In the golden age of ocean liners of the late nineteenth century, a well-equipped cabin trunk was like a movable piece of furniture on months-long sea journeys. Not only did it dispense with the need to take many pieces of luggage, it also indicated the dignified status of the passengers. It should not be overlooked that top class hotel accommodation was a necessary accompaniment to such journeys. Apart from providing travellers with a home-like environment, these hotels were often located at well-known scenic points or places where visitors would linger without any intention of leaving.
"Early Hong Kong Travel, 1880 – 1939" is presented by The University Museum and Art Gallery, in collaboration with Benjamin W. Yim, and with the participation and support of The Hong Kong Heritage Project, The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, Limited and Louis Vuitton. Visitors will experience Hong Kong’s pre-war colonial era through a three dimensional presentation of over 100 exhibits dating from 1880-1939 that includes vintage photographs, menus, cabin trunks, luggage labels, travel guides and silk circus programme, as well as short films of picturesque Hong Kong in the 1930s.
Our guided tour will be a splendid occasion for us to experience a journey into early Hong Kong travels, from ocean liners to hotels with the exhibit’s collector and curators, Benjamin W. Yim and Joan Ho.
Benjamin W. Yim is a Chinese antique expert and an active member of Min Chiu Society. He has been an independent researcher, connoisseur and collector of Chinese art for over twenty years. Yim is an honorary advisor of the University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery, a member of the Chinese Society of Ancient Ceramics in Beijing and a committee member of The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kong. In 2009, he helped to curate and edit "The Fame of Flame – Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli" Periods exhibition at UMAG and its corresponding catalogue respectively.
Joan Ho is an Assistant Curator of the University Museum and Art Gallery with a master’s degree in Fine Arts from the HKU.
"Celebrations!" features 100 best photography artworks selected from 773 entries submitted by the Society’s members. These colourful images follow the footprints in their travels and offer vivid views of the world in “celebrations”, at home and abroad. The submissions were organized and judged in three categories – "Landscape Symphony", "Melodies of Life" and "The Sound of Silence". Successful entries were chosen in a strictly name-blinded selection process by a jury panel comprised of 3 renowned photographers – Dr. Leo Wong, a recipient of the HK Government Bronze Bauhinia Star for achievement in photographic art; Dr. Wong How Man, explorer and former National Geographic photojournalist, and Carsten Schael, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers.
The exhibition will be held from 12 October to 15 November 2011. It will also feature an art installation by floral designer, Masao Mizukami. A beautiful photography book, published to commemorate the special "Celebrations!" will be launched. The cost of this book will be $560 for members and $700 for non-members. For your purchases please fill in the attached form and we will handle your orders accordingly. Profits generated from the sale of this book will be donated exclusively to UMAG.
“Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!” exclaimed Dom Perignon after tasting his first Champagne. Very dignified Burgundy produces some of the world’s finest and most expensive dry white and red wines as it cultivates its grapes from over 400 different “terroir”. The distinctness of the Chablis wine is considered by wine masters to be one of the “purest” expressions of the varietal character of Chardonnay.
Following the success of our inaugural wine tour to Bordeaux last year, where our members were introduced to the basics of French winemaking, the Society is pleased to present a gastronomic tour of the renowned wine regions of Champagne, Burgundy and Chablis. This follow-up program essentially completes a comprehensive study of the three most famous and important French wine producing regions: Aquitaine (Bordeaux), Burgundy (and Chablis) and Champagne.
Together with internationally renowned food and wine connoisseur, wine judge and educator Wilson Kwok, we will be visiting important wineries such as "Clos de Vougeot" in Burgundy, "William Fevre" in Chablis and celebrated champagne cellars such as "Moet Chandon Dom Perignon, Salon and Deutz".
Our gastronomic adventure will include “Le Top du Top” establishments such as Maison Lameloise (3 stars Michelin) in Burgundy, Hostellerie des Clos (1 star) in Chablis and L’Assiette Champenoise (2 stars) in Champagne.
