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Sham Shui Po is one of the oldest districts in urban Kowloon. Located north of Boundary Street, it became part of British Kowloon after 1898. It developed into an industrial, commercial and residential district in the early 20th century. The Tin Hau Temple, the Police Station and Mei Ho House, the first generation of resettlement buildings in Hong Kong all bear witness to the reclamation and development of Sham Shui Po in the past 100 years. Many of the best preserved tenement buildings are found here, some of which are graded. In the nearby Sham Shui Po Park, on which the former Prisoners of War Camp stood, there are two memorials dedicated to the Canadian soldiers who sacrificed their life for the defense of Hong Kong during the Japanese invasion in December 1941.

Resource Person

Dr. Joseph Ting (丁新豹博士) majored in Chinese Literature and Chinese History and graduated from HKU in 1974. He was conferred an MPhil in 1979 and a PhD in 1989, both from HKU. Dr. Ting joined the HK 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 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.

He is Honorary Advisor to many art and cultural institutions, including the University Museum and Art Gallery in HKU, the HK Museum of Art, the HK Museum of History, the Shenzhen Museum and Guangdong Provincial Museum. He is also a Member of the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust and the Education Bureau of Hong Kong, an Honorary Fellow of the HKU and Hong Kong Institute of Education, and was an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre of Asian Studies.

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, as well as a subject of philosophical and religious interest.

As the Christmas holiday spirit envelopes us, C. Kenneth Lee returns to UMAG for Members’ Day with a new special holiday musical fest — Once Upon a Dream. Let us gather with family and friends to enjoy an interactive performance with songs we love to listen and sing-along to. The little ones would particularly enjoy Once Upon a Dream, White Christmas and Let it Go (from the movie Frozen). Come join us and dream together for peace and joy in our families and in this world.

Performer C. Kenneth Lee is the Music Director of Jaderin Voice Group, a Theater Acting Lab faculty at International Academy of Film and Television (IAFT), former TVB music director/composer/performer for over 100 TV episodes and TV commercials. Classically trained, he has received awards in both the contemporary and classical domains since 1992. In 2014, he won the F.P. People’s Choice Awards for Best Singer in Footloose: The Musical which ran for a week at The HK Cultural Centre.

A graduate from the California Institute of Art, Lee studied music under many international masters. He has performed internationally and was hailed by The Hong Kong Economic Journal as “a young musical prodigy”. Lee has released 4 solo CDs of his original compositions and has authored his first book, Selected Poems, Articles and Short Stories in 2010.

Lee also studied visual arts at California Institute of the Arts, HK PolyU School of Design, HK Arts School & HK Visual Arts Centre. He has collaborated with renown artists Meredith Monk and MOMA artist–T. Oyer. C. Kenneth Lee draws inspirations from Gerhard Richter, Willem de Kooning, Mark Rothko, Jackson Pollock and Andy Warhol. Some of his paintings have recently been exhibited at the Saatchi Gallery (UK) and the 2014 Independents Liverpool Biennial (UK).

Tsar Peter the Great (1672–1725), of the celebrated Romanov dynasty ruled Russia from 1613 until the abdication of Tsar Nicolas II in 1917, amassing fine art collections that are the pride of the Hermitage and neighboring palaces. He established the autocratic imperial rule and played a major role in introducing his country to the Western state system and to European art. Saint Petersburg was named after him. French porcelain, German furniture and many other high quality objets d’art furnished their residences and attest to the truly international style the Russian Imperial family are known for.

In an attempt to study the meticulously executed artefacts and rich material culture of a gilded age, our tour of the exhibition will offer a glimpse of the opulence of the Russian court and the familial bonds exploited during the acquisition and commissioning of the finest art treasures and luxurious fashion of all times. Our event will commence with an introductory lecture and continue with a guided tour of the exhibition. The visit will conclude with an optional lunch on share-cost basis at a restaurant nearby.

