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The Executive Committee is honoured to present Dr. Uli Sigg as the guest speaker for this year’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). A significant early collector of Chinese contemporary art, Dr. Sigg is widely recognized for his generosity in providing the cornerstone collection for Hong Kong’s newly established M+ Museum for Visual Arts.

Although having first arrived in China in the 1970s at the time when Deng Xiao Ping initiated China’s policy of openness to the world, Dr. Uli Sigg waited until the 1990s before beginning to amass his huge collection of Chinese contemporary art. At one time his magnificent Sigg Collection comprised of over 2300 works by 400 Chinese artists, including Ai Weiwei, Gu Dexin, Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiao Gang, Zeng Fanzhi, Zhang Peili and Geng Jianyi. Universally considered the pre-eminent, most comprehensive collection of Chinese contemporary art, the Sigg Collection spans China’s recent decades of modernization from the Cultural Revolution to the present, and mirrors the historical development of Chinese contemporary art as well as that of modern Chinese society.

The M+ Sigg Collection was assembled in 2012 when Dr. Sigg chose to donate 1450 pieces as well as to sell a further 50 artworks from the original Sigg Collection to M+. In sharing his art collection, Dr. Sigg sought to display the breadth and depth of Chinese experimental art against the backdrop of one of the most culturally dynamic periods in modern Chinese history.

Dr. Sigg will recount the fascinating story of his long association with the Chinese contemporary art scene since its early days, the extensive journey which he undertook to build his collection, his many exchanges in getting to know each one of his artists, his exhibition activities, as well as his thoughts on the future of this distinctive Chinese phenomenon.

Speaker
Dr. Uli Sigg grew up in Switzerland where he completed his studies with a Ph.D. at the University of Zurich Law Faculty. Originally a journalist and editor for various Swiss newspapers and magazine, Dr. Sigg joined the Schindler Group in 1977 first as the Area Manager for Asia Pacific and subsequently, as a member of the Group Executive Committee and Shareholders Board. Credited with establishing the first Western joint venture with China in 1980, Dr. Sigg served on the boards of numerous global companies until his appointment from 1995 to 1998 as Swiss ambassador to China, North Korea and Mongolia. Over the years, he continued to assume board memberships
or senior advisory roles for a number of prominent global and Chinese institutions. Presently Dr. Sigg is vice chairman of Ringier, Switzerland’s largest media company. He is Honorary Director of China Foreign Investment Association, Beijing and Founder and Honorary Member of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

As one of the most renowned collectors of Chinese contemporary art, Dr. Sigg has throughout the past 30 plus years assembled the furthermost important collection in this genre. In 1997, he established the Chinese Contemporary Art Award (CCAA) for Chinese contemporary artists living in China; in 2007 he created the CCAA Art Critic Award. He is on the board of the Museum and Acquisition Committees of M+, and serves as a member of the International Council of New York MOMA, as well as the International Advisory Council of Tate Gallery in London.

As a sequel to our introductory talk on kunqu 崑曲 with Ms. Cheung Lai-chun 張麗真, the Executive Committee is delighted to organise a special kunqu opera performance by Ms. Ying Kam-sha 邢金沙 at the elegant setting of the Fung Ping Shan Gallery. A recipient of the Plum Blossom Award, Ms. Ying will demonstrate the delicate relation between words, music and dance that exemplifies the uniqueness of this classical performing art.

Dating back to the 14th century, kunqu music originated in the Wu cultural area. It was given shape in the 16th century by Wei Liangfu 魏良輔 and his contemporaries who combined it with three other forms of southern music, and with northern tunes from the drama of the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368). Together, they standardized the rules of rhyme, tones, pronunciation, and notation, making it possible for this regional form of music to become the national standard. In 2001, kunqu was listed by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Programme
This evening’s programme will begin with a presentation (in Cantonese) by Ms. Cheung Lai-chun. Immediately following, Ms. Ying Kam-sha will perform the role of Du Liniang 杜麗娘 in a selected scene Dreamland Revisited 尋夢 from the classic kunqu opera The Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭. This masterpiece was written by Tang Xianzu 湯顯祖, the greatest poet playwright of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). In an utterly refined and languidly poetic style, the drama reveals romantic yearnings and afflictions of love endured by the young in the feudalistic society of China. This daring and avant-garde subject, which is an outcry against the suppressive tradition, together with the moving poetics of the language, makes the poet's endorsement of freedom of love between the two young protagonists a lasting force in the history of Chinese literature and theatre.

