Grottoes Preservation and Research Foundation of China, and as an expert advisor to the public museums of Hong Kong.

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sotheby’s in Asia, this autumn season Sotheby’s Hong Kong will bring an extraordinary series of auctions including masterpieces from the collection of the founders of the legendary Long Museum, Liu Yiqian and Wang Wei.  Please join us on a guided viewing of the Contemporary works of art presented by Ms. Florence Ho, Head of Day and Online sales, Contemporary art.

 

It’s a perfect time to gather in celebration of art and endearing friendship!  You are warmly invited to join us for the HKU Museum Society’s 35^th Anniversary Dinner at the Hong Kong University Museum & Art Gallery, 1/F, T. T. Tsui Building, on Tuesday, 26 September 2023.

The special evening promises to be filled with fun and fellowships, sumptuous cuisine, joyous entertainments, fabulous auction items and lucky draw prizes.  Together, we will reflect on the wonderful events the Society has organised since our founding, the astonishing support that we have given to the University Museum and Art Gallery, and the inimitable camaraderie among members.

Our heartfelt thanks for your support over the years!  We hope to see you at the 35^th Anniversary Celebration.  To join, please register by 4 September 2023. Seating at UMAG is limited, so please book early to avoid disappointment.

We welcome cash donations commemorating the HKU Museum Society’s 35^th Anniversary.  Please click here for the Donation form.

 

The HKU Museum Society is delighted to organize a visit with artists Lucia Cheung and Arnaldo Acconci at their home studio in Pokfulam.

Lucia and Arnaldo have graciously agreed to share with us their recent works and collections, some of which have been fitted into their house. After the viewing, we will enjoy a cup of tea with them in the artistic ambience of their home.

 

About the Artists

Cheung Nga Yin Lucia (張雅燕) was born in Macau and settled in Hong Kong at an early age. Trained in both Western and Chinese art, Cheung’s body of work ranges from oil paintings of still life and abstract subjects to Chinese ink-and-brush paintings of landscapes. Mentors who had great influence on her western art were Professor Chan Shu-Soo and Master Luis Chan. In the 1970s, she further studied fine art and language in Italy. Since 1979 she studied Chinese painting under Professor Yang Shan-Shen, one of the masters of Ling-Nam School of Southern China.

In addition to painting, Cheung was art coordinator/tutor at the Hong Kong Arts Centre and contributing editor of ‘Ming Pao Children Weekly’. From 2005 to 2008, she served as a member of the Advisory Board for Visual Studies of Lingnan University.

Cheung has held fifteen solo exhibitions and has participated in numerous group exhibitions. Her works are in museums, public and private collections.

Arnaldo Acconci (夏安逹) was born in Macau and moved to Italy when he was five. During the mid 60’s, he frequently visited his family’s marble workshop in the suburb of Pisa where he sometimes worked as an apprentice.

Acconci was coached by his father Oseo, an accomplished and talented sculptor, in many different techniques, aspects and secrets of the art. Through his father’s encouragement, he decided to pursue and further his knowledge of art. 

Acconci moved to Hong Kong in the late 1970’s to help with the family marble construction business. In 2005, he retreated from the family business entirely and dedicated all his time to sculpting and drawing. His creations are of the traditional style with a modernistic approach; themes are mostly related to Italian literature.

The HKU Museum Society is pleased to present a joint UMAG programme: Paintings in Glass – Glass Mosaic Workshop with Virginia Kwok.

Organised in conjunction with the exhibition Pablo Picasso: Paintings in Glass, this workshop will introduce the techniques of assembling and layering glass mosaics into pictorial depictions on a light box. Drawing inspiration from the gemmaux glass panels on display, participants will delve into the captivating effects of light on glass as they craft their own glass mosaic. They will also discover the material’s potential in reinterpreting the vivid brushstrokes and colour palette reminiscent of Pablo Picasso’s paintings.