Speaker

A scholar of Western European art, Dr. Knothe is the Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG). He received his PhD with a thesis on the royal manufacture and production of art and propaganda in 17th century France. From 2005-2008, he worked as research fellow and associate in European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During his appointment in 2009 as curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, he devoted time to research his long-established interests in cross-cultural influences in art and workshop practices in Western Europe and East Asia. This work culminated in his East Meets West exhibition in 2010, and related lectures and conference papers that were presented in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. In his role as Director, Dr. Knothe aims to connect UMAG internationally so that future collection-oriented research and programming reflect the university’s unique geographic and cultural position between East and West.

Our boat trip starts from Sai Kung and brings us to Sharp Island (橋咀洲), High Island (糧船灣洲) and Kau Sai Chau (滘西洲). Professor Chan will discuss the nature and geological significance of the rock exposure on Sharp Island and introduce ideas pertaining to the geological history of Sai Kung. We will have a simple lunch in High Island. After lunch, we will cruise in the eastern waters, viewing natural scenery of Kau Sai Chau etc. The trip will also make a stop at an old temple on Kau Sai Village before heading back to Sai Kung.

In case of adverse weather conditions or unfavourably high winds, we may have to modify or cancel the trip at the resource person’s discretion.

Resource Person

We are very privileged to have Professor Chan Lung-sang (陳龍生教授) as the leader of the trip.

Professor Chan is Earth Sciences Professor of The University of Hong Kong and an expert in Hong Kong geology. He received his bachelor degree from Chinese University of Hong Kong and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. He taught for 10 years in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and 18 years in the Science Faculty of The University of Hong Kong. His leadership in teaching and learning was recognized when he was awarded The University of Hong Kong’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. A true believer of experiential learning, he has led many field trips around Hong Kong for the public and education sectors. He was invited to guest host the TV documentary series Vanishing Glacier in 2008 and most recently the Water of Life series.

With the growing middle classes in the West from the time of the Industrial Revolution during the second half of the nineteenth century, design and art gained importance as they became available to a broader, more affluent society. Since then, the manufacturing and retail of ceramic dinner services, vases and other domestic goods reach unprecedented heights, and so the stylistic qualities of, now, mass-produced goods were both appreciated—and largely advertised and distributed—and criticised by more artistically-minded consumers who feared a loss of artistic and ’material’ value. Consequently, the Arts and Crafts Movement and later individual and group initiatives gained momentum and offered ‘honest’, hand-made alternatives to an ever-increasing clientele.

Art ceramics form a part of a larger group of media, such as furniture and textiles, and they present ceramic materials in different styles, manufacturing processes and, most importantly, as art. So strong grew the interest in artistic communities that masters of unrelated genre—including painters like Picasso—engaged with clay, and individually and in collaboration with experts created some of the most remarkable ceramic sculptures in recent design history. A material that began its fame in small and often vernacular workshops returned to the artists’ ateliers and regained importance as one of the supreme catalysts of artistic expression.

Speaker
A scholar of Western European art, Dr. Knothe is the Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG). He received his PhD with a thesis on the royal manufacture and production of art and propaganda in 17th century France. From 2005-2008, he worked as research fellow and associate in European Sculpture and Decorative Arts at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. During his appointment in 2009 as curator of European glass at The Corning Museum of Glass, he devoted time to research his long-established interests in cross-cultural influences in art and workshop practices in Western Europe and East Asia. This work culminated in his "East Meets West" exhibition in 2010, and related lectures and conference papers that were presented in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa. In his role as Director, Dr. Knothe aims to connect UMAG internationally so that future collection-oriented research and programming reflect the university’s unique geographic and cultural position between East and West.

This site at 35 Aberdeen Street has had a long history. In 1889, the Central School was relocated here from Gough Street, the first school providing a Western education at the upper primary and secondary levels to Chinese students. Renamed Victoria College then Queen’s College, its alumni include some of Hong Kong’s most successful and influential business tycoons. Severely damaged during the Second World War, the building had to be demolished. In 1951, the site started its next incarnation as the Hollywood Road Police Married Quarters—the first dormitory for Chinese rank and file police officers. In 2009 the site was listed as one of eight projects under ‘Conserving Central.’ Architecturally, it represents the typical modern style commonly found in the post-WWII period, which is characterised by a functional and pragmatic approach on elevations and interior layout, with minimum decoration and spatial articulation.