Resource Persons
Cheung Lai-chun is a member of the Commission for the Research and Promotion of Kunju of the Hong Kong Institute for Promotion of Chinese Culture, researcher of the Centre for Chinese Cultural Heritage of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and the chairman of the Concordia Kunqu Society of Hong Kong. She teaches the Art of Kunqu at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of the Hong Kong Baptist University. Dedicated to the exploration of traditional Chinese vocal art, she has given vocal interpretations in three recent publications in Hong Kong, one of which is The Vocalisation of the Ci Poems of Jiang Kui 白石詞擬唱 published by the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Ying Kam-sha is a former actress of the Zhejian Kunqu Opera Troupe who specialized in the role of guimendan (highborn female) and daomadan (young female warriors). She studied under the famous Chuan-generation Kunqu Opera artist Yao Chuanxiang. Ying is a recipient of the Outstanding Little Hundred Flowers Award, the First Prize for Young Performer at the 2nd Zhejian Theatre Festival, and the 24th Chinese Theatre Plum Blossom Award. She actively promotes the development of Kunqu, Peking and Cantonese Opera in Hong Kong. She is currently a lecturer of performance in the School of Chinese Opera at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Her repertoires performed include Tale of the Wicked Sea, Legend of the White Snake, Mountain Lanke, The Butterfly Dream, The Hundred Flowers Fairy and The Peony Pavilion. Ying Kam-sha and Wen Yu Hang performed the Tale of the Jade Hairpin for the opening performance of the 2016 Chinese Opera Festival in Hong Kong.

A specialist will guide members through one of the highlights of Le French May, an exhibition on the history of Louvre at the HK Heritage Museum. Through an abundant and brilliant selection of works and masterworks from all of the Louvre’s departments, the exhibition will tell a tale of the Louvre, from a royal palace to one of the biggest museums in the world. With exhibits ranging from different periods of time, the exhibition will enable visitors to explore and celebrate the history and culture of the Louvre and France.

The exhibition is jointly presented by Le French May, the Musée du Louvre and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.

Special Note

Organised in conjunction with this exhibition, Professor Greg Thomas, Chair of the Department of Fine Arts at HKU will present a lecture –
"France’s Palace Museum: Displaying Power and Art in the Louvre"

Date: 13 May 2017
Time: 3:00 – 4:30 pm
Venue: Hui Pun Hing Lecture Hall, LG1/F Library Extension Building, HKU Main Campus
To register, please visit
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCFnUqQUe-9TuxHApw1LYzFFpQYSARpww1cUYS651HyVlF5w/viewform?c=0&w=1

The fourth edition of Asian Art Hong Kong (AAHK), organized by Orientations magazine, will run from 1 – 9 April 2017 as a platform to share the best of Asian art in the city. The week aims to enable access to and enhance public awareness of Chinese history, cultural heritage and Asian art from antiquities to the contemporary. The week-long programme will include an exciting series of public events, including talks, tours and special exhibitions that highlight and promote the rich history and heritage of Asian art. Apart from bringing together professionals from across the globe for specialist talks and lectures, AAHK will lead discussions on the current trends in Asian art. In addition, participating galleries will showcase special exhibitions in their spaces, featuring a wide array of artefacts that are open to the public free of charge.

Please join Olivia Wang, founder of the Scholar's Ink Studio, on a specially curated tour of the participating galleries.

Resource Person
Prior to founding the Scholar's Ink Studio in 2013, Olivia Wang previously worked as a specialist in the Chinese Works of Art department at Sotheby's Hong Kong. She has also worked in the UAE for the Saadiyat Island Cultural District, where she developed public and exhibition programmes. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and her MPhil from Oxford University. The focus of her MPhil dissertation was contemporary Chinese ink painters of scholars' rocks.