Instructor
Virginia Kwok’s use of colour and light as her primary medium and her experimentation with various materials to play with light and shadow distinguishes her as an innovative artist. She served as the personal assistant to the renowned Colombian artist, Mr. Fernando Botero, during his time in Asia. This experience provided her with valuable insights into the art world and was a catalyst for her passion for creating.

The HKU Museum Society is pleased to present a lecture and lunch on Ships of the Silk Road – The Bactrian Camel in Chinese Jade by Angus Forsyth at Ming Pavilion, Senior Common Room, HKU.

For hundreds of years, the Bactrian Camel ploughed a lonely furrow across the vast wilderness of Asia – a routing now popularly known as the Silk Road.

This bizarre-looking temperamental and yet hardy creature here came into its own as the core goods vehicle, resolutely and reliably transporting to China – over the huge and unforgiving distances – fine things from the West while taking treasures out of the Middle Kingdom in return. Throughout, where the chariot, wagon and other wheeled conveyances proved useless amidst the shifting sense of the desert dunes, the sure footed progress of the camel – the archetypal “Ship of the Silk Road” – now reigned supreme over 2500 years only being edged into replacement in the closing century of the last millennium by the construction of proper roads and the passage of goods using the internal combustion engine transforming the Bactrian Camel from a major utility to a tourist attraction.

 

Speaker

Angus Forsyth commenced work in private practice as a solicitor in 1971. In 1972 he joined the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch and has been a life member for many years. He began a jade collection in 1973 focusing only on nephrite jade worked in China from Neolithic Times up to the Qing Dynasty.

He was a founder member of the Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong in 1974 and was its President in the two year period from 1984 to 1986. In 1975 he acquired his first jade Bactrian Camel of a Tang Dynasty date. This was an introduction to the mystique surrounding this remarkable animal as the unique beast of burden which carried all manner of goods from East and West on an exclusive role of trade linking China in the East with Rome in the West. From the 2nd to the 8th Century A.D. the principal traffic control and management providing Bactrian Camel transport on the Silk Road was operated by the Soghdians, an Iranian tribe from the Northeast Altai Mountains who followed the Zoroastrian fire worship religion.

In 1990 Angus Forsyth contributed an article on his study of the development of human sculptural form in Hong Shan Neolithic jade working which was published in Orientations Magazine and remains a leading article on the subject. In 1991 he contributed two chapters on Early Chinese jade to a large book on jade featuring the jade of all producer countries worldwide. In 1994 he wrote the first half on early jades of a joint publication with Brian McElney forming the catalogue of a major exhibition of both their collections at the Museum of Far Eastern Art in Bath, England.

The HKU Museum Society is delighted to present a guided viewing of Embracing Landscapes: The Artistic Journey of Professor Jao Tsung-I with John Yiu, Deputy Director of the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole at The University of Hong Kong.

This exhibition is a collaboration between The University Museum and Art Gallery and the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole, both of the University of Hong Kong, in celebration of the highly personal and enduring artistic oeuvre of Professor Jao Tsung-I. A renowned Chinese literary scholarly and artist, Professor Jao began his career at HKU in 1952, setting out to develop an international network of like-minded academics, and explored the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia.

Embracing Landscapes: The Artistic Journey of Professor Jao Tsung-I features interpretations of landscapes from different corners of the world, including large-scale paintings that depict well-known sites in Hong Kong, China and overseas. Individual artworks reflect the distinctive character of each site and are represented through Professor Jao’s use of the traditional Chinese medium of ink and brush, as well as western painting techniques. The paintings are also a testament to the monumental effect of the various landscapes and exemplify the care he took in merging the essence of painted images and commemorative poems. Through these exhibits, the audience has the unique opportunity to retrace Professor Jao’s footsteps and experience his profound impressions of diverse continents across the globe.

 

Speaker
John Yiu is Deputy Director of the Jao Tsung-I Petite Ecole at The University of Hong Kong. He is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, specialising in Song paintings. His current research interests include social decorum in figural art. He plays the qin and studies it with Dr Tse Chun Yan. He is a committee member of the Deyin Qin Society.