Under a partnership between the HK Government and the Musketeers Foundation, a non-profit-making charity committed to promoting creativity, education, arts and
culture, the buildings have been retained, reinforced, refurbished and upgraded.
Renamed as PMQ, the site is now a hub for design and creative industries. A PMQ
representative will guide us through this facility, including the Heritage exhibition rooms, Taste Library, and several Design Studios. The visit will conclude with an optional lunch on share-cost basis at one of the restaurants at PMQ.

The Museum Society is delighted to organize a studio visit to prominent Hong Kong ceramicist Rosanna Li Wei Han. Her robust ceramic figurines are imbued with cultural and symbolic meaning inspired by the vitality of simple folks she encounters in her daily life. These can be seen in her "Café Acrobatic" exhibition where her troupe of “acrobats” performs their daily tasks with agility, grace and humour in Hong Kong “cha chaan teng”. In 2013, at the invitation of the Chinese Civilization Centre at City University, she presented a solo exhibition "Men and Women — This and Less" and dedicated her work to the thousands of panda-eyed, sleep-deprived people in our community. Recently, her large and site-specific “Happy Folks” greet visitors at the "Heaven, Earth and Man — A Hong Kong Art Exhibition" at the newly opened outdoor Art Square of the
Salisbury Garden at the HK Museum of Art.

Born in Hong Kong, Rosanna studied ceramics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic. She pursued her undergraduate studies in Art Education at the University of Liverpool, and earned a post-graduate Diploma in Art Education from the University of London. She also obtained a Master Degree in Educational Management from the Cheltenham & Gloucester College and a Master Degree in Cultural Studies from the Lingnan University. From 1990 to 2010 she taught in the School of Design, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, while at the same time making successful endeavours in the art scene through her numerous exhibitions. Her works are widely collected by many museum and institutions in Asia. In 2013, she published her book "Mindless Mindfulness—Works of Li Wei Han Rosanna, Ceramics & Installations".

The Ninepin and Waglan Islands are the eastern-most islands in Hong Kong waters. Fabulous rock columns that formed 140 million years ago are exposed on the Ninepin Islands, a core area in the Hong Kong Geopark. The polygonal rock columns represent one of the few geological localities in the world where rock columns developed from cooling and contraction of volcanic ash. Remarkable features observed on the Ninepins include a giant rock slide and columns that have toppled and pointed sideways.

We will first land on the Northern Ninepin Island, take a short hike to view the hauntingly beautiful landscape on the island and learn about the geological formations. Boarding the boat once again, we then make another landing on Southern Ninepin Island.
Afterwards we will have a simple lunch on the boat while sailing towards Waglan Island. We’ll cruise around Waglan Island, viewing one of the oldest lighthouses and declared monuments in Hong Kong from our boat. In addition, we will observe some interesting
sea arches and coastal features before returning to Central by about 17:00.

In case of adverse weather conditions or unfavourably high winds, we may have to modify or cancel the trip at the leader’s discretion.

Resource Person
We are privileged to have as guest lecturer, Professor Chan Lung-sang (陳龍生教授) of the Earth Sciences of The University of Hong Kong. Professor Chan is an expert in Hong Kong geology. He received his bachelor degree from Chinese University of Hong Kong and his PhD from University of California at Berkeley. He taught for 10 years in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and 18 years in the Science Faculty of the University of Hong Kong. His leadership in teaching and learning was recognized when he was awarded the University of Hong Kong’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2009. A true believer of experiential learning, he has led many field trips around Hong Kong for the public and education sectors. He was invited to guest host the TV documentary series Vanishing Glacier in 2008 and most recently Water of Life.