Media

UMAG Photography Exhibition:
“Erich Lessing: The Pulse of Time—Capturing Social Change in Post-war Europe”

18 Nov 2015

The Mayor of Berlin, Willy Brandt, speaks to Berliners, 1959

(Photography: ERICH LESSING | © Photographs by Erich Lessing)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) collaborates with the Austrian Consulate for Hong Kong and Macau as well as the Erich Lessing Archive to present the photography of celebrated Magnum photographer Erich Lessing. Lessing began working for the Associated Press in 1947, and joined Magnum Photos as one of its first members in 1951. He documented political events in post-war Europe, primarily in the former Communist countries.

An opening ceremony of the exhibition will be held at UMAG on November 26 (Thursday). 

The Pulse of Time includes nearly 100 documentary images from the pinnacle of Lessing’s career in the 1950s and 1960s, which illustrate the journalist’s ability to be working in the right place at the right time. Lessing reported on many of the most significant political event in post-war Europe and his, now historical, photographs record social and economic change in ever developing societies in both Eastern and Western Europe. Some of his works include Enthusiastic Austrians in the park at the Belvedere, which was photographed in 1955; Traffic check at the Brandenburg Gate, which was photograph in 1959 showed the division of Berlin, while a border guard at the center of the Brandenburg Gate controlled the city’s residents moving from one sector to another; and Vienna Opera Ball, was photographed in 1960. 

All exhibition-related activities will be held at 1/F, T.T.Tsui Building, UMAG, HKU, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

Media preview and group interview session
Date: November 26, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 17:15 – 17:45 (Media registration: Starts at 17:00)
Language: English
Media RSVP: museum@hku.hk / Tel: 2241 5512

Opening ceremony
Date: November 26, 2015 (Thursday)
Time: 18:00

Officiating Guests:
Dr Claudia Reinprecht, Consul General, Austrian Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macao
Ms Hannah Lessing, Secretary General, National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism
Ms Wendy Gan, Director, Strategy Ltd and Non-Executive Director, Chinney Alliance Group Ltd
Mr Douglas So, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Institutional Advancement), The University of Hong Kong
Host: Dr Florian Knothe, Director of UMAG, HKU

Portrait Erich Lessing, 2001 © Tina Ruisinger

About Erich Lessing
Born in 1923, Erich Lessing began working for the Associated Press in 1947, and joined Magnum Photos as one of its first members in 1951. Commissioned primarily for LIFE, Paris Match, Picture Post, EPOCA and Quick Magazine, he documented political events in post-war Europe, primarily in the former Communist countries. Among his most famous campaigns were coverage of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 and French President Charles de Gaulle’s 1958 visit to Algeria. In the 1960s, Lessing turned his eye to cultural subjects such as art, science and history—taking portraits of actors, poets, musicians, physicists and astronomers. Including this series of cultural figures, Lessing has produced more than 40 books and his entire oeuvre is meticulously documented in the Lessing Photo Archive, which was established in 1996.

Public guided tour
English Guided Tours:|
December 17, 2015 & January 7, 2016 (Thursday) – 13:30 – 14:00
February 12, 2016 (Friday) – 13:00 – 13:30

Cantonese Guided Tours:
December 19, 2015 & January 9 & 23, 2016 (Saturday) – 16:30 – 17:00

Registration: Free. 

Details of the Exhibition
Period: November 27, 2015 (Friday) to February 14, 2016 (Sunday)
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.umag.hku.hk/en/

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About University Museum and Art Gallery of the University of Hong Kong (UMAG)
UMAG was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. It was originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library in 1932 in honour of its benefactor. For more information on UMAG, please refer to the document UMAG document.

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