Media

HKU weekly notice (from September 19 to 26, 2015)

18 Sep 2015

 

HKU Libraries : “John Thomson’s Hong Kong: Past and Present” photo exhibition
In coordination with the Photographic Heritage Foundation, the University of Hong Kong Libraries will present a number of photos from the John Thomson collection and photos from close vantage points to John Thomson’s.

John Thomson, by many seen as the greatest nineteenth century photographer of China, recorded Hong Kong in 1868. By then the Colony was a fast developing trading port, as Thomson’s photos show. Recently, the Photographic Heritage Foundation commissioned photographs of John Thomson’s photo sites, creating visual comparisons of Hong Kong seen almost 150 years apart – now profoundly changed yet still identifiable.

Details of the exhibition
Date: 10 – 30 September, 2015
Time: Monday – Friday: 8:30 am – 10:00 pm
           Saturday: 8:30 am – 7:00 pm
           Sunday: 10:00 am – 7:00 pm
Location: Level 3, Multipurpose Zone, Main Library, the University of Hong Kong

For enquiries, please contact:
Gary E. Chin
Public Relations and Development Manager
Tel: +852 28592211 | Email: gchin@hku.hk

Marina S.T. Yeung
Public Relations and Development Assistant
Tel: +852 28598903 | Email: marinayeung@hku.hk

UMAG exhibitions
1. “Mexican Big Bang”” Famous abstract painter Roberto Turnbull
to exhibit first time in East Asia

Period: September 9 (Wednesday) to November 29, 2015 (Sunday)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), in collaboration with the Mexican painter Roberto Turnbull and with the support of the Consul General of Mexico in Hong Kong and Macao, will  present “Mexican Big Bang: Paintings by Roberto Turnbull” exhibition from September 9 to November 29, 2015. A selection of 26 remarkable artworks will introduce the work of the famous abstract painter for the first time in East Asia, displaying the painterly and architectural styles and themes that influenced his works.

Painter, sculptor and engraver Roberto Turnbull was born in Mexico in 1959, and his work has been internationally shown and collected since 1983. His paintings are often collages that contain sketches—figurative and abstract in style. Half factual document, half utopia, sometimes a dream or nightmare, many of Turnbull’s depictions are characterized by warm and bright colours and geometric forms that relate his two-dimensional work to three-dimensional sculpture and architecture.

Since the 1990s, Turnbull has experimented extensively with printing techniques and created unique prints by spreading a layer of paint onto a glass or metal plate upon which he draws and from which he prints before the pigments dry. This technique has allowed him to produce multi-layered images, many of which show fragmented bodies and an unconventional perspective that depicts figures and objects that do not respond to any predictable logic. In more recent years, Turnbull has built upon this method of constructing imagery, as he has abandoned representation or reflections of reality. The painter has developed a geometrism that forms a new kind of abstract or minimalist art.

2. “Mountains Ablaze: The Republic and the Sino-Japanese War (1912-1946)”
to display unique, historical documents of China’s past

Period: September 4 (Friday) to November 15, 2015 (Sunday)

“Mountains Ablaze: The Republic and the Sino-Japanese War (1912–1946)” is an exhibition detailing the history of China during the first half of the twentieth century from September 4 to November 15, 2015. Chinese history is world history --- the rich and wide-ranging selection of original archival documents such as manuscripts, letters, calligraphy and paintings that are rarely seen before will be on displayed to demonstrate not only the strength of its people but also that international connections, and public and diplomatic relations, are inseparable from China’s political and social developments.

This second sequence follows the first Mountains Ablaze exhibition: “Foreign Devils” and Chinese Patriots (1839–1911)’, which focused on the late Qing dynasty and Late Imperial China. Connected with the rise of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, the present edition concentrates on the enormous efforts that went into building a republic and the foreign contact that influenced the politics of the day and China’s reception for years to come.

UMAG Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays
Venue: 1/F, T.T. Tsui Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 5500 (General Enquiry) / museum@hku.hk
Admission: Free
Website: www.hkumag.hku.hk

Connect with UMAG on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umag.hku
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMAG_HKU
Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/5411839295/profile?topnav=1&wvr=6

Media enquiries:
UMAG Communication Officer Miss Elena Cheung, Tel: (852) 2241 5512, Email: elenac@hku.hk