Join Museum Director Florian Knothe for morning coffee as he leads a special viewing of the exhibition “Illustrious Illuminations II: Armenian and Georgian Manuscripts from the Gothic to the Age of Enlightenment”.

This exhibition is sponsored by the HKUMS.

Members are invited to join Museum Director Dr. Florian Knothe for afternoon tea and a guided viewing of the special exhibition of tapestries and prints entitled "Imagining Qianlong: Louis XV’s Chinese Emperor Tapestries and Battle Scene Prints at the Imperial Court in Beijing Museum".

This exhibition is co-sponsored by HKUMS and the French Consulate, and will be featured as one of the programmes of Le French May 2017.

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum will present a special exhibition on selected minerals by local mineral collectors. Specimens of over 10 local collectors will be displayed, in addition to the regular mineral and rock exhibition in the Museum. This is arguably the best public exhibition of minerals in Hong Kong.

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum opened its doors to the public on January 16, 2009 as the first and only geological museum in Hong Kong. Located on the campus of the University of Hong Kong as part of the Department of Earth Sciences of the Faculty of Sciences, it offers an attractive interface between the Hong Kong University and the community of Hong Kong to encourage stewardship of the Earth and promote an understanding of the value of Earth Science and its application and relevance to Hong Kong's modern environment.

The Museum Society is honoured to have Professor Chan Lung-sang 陳龍生教 give us a short presentation on minerals and gems.

Resource Person
Professor Chan Lung-sang is professor in Earth Sciences at the University of Hong Kong as well as College Principal of HKU SPACE Community College and HKU SPACE Po Leung Kuk Community College. He received his doctorate degree in geology from the University of California, Berkeley and is arguably the first Hong Kong native to receive formal training in geology. His research interests include tectonics of South China and Hong Kong, earthquake geology and applied geophysics. He is devoted to promoting Earth Science education, and has led field trips for students to South China, Tibet, Taiwan, North America, Australia, Italy, Cyprus, the Arctic region and Antarctica.

Sotheby’s Hong Kong will present "Perception: Cai Xiao-song" 蔡小松, a solo exhibition showcasing new paintings by the Beijing-based artist. In his new series, Cai shifts his artistic focus from representational expression to a visual interpretation of the world on a metaphysical level. Meticulously executed scholar’s rocks, planets, and Buddhist sculptures frequently seen in his previous works now give way to semi-abstract landscapes, full of movement and rhythm that capture the essence of nature instead of its physical forms.

This new series manifests a mature style, not only demonstrating confidence in brushwork but also emphasizing movement and maintaining resonance in overall composition. Marking a departure from Chinese painting tradition, Cai applies his gongbi brushwork technique to the rendition of abstract forms. The visual movement and vitality seen in these landscapes are created by multiple layers of ink wash, each applied on top of the other once completely dried. Such a slow process, in his own words, “gives life to the painting as if ink itself grows from paper and gradually transforms into a finished composition, full of power and visual impact.”

Resource Person
Our tour will be led by Katherine Don, Sotheby’s Department Head of Contemporary Ink Art in Asia (since August 2014). She is responsible for organising the bi-annual Contemporary Ink Art ("Contemporary Literati series") and selling exhibitions in Hong Kong.

Prior to joining Sotheby’s Hong Kong, Katherine was an art advisor specialising in contemporary Chinese art. From 2013 to 2014, she was a key contributor to Sotheby’s Contemporary Ink sales in New York and Hong Kong as a consultant.

For nine years, Katherine established and directed RedBox Studio Ltd., an art advisory firm for private collectors of contemporary Chinese art. Her curatorial activities in
Beijing, New York, Canada and Spain had a consistent focus on works on paper, including contemporary Chinese ink painting. Prior to 2005, she worked at several New York art galleries, including Goedhuis Contemporary where she served as Director for two years.

Katherine holds a dual-degree in Art History and East Asian Studies from Barnard College, Columbia University, and received a Masters degree from UCLA Anderson School of Management.