 

The HKU Museum Society is delighted to present a guided viewing of Cartier and Women at the Hong Kong Palace Museum. Organized and curated by the HKPM with support of Cartier, this exhibition will feature loans generously provided by the Cartier Collection and private collections.

As the first major exhibition on the role and influence of women in the history of Cartier, it will present approximately 300 stunning treasures created by Cartier, which include jewelry, timepieces, precious objects, accessories, and archival records spanning from the 19th century to the present day. The exhibition explores the bond between women and jewelry through a series of captivating narratives that reflect Cartier’s deep connections with many influential women throughout history and in the present day. The exhibition will highlight how Chinese art has inspired Cartier in design, style, decorative motif, technique and material in particular, and how Chinese aesthetics has influenced women’s lifestyle and global fashion in general.

 

Image Credit:
Left: Bib necklace, Cartier Collection, Provenance: Duchess of Windsor (1896-1986), Nils Herrmann, Collection Cartier © Cartier
Right: Chinese Vanity Case, Cartier Paris, 1928, Cartier Collection, Nils Herrmann, Collection Cartier © Cartier
Courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum

The HKU Museum Society is delighted to present a guided viewing of Anselm Kiefer: Golden Age with Arthur de Villepin, Chairman and Co-founder of Villepin Gallery and Craft Dialogue with Susanna Pang, Founder of SOIL.

Anselm Kiefer: Golden Age
Through the long-standing personal relationship between the founders of Villepin and Anselm Kiefer, the exhibition has been collaboratively curated and offers a selective view of the practice of one of the most important artists of his generation. Anselm Kiefer: Golden Age will feature paintings and a sculpture created between 2020 and 2022.
 
The exhibition takes its cue from Greek and historical myths, which often allude to the peak of human civilization, denoting a period of primordial prosperity and peace. Kiefer has previously referenced German philosopher and cultural critic Ernst Bloch, who renews the core idea of, and interest in, utopia. In his book The Principle of Hope, Bloch explores the idea of the Golden Age as a utopian ideal, defining the concept of utopia as a philosophy that envisions a better future for humanity. Bloch argues that hope and striving for a better world are fundamental to human existence, and that this impulse is what drives people to create art, music, and literature.

Installed across three floors in the gallery, Kiefer’s works allude to the utopian ideal, capturing the transformative nature and alchemical process of their creation.
 
Speaker
Arthur de Villepin is the chairman and co-founder of Villepin, as well as an entrepreneur and avid collector of art. The son of former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, Arthur grew up surrounded by artists. His mother is the celebrated sculptor Marie-Laure Viebel de Villepin and his sister, Marie de Villepin, has established a successful career as a painter. Throughout his childhood and extensive travels, Arthur was introduced to many leading artists, including Zao Wou-Ki, Anselm Kiefer, Myonghi Kang, Pierre Soulages and Miquel Barceló, all of whom trained him to see art through the eyes of artists rather than the market.

He is currently on the Executive Committee of The Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art, the Creative Industries committee for Art & Culture of the French Chamber of Commerce, and is also an Art Ambassador of the Hong Kong Tourism Board.
 
Craft Dialogue
Celebrating the diversity of contemporary crafts, Crafts Dialogue aims to explore how cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary approaches can inform long-standing values associated with craft practice and innovation.  The finest assemblage of contemporary crafts features works from different parts of Asia, including lacquer, ceramics, metal, and mixed media. 
 
About SOIL
Founded in 2012, SOIL aims to promote crafts through the inspiring history, culture and humanity behind them.  Since 2018, SOIL has started a dedicated gallery to present the art of lacquer from Asia.  It is probably the first gallery which brings together lacquer masters and artists of diverse cultures, blending the traditional with the contemporary to showcase variety in the discipline.​

 

Photo Credit:
Left: Anselm Kiefer, Im Frühtau zu Berge, 2021-2022. Emulsion, oil, acrylic, shellac, gold leaf, straw, steel and charcoal on canvas, 190 x 280 cm
Courtesy of Villepin

Right: Courtesy of SOIL