To celebrate art and friendship, all members are invited to an "Evening at the Museum" for the opening reception of the University of Hong Kong Museum Society’s inaugural members’ photography exhibition – "Celebrations!" As the title aptly suggests, this exhibition is a celebration of both The University of Hong Kong’s Centenary and of the talents of our members. So bring a friend and join in toasting 100 remarkable photographic images over wine, hors d’oeuvres and music amidst the picturesque University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) on the University’s 100th year.
About the Exhibition
"Celebrations!" features 100 best photography artworks selected from 773 entries submitted by the Society’s members. These colourful images follow the footprints in their travels and offer vivid views of the world in “celebrations”, at home and abroad. The submissions were organized and judged in three categories – "Landscape Symphony", "Melodies of Life" and "The Sound of Silence". Successful entries were chosen in a strictly name-blinded selection process by a jury panel comprised of 3 renowned photographers – Dr. Leo Wong, a recipient of the HK Government Bronze Bauhinia Star for achievement in photographic art; Dr. Wong How Man, explorer and former National Geographic photojournalist; and Carsten Schael, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Professional Photographers.
The exhibition is jointly presented by the Museum Society and UMAG. It will be held from 12 October to 15 November 2011, and will also feature an art installation by floral designer, Masao Mizukami. "Celebrations!", a limited edition of the photography book published to commemorate the special festivities, will be launched. The cost of this book will be $560 for members and $700 for non-members. Profits generated from the sale of this book will be donated exclusively to UMAG. Please generously support with a purchase as holiday gifts to your family and friends!
Organized in conjunction with the exhibition, "Celebrations!" as part of the Museum Society’s HKU Centenary festivities, a special gala dinner will be held inside the TT Tsui Gallery for 100 members and honoured guests. This event will be a rare opportunity to dine among the exhibited works inside the historic University Museum and Art Gallery. While feasting on sumptuous food and wine, guests will be treated to a unique music performance by Asian Cultural Council Grantee Louis Siu and Vicky Shin, that resonates with the theme of "Celebrations!"
All proceeds generated from this gala dinner will be earmarked specifically as donation to UMAG. As space is limited, do look out for the invitation with reply slip that is mailed separately.
About UMAG
The Museum is elegantly situated in the Fung Ping Shan Building and the lower three floors of the TT Tsui Building. The Fung Ping Shan Building, originally donated to the University by Mr. Fung Ping-shan in 1932 for a Chinese book library, was converted into the Fung Ping Shan Museum of Chinese Art and Archaeology in 1953. With further extension into the TT Tsui Building in 1996, the Museum changed its name to the University Museum and Art Gallery and remains one of the oldest and most distinguished museums in Hong Kong, housing over one thousand eight hundred items of Chinese antiquities in ceramics, bronzes, paintings, Chinese oil paintings, as well as carvings in jade, wood and stone.
This lecture introduces the works of an underground art group named Wuming (meaning No Name) active in Beijing between 1973 and 1981. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-76), socialist realism remained the artistic orthodox and western modernism was strictly forbidden. How could an alternative modernist Chinese art movement grow in such an environment? The solidarity of the Wuming group provides an excellent example. Painting landscapes, portraits, and still lifes in oil, the Wuming artists rejected academic conventions and shunned political propaganda art, eking out an early form of Chinese modernism still little known. As a group, their alternative, counter-culture identity also exemplified the underground movements that emerged in the closing stages of the Maoist era. Samples of Wuming art will be shown to illustrate how they were produced in the living, social and historical context of that period.
Speaker:
Dr. Wang Aihe holds a PhD in East Asian Languages, Civilizations and Social Anthropology from Harvard University. She is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Chinese at The University of Hong Kong. Her representative publications include "Cosmology and Political Culture in Early China" (Cambridge University Press, 2000, 2006), and the "Wuming (No Name) Painting Catalogue", 13 volumes (The Hong Kong University Press, 2010). Born in Beijing, she was assigned to a plastic factory in 1971, working there until 1983. During that period, she met other self-taught oil painters and they eventually formed the Wuming group. Her paintings have been shown in Wuming exhibitions in 1974, 1979, 1981, 2006-07, and 2011.
Born in Vienna and raised in New York, Henry Steiner is an internationally renowned graphic designer who studied at Yale under Paul Rand before entering Sorbonne as a Fulbright scholar.
In 1964, Steiner established Steiner & Co in Hong Kong and it has since become one of the world’s leading design consultancies concentrating on branding and corporate identity, encompassing creative works in corporate identity programmes, naming, corporate literature, architectural graphics, publication design and banknotes. His clients include HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong Jockey Club, Hongkong Land and Lane Crawford. His ubiquitous design can also be found in several series of banknotes for Hong Kong and coins for the Singapore Mint.
Steiner’s distinguished body of work led to professional recognition – as president of Alliance Graphique Internationale; fellow of the American Institute of Graphic Arts, the Chartered Society of Designers and the Hong Kong Designers Association; honorary member of Design Austria and member of the New York Art Directors Club. He was named Hong Kong Designer of the Year, and was included in Icograda’s "Masters of the 20th Century".
Awarded the Golden Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria as well as an Honorary Doctorate by Hong Kong Baptist University, Steiner is Honorary Professor at The University of Hong Kong’s School of Architecture and Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design. He is co-author of "Cross-Cultural Design: Communicating in the Global Marketplace" (Thames & Hudson 1995). A monograph, "Henry Steiner: Designer’s Life", in Chinese, was published in 1999.
In this lecture, Steiner will explain why creating a corporate identity is all about visual communication and cross-cultural inspiration. He will share his experience with special focus on analysis and the design process.
Back for its fourth year, ART HK 2011 will take place from 26–29 May 2011 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. In just three years, ART HK has positioned itself as the key fixture in the international art scene. It is now one of the leading platforms for international, modern and contemporary art in Asia, bringing together collectors, curators, artists and galleries from Asia and all corners of the world.
In 2010, the Fair welcomed 155 of the world’s leading galleries from 29 different countries and an audience of over 46,000. This year, the Fair will showcase 161 galleries worldwide. Included among the leading galleries are the Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Lisson Gallery, Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and White Cube. ART HK 2011 will also feature two gallery sections – Art Futures and Asia One. Art Futures will showcase emerging talents represented by young galleries while Asia One will present solo exhibitions of Asian artists. Both promise to provide visitors a unique opportunity to experience the newest developments in cutting-edge art.
Do join us for this guided tour to visit seven selected galleries and view their highlights of ART HK 2011.
For the latest updates, please visit http://www.hongkongartfair.com/
We are fortunate to be able to schedule a guided tour with two of Christie’s Asian arts specialists, Rosemary Scott and Pola Antebi to view highlights of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at Christie’s Spring Exhibition.
Rosemary Scott is the International Academic Director of Christie’s Asian Art Department. Before joining Christie’s, she was Curator of the Percival David Foundation and Head of the Museums Department of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Prior to this, she was Deputy Keeper of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow, responsible for the Oriental Art collections. Scott is the former President of the London Oriental Ceramic Society.
Pola Antebi is the Head of the Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Department in Hong Kong, which under her leadership has grown exponentially. She also supports Christie’s sales in London, New York and Paris. Her areas of expertise include imperial ceramics, jades and works of art from the Yuan to the Qing periods. She holds degrees in French Literature and Art History from the University of Vermont in the United States.
Popular scholar Lee Mei-yin will give a comprehensive introduction in cantonese on the historical background, cultural relics, folk lives and grotto systems of Dunhuang. The importance of protection and preservation will also be discussed. It will be an information-packed afternoon with a double-screen presentation for trip participants as well as those who are not. Tea refreshments will be served.
