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Published: 08:41, July 01, 2022 | Updated: 09:49, July 01, 2022
HK Palace Museum to help share China's splendid culture
By Li Bingcun, William Xu
Published:08:41, July 01, 2022 Updated:09:49, July 01, 2022 By Li Bingcun, William Xu

An Aerial photo taken on May 29, 2022 shows the Hong Kong Palace Museum in south China's Hong Kong. (Li Gang / Xinhua)

The soon-to-open Hong Kong Palace Museum will take on the historic mission of translating Chinese culture to world audiences and facilitating the dialogue between East and West, museum Director Louis Ng Chi-wa said.

As one of the major events to mark the city’s 25th anniversary of its return to the country, the museum will open to the public on Saturday, presenting over 900 rare-to-see cultural relics on loan from Beijing’s Palace Museum

Speaking to media representatives in the run-up to the museum’s grand opening, Ng, a historian and veteran museum practitioner, said the establishment of the museum in Hong Kong is a fitting tribute to its residents’ affinity for Chinese culture and the city’s standing as a cultural hub.

As one of the major events to mark the city’s 25th anniversary of its return to the country, the museum will open to the public on Saturday, presenting over 900 rare-to-see cultural relics on loan from Beijing’s Palace Museum.

When the interview was conducted, Ng’s team was busy preparing for the grand opening, which requires full attention to every detail of the cultural feast, regardless of the temperature, humidity, and the cases preserving the masterpieces. All need to be cared for and strictly follow the standards of world-class museums.

Zest of Chinese culture

Ng, a veteran museum expert and historian, said Hong Kong people have great enthusiasm for the country’s time-honored history and culture. “We have a strong desire to spread Chinese culture and arts in Hong Kong more profoundly and comprehensively,” he said.

READ MORE: Residents snap up 140,000 tickets to HK Palace Museum

He said that in 2007, to mark Hong Kong’s 10th anniversary return to the country, Beijing’s Palace Museum loaned the original copy of the classic Chinese painting Along the River During the Qingming Festival to Hong Kong for exhibition, creating a sensation in the city. The renowned painting, over 5 meters long, depicts a scene of Tomb Sweeping Day in present-day Kaifeng, Henan province, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The artistic jewel, created by Northern Song painter Zhang Zeduan, offers glimpses of various social aspects of what was then Bianjing, the dynasty capital and the world’s most prosperous metropolis at the time. In 2010, a digital version of the painting was also displayed in the city, attracting about 930,000 visitors, and related souvenirs were sold out in only two hours.

Ng believed that with a local Palace Museum on their doorstep, Hong Kong people can get more chances to watch exhibitions and appreciate the splendid Chinese culture.

Apart from educational activities to be held in the museum, what also worth expecting are more activities in schools and communities to raise the public’s interests of Chinese culture

Besides showcasing the rich collections of the Beijing Palace Museum, there are also plenty of other ways to give full play of the local museum’s potential.

Apart from educational activities to be held in the museum, what also worth expecting are more activities in schools and communities to raise the public’s interests of Chinese culture. Ng’s team plans to compile a book for teachers to introduce the relics to students. It even envisioned designing a mobile vehicle — which Ng described as a “relics vending cart” or a “mobile relics hospital” — to transport the antiques to different schools for students to better appreciate them.

Local artists will also have a role to play in showcasing the charm of traditional Chinese culture. The museum has invited six young Hong Kong artists to create artworks themed of traditional culture and the culture of the Beijing Palace Museum. Ng said most Hong Kong artists focus on contemporary artwork and rarely have a chance to do such collaboration, which could further deepen the bond between artists from Hong Kong and the mainland.

Going global 

In Ng’s vision, with the foothold in Hong Kong, a world metropolis, the museum can serve as a vital portal for Chinese culture to go global, and bridge the world’s diverse civilizations.

Many of his team members have decades of overseas working experience, and they are very adept at telling Chinese stories to world audiences, Ng said.

READ MORE: Modern variant of Forbidden City: Story behind construction of HK Palace Museum

“The members are quite familiar with foreign audiences and what they think when they look at cultural relics, especially those representing Chinese culture. Therefore, we are able to convey the core of our culture in a way that can be easily accepted by overseas visitors,” Ng said.

In Ng’s vision, with the foothold in Hong Kong, a world metropolis, the museum can serve as a vital portal for Chinese culture to go global, and bridge the world’s diverse civilizations

After the opening exhibitions, the museum will conduct a special joint exhibition with a European museum, which will showcase the collections of Chinese emperors during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) along with those of European royalty spanning 600 years. Ng said he expects it can be a “dialogue between Eastern and Western culture”.

In addition to the work of Western countries, Ng also hopes to showcase other, less-dominant overseas cultures, such as those in Central Asian and Islamic regions, which rarely have been exhibited in Hong Kong. Exhibitions on the theme of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and other mainland regions are also in consideration.

Another part of the Hong Kong Palace Museum’s duty is to bring flagship Chinese cultural projects overseas. Next year, it plans to present Hong Kong visitors relics from Sanxingdui, a world-renowned historical site from the Bronze Age that flourished in present-day Sichuan province. After the Hong Kong trip, the relics will continue to be exhibited in some museums in the United States.

Ng said many collectors expressed much recognition to the HKPM and donated many high-quality antiques to his team. Believing the project can well serve the country’s need, the collectors are very keen to contribute to the nation’s cultural development. So far the museum has received six batches of donations worth a total 500 million yuan ($74.7 million), Ng said.

ALSO READ: A glimpse of Hong Kong Palace Museum

Ng, who grew up in the West Kowloon district, said the region has witnessed drastic changes over the past decades, but some culture heritages in old districts have still been preserved, achieving a nice blend of traditional and modern cultures. A landmark of the district, the HKPM also represents the finest traditional culture from Beijing and homegrown culture of Hong Kong. Integrating the different styles will require a continuous effort, Ng said.

But the ultimate goal is quite clear — to let more people around the globe know more about Chinese culture and history frozen in the gifts from the past.

Zou Shuo contributed to the story

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