Media

HKU weekly notice (from December 24 to 31, 2015)

23 Dec 2015

 

UMAG exhibitions
1. “Illustrious Illuminations: Christian Manuscripts from the High Gothic to the High Renaissance (1250-1500)” An exhibition of 40 exquisite selections of illuminated manuscripts and sculptures

Period: December 11, 2015 (Friday) to February 28, 2016 (Sunday)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), in collaboration with the McCarthy Collection, displays for the first time in Hong Kong 41 exquisite selections of Gothic and Renaissance illuminated manuscripts and 7 sculptures.

Illuminated manuscript is a form of miniature painting. European manuscripts are typically Christian texts in which the image illustrates and further explains the word. Decorations in tempera paint, ink and gold on vellum (high-quality parchment) help to both clarify and beautify the text. Long treasured as visual presentations of the Christian Gospel, these miniature paintings give evidence of the talent and culture connected to the art of book illustration.

At a time when large parts of society remained illiterate, both text and image in rare books, such as Bibles and Books of Hours, presented an art form to which only a few community members had access. Books of Hours are Christian devotional books that were popular in the Middle Ages or Medieval Times (5th–14th centuries AD). Being the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript, they contained prayers appropriate for the various times/hours in the liturgical day. Today, in a flood of visual information, these exceptional documents highlight the important historic and cultural context from which they emerge.

English guided tours
18 December 2015 (Friday) 13:00 – 13:30
12 & 19 February 2016 (Friday) 13:30 – 14:00

Cantonese guided tours
19 December 2015, 9 January & 27 February 2016 (Saturday) 16:00 – 16:30

2. “Erich Lessing: The Pulse of Time—Capturing Social Change in Post-war Europe”

Period: November 27, 2015 (Friday) to February 14, 2016 (Sunday)

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.

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. 

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

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.umag.hku.hk/en/

Connect with UMAG on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/umag.hku
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UMAG_HKU
Weibo: https://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