Media

HKU weekly notice (from November 5 to November 12, 2016)

04 Nov 2016

 

Award-winning poet Sarah Howe to deliver Second Century Lecture at HKU
HKU Faculty of Arts has invited Hong Kong-born British poet Sarah Howe to deliver the Second Century Lecture at the University. In January of this year, she followed in the footsteps of literary greats, including Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes, by winning the T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry. Her winning debut collection, Loop of Jade, is an ambitious exploration of her dual Anglo-Chinese heritage, drawing on themes of identity and displacement.

Members of the media are cordially invited to attend the event. Details are as follows:
Date: November 8, 2016 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Venue: Rayson Huang Theatre, the University of Hong Kong
Language: English

For media enquiries or individual interview requests, please contact Mr Cyrus Chan, Events Coordinator, Faculty of Arts (tel: 3917 4984 email: cyrusc@hku.hk).

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum of HKU presents “Climate Change 360ᵒ” Exhibition

Period: Now till November 18, 2016

The Stephen Hui Geological Museum of HKU presents “Climate Change 360ᵒ” Exhibition, to coincide with the Climate Change Summit in Nantes, France (26-27 September 2016) and the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco (7-18 November 2016).

The exhibition is the collaboration between the Stephen Hui Geological Museum and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong and Macau and part of a series of events during the “France – Hong Kong Month of Environment”.

Climate Change is a pressing and central issue in our conversations of our time as we seem to witness many changes in the environment such as the melting of artic sea ice and sea level changes. Our generation today faces the double challenge to be the first generation that is starting to witness and feel the impacts of climate change, and yet, may be the last one that can mitigate and fix it. This “Climate Change 360°“exhibition helps to raise public awareness of climate change issues.

It takes a closer look at the visible consequences of climate change we witness today and the issues raised by the increase in greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activities and illustrates important topics on scientific climate observations, causes of global warming, forecasts by climatologists and preventive measures.

This exhibition adds valuable information to the existing permanent exhibition on Cenozoic Climate Change of the Stephen Hui Geological Museum. Together the two displays complement each other to allow a better understanding on the Earth’s climate system through latest observations and scientific research on Climate Change in the geological past, at present and in the future.

Details of the Exhibition:
Venue: Stephen Hui Geological Museum, James Lee Science Building 1/F, The University of Hong Kong
Opening Hours: Monday – Friday, 1pm to 6pm
Closed on Saturdays and Sundays, University and Public Holidays
Free Admission
Tel/Email: (852) 2241 (General Enquiry / shmuseum@hku.hk
Webpage: http://www.earthsciences.hku.hk/

Media enquiries:
Communication and Public Affairs Office Ms Rhea Leung (Tel: 2857 8555 / 9022 7446; email: rhea.leung@hku.hk).

UMAG exhibitions
1. Nostalgia for Ancient Times: Contemporary Chinese Art to showcase contemporary techniques and styles in Chinese ink

Period: November 2 (Wednesday) to January 8, 2017 (Sunday)

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will collaborate once again with the Chinese Modern & Contemporary Art Document Research Centre and ZArt to present Nostalgia for Ancient Times: Contemporary Chinese Art. This innovative exhibition of contemporary Chinese ink paintings presents recent works by six young, established artists: Cheng Bao-zhong, Hao Liang, Kang Chun-hui, Liu Qi, Peng Jian and Qin Ai.

When viewed as a group, the exhibiting artists refer to a shared nostalgia that each expresses through ink on paper. Whether it is Cheng Bao-zhong’s finely rendered landscapes, Hao Liang’s depiction of a scholar or Peng Jian’s boldly coloured scholars’ books, the theme suggests a melancholic return to the past. Kang Chun-hui’s bird painting and Liu Qi’s “bamboo” further underline the contemplation of traditional painterly topics. In so doing, the painters appear to long for ancient times, as they depict some of the best-known and most celebrated motifs of bygone eras.

This development is no isolated phenomenon, but rather a more general trend as Chinese cultural practices are being re-explored more broadly. Artists — both nationally and internationally — have taken creative inspiration from China’s continuum of traditional arts. In the tradition of scholar artists, this young generation of highly skilled talent is steeping itself in the system of applied materials and techniques while moving forward through modes of self-cultivation and reflection.

Venue: 2/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

2. Pictures of the Past: Hungarian Photographer Dezső Bozóky in Hong Kong -- captured Hong Kong’s past through a foreign lens

Period: September 26 (Wednesday) to January 8, 2017 (Sunday)

Poised to learn more about Asia and to experience China firsthand, naval doctor Bozóky (1871–1957) travelled to the East during the first decade of the twentieth century, recorded his journey in a diary and photographed and self-developed hundreds of images that today present rare visual resources of the former colonial city and its busy and world-famous Victoria Harbour.

In an ever more developing Hong Kong, Bozóky’s beautiful black-and-white and hand-coloured pictures present historic documents that allow us to re-trace their master’s steps and offer insights into the bustling merchant town, culturally mixed society and lush natural landscape that he encountered. Bozóky’s images displayed a foreign world to his compatriots at home where they formed a treasure trove of information in the early 1900s Budapest, just as they do today.

Venue: 1/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

3. "Classical Chinese Huanghