Activity - The University of Hong Kong Museum Society

Stephen Hui Geological Museum & Lunch at HKU Senior Common Room

Tucked in one of the buildings inside the HKU campus, the newest museum to open in Hong Kong early this year is the Stephen Hui Geological Museum. The museum owes its existence to the generous donation and continuous support of the family of the late Dr. Stephen Hui, mining engineer, geologist, scholar and philanthropist.

The exhibits are some of the oldest artifacts from planet earth. Instead of seeing man-made art, we will see some of the most spectacular works of art by Mother Nature! The museum occupies two floors with galleries that are arranged thematically. It also contains a small theater classroom for ԍagic PlanetԠdemonstration and lectures.

We will be guided by Dr. Petra Bach, Curator of the Geological Museum, BA & MA from Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany; PhD from HKU. She has done diverse fieldwork in Finland, Egypt and China. In addition, Sylvia Kwok, the daughter of the late Dr. Stephen Hui and an educator and member of our Society, will speak to us about her fatherӳ lifetime passion in geology.

Following the tour, we will walk over to the Universityӳ Senior Common Room, an exclusive dining venue for senior faculty and staff for our lunch.

Come and enjoy the new museum on University campus.

Trip: Contemporary Art and Architecture in Japan Echigo Tsumari Triennial Art Festival 2009 Preview Tour with Alex Hui

Overview:

The University of Hong Kong Museum Society is proud to present an exciting summer tour for our members this year. We will be led by architect Alex Hui
( 許日銓 ), former Curator of the University of Hong Kong Museum and Art Gallery, and past Director of Hong Kong Arts Centre. This exclusive art and architecture tour is designed to introduce our members to the most forward-looking art festival in Asia, the Echigo Tsumari Art Triennial. In addition, we will visit at least six top-notch museums, special restaurants and designer hotels. By the end of our tour, we would have made a loop around the area and seen some wonderful gems of Japanese architecture rarely visited.

Our trip will last 7 days plus an optional extension – details have been mailed out earlier but here is a summary of the trip.

Itinerary:
Day 1 – Friday, 5 June 2009

We will meet in the morning to begin the tour. Our bus will pick us up in Tokyo (at a location to be advised) and our first stop will be Hara Museum and the Kankai Annex. Then we continue on to Echigo Tsumari where we will stay for the next few days to view art works in the company of the curators of the show. We will stay in a small ryokan and experience rural hospitality. Please note that as with rural traditional ryokans, facilities are shared, in a small home atmosphere. Treat this as an experience of traditional Japanese way of life.

May-June 2009 9
Day 2 & 3 – Saturday and Sunday, 6-7 June 2009

We will view a selection of works from amongst the hundreds of art works on show. These art works are all site specific installations and what is notable is that the local community has a large say in which art work stays and which goes as they are the ones living with the works. If the community chooses to ignore and not maintain the work, it will be gone sooner or later, maybe even after the first snow bound winter!

Day 4 & 5 – Monday and Tuesday, 8-9 June 2009

Traveling westward to the Japanese Alps, we visit Chihiro Art Museum designed by Hiroshi Naito, Professor Emeritus of Architecture at Waseda University. Another museum to visit is Matsumoto City Museum of Art where the permanent collection of Yayoi Kusama is kept.

Day 6 & 7 – Wednesday and Thursday, 10-11 June

Our last two days will be in Kawaguchi area where we will stay in Risonare, an award winning highland resort hotel. While in the highlands, we will visit Tadao Ando's Koumi-machi Kogen Museum of Art as well as Fuji Harness, the headquarters of the Japan Guide Dog Association designed by architect Chiba Manabu. Transportation will be arranged for members to return to Tokyo, or if members are taking the Yokohama extension, then to the hotel in Yokohama.

Optional Extension tour to Yokohama and Kamakura
"Y 150" celebrates 150 years of the Port of Yokohama – There is a 2-night extension for those interested in spending some extra time in the area.

Dr. Shane McCausland: Telling Images of China – Narrative and Figure Paintings, 15th – 20th Centuries

Lecture Synopsis:
This talk will introduce themes from an exhibition of paintings, on loan from the Shanghai Museum, to be mounted at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin in early 2010. Each of these 38 paintings retells some kind of story from Chinese legend, folklore, literature or history. While many of the tales will be familiar in China, the ways they were illustrated in painted scrolls and albums are less well known. Individually, these images and the tales they describe have the power to delight viewers; taken together, they can also give a taste of China’s rich lyric tradition.

The show includes narrative paintings that describe the plotlines of emotive tales through sequences of pictorial images, as well as portraits of individuals or groups. Historically, such images were often the starting point for viewers’ individual reminiscences on a figure’s humanity or place in culture. Included are tales like that of the Chinese lady Wenji, who in ancient times was married to a “barbarian” chieftain, bore his children, and was later faced with the harrowing decision of whether to return to China without them. This tale lay at the heart of an ongoing definition of Chinese culture through history, but also has resonance for Chinese people at home and abroad today. Other tales of “scholars and beauties”, demon-slayers and Taoist immortals similarly continue to have relevance in daily life and the popular imagination.

This exhibition sets out to explore the dynamic interplay of words and pictorial images in the art of China’s last two imperial dynasties, the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911), and into the Republican period. It explores how narratives took form in pictures, and how portraits and genre scenes could transmit cultural memories. In highlighting themes, from exile and longing, to supernatural and religious lore, to the morality of history and the delights of romance, the exhibition shows how successive generations of artists gave new life to learning, devotion and leisure in pictorial images fit for their own times.

The Speaker:
Dr. Shane McCausland is Head of Collections and also Curator of the East Asian Collections at the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. In 2003-04 he was Sainsbury Fellow in the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, based at the SOAS, University of London, where he was previously a lecturer in Chinese art history. He has a doctorate from Princeton University (2000). In 2003, he published The Admonitions Scroll: First Masterpiece of Chinese Painting and Gu Kaizhi and the Admonitions Scroll (contributing editor) (both British Museum Press). His Zhao Mengfu: Calligraphy and Painting for Khubilai’s China is forthcoming from Hong Kong University Press in 2010.

Venue:
A double treat for our members – we are privileged to be dining at the exclusive Min Chiu Society Club. It was founded in 1960 by a group of Hong Kong collectors and connoisseurs. Today, with 50 members, they continue to work towards their goal of propagating and preserving traditional Chinese art and culture. This prestigious Society has extensive contacts with curators, collectors and scholars from China and overseas. The members’ collections have been individually or collectively exhibited or loan to various museums.

Studio visit with Lisa Cheung, Chinese Antique Restoration Specialist

Not only famous as one of the Chinese antique pottery restorers in Hong Kong, but also as one of the top rare few in the world, Lisa Cheung is a charming lady who is very articulate and keen to share her interest and passion in life, which fortunately, has become her career. Her restored objects are found in the collections of museums in the U.S.A., Europe, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. Her global clients include dealers, collectors, auction houses and museums. She specializes in restoring white pottery, red pottery and grey pottery of Neolithic period, Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty and Northern Wei period. Occasionally, depending on the object and its condition, she also accepts orders to restore antiques or works of art from all time periods, with materials ranging from porcelain, stone, wood, jade, bone, horn, tooth, bronze, gold and silver.

Jewelry design is Lisa’s serious hobby. Combining old and new Chinese pieces to make one-of-a-kind wearable artworks, she trademarks them under Lisa’s Collection and sells them mainly for charities. Through the years, she has raised millions of dollars for charities like Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, Dragon Foundation, Cable TV for Sichuan Earthquake and Chartered Bank’s “Seeing is Believing” project. One year, she had the opportunity to design souvenir necklaces for the 14 finalists of the Miss Universe Beauty Pageant.

Before becoming an antique restorer, Lisa was known as Chung Ding Dong ( 鍾叮噹 ), an award winning singer, Cantonese movie star, TV contract artist and performer. After marrying Kalam Cheung, a 5th generation Chinese herbalist medical doctor and Chinese antique collector and dealer, Lisa learned the art of restoration from her husband, who studied the craft in Paris many years ago. As patron donors to the Hong Kong Museum of Art, they have donated over 30 pieces of antique in their name and in the name of Kalam’s father, Dr. Pak Sheung Cheung.

Her studio promises to be beyond the ordinary.

Koo Mei’s Landscape Painting

This special tour and demonstration was conducted by visiting artist Koo Mei in conjunction with her solo exhibition at UMAG. Willing a brush in her hands, clouds and mists magically appeared with mountains and trees in front of our very eyes. Koo Mei was willing to share her insights on art and life with the participants through answering questions and casual conversations. A delicious meal with the artist at a private club afterward.

Lecture: Singapore Shophouse and Hong Kong Tong Lau with Dr. Lee Ho Yin

Lecture Synopsis:

Both the Singapore Shophouse and Hong Kong Tong Lau are products of people brought together in the wake of the fall of one mighty empire and the rise of another – China and Britain – in the 19th century. These two architectural typologies stemmed from a common origin: the Southern Chinese shop-dwelling, an urban mixed-use (residential and commercial) building type common in the coastal cities of Southern China. The evolutionary path from the Southern Chinese prototype to the respective regional variations is a story of how people from China and Britain adapted to the land they had emigrated to and settled in. Through a slide presentation, our guest speaker will show how these architectural hybrids bejewelled the twin cities.

The Speaker:

Dr. Lee Ho Yin ( 李浩然 ) teaches final year undergraduates and PhD students, and is one of the founding staff as well as the Current Program Director of the Architectural Conservation Program in the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong. He is an architect with extensive experience in design, project management and heritage conservation. His numerous academic publications include topics on the socio-cultural aspects of Hong Kong's built-environment and the vernacular architecture of Southeast Asia, some of which were published by the Oxford University Press.

Guided Viewing: Hong Kong International Art Fair (Art HK ’09)

Following last year's inaugural success, the Hong Kong International Art Fair (ART HK) emerged as the leading art fair in Asia, presenting an unparalleled opportunity to see some of the freshest and most exciting work being produced around the world, alongside modern masters from the 20th century.

While last year's event showcased works of art by 101 leading art galleries, this year, Art HK 09 will bring together over 110 of the world's leading modern and contemporary art galleries from 24 countries to display unique and diverse works of art.

Amongst the overseas galleries participating for the first time are White Tube from London, Galarie Continua from Italy, Lisson Gallery from London, Gagosian Gallery, Tomio Koyama Gallery and Scai the Bathhouse from Japan.

Art Futures will be a new section dedicated to solo and two-artists presentations from young galleries on emerging artists. The fair will also feature works by Antony Gormley and Anish Kapoor for the first time in Hong Kong, alongside leading Asian artists Cai Cuo-Qiang and Jitish Kallat.

Pre-trip Talk: Japan’s Contemporary Art and Architecture with Alex Hui

The highlight of our June trip to Japan will be to see some of the art installations of the coming 4th edition of the Echigo Tsumari Triennial Art Festival.

Alex Hui ( 許日銓 ) led the 2006 tour and the time has come to join him for another visit. In conjunction with our June trip to Japan, Alex will give a power point presentation to show us some of the site specific art works in Echigo Tsumari. He will explain the concept behind Echigo Tsumari and the HKU Museum Society's historical links with this art triennial. He will also show us some of the places we shall visit after our stay in Echigo Tsumari. The lecture will illustrate architecturally interesting museums, hotels and even a training centre for guide dogs!

Guided Auction Viewing: Christie’s Hong Kong Spring 2009 Exhibition

Christie's Hong Kong Spring Auction 2009 will be held from 24 to 27 May, 2009. It will feature numerous sales across a variety of collecting categories – from classical Chinese paintings and works of art, to cutting edge contemporary works from artists throughout Asia, as well as wine, jewelry and watches.

A highlight of this year's auction will be The Imperial Sale the theme of which will focus strongly on the daily life and rituals of the Qing court.

Christie's specialist will guide us through some of the highlighted items on show. Members and friends are welcome to view the other works of art on exhibit at various galleries after the guided tour.

More detailed information will be available nearer the time. Do watch out for these updates by clicking on Museum Society at UMAG's website.
www.hku.hk/hkumag.

Annual General Meeting at the Hong Kong Club with Guest Speaker Wong How Man

Lecture Synopsis:

Cultural conservation has been an important concern in many countries, especially those with a long history and heritage. France in Europe and Japan in Asia, have epitomized remarkable efforts while China and Hong Kong have been trailing baby steps behind. Given its huge size, long history, treasured inventory of both living & past cultures and with current available financial resources, what should be our vision of the conservation road map ahead for us in this century?

China Exploration and Research Society (CERS) Founder and President Wong How Man, listed by Time Magazine among top 25 Heroes of Asia and honoured as “China’s most accomplished living explorer”, will share his view on the new challenges and pressing issues facing our generation regarding China’s most unique and important heritage.

Based on real cases CERS has dealt with that include: Dunhuang / Silk Road; Hanging Coffins; Manchuria Ewenki Tribe; Matrilineal Moso; Tibetan Monastery and Nunnery; and Hainan Li Minority Village, Wong will illustrate CERS’s philosophy and mission. He would also look into the questions of whether culture conservation could become a financial asset rather than a liability, and how an explorer could also be an effective conservationist.

Two short films will be shown with this interesting and thought-provoking talk. Wong’s works have been featured also in National Geographic, CNN, CNBC, Discovery Channel,among many others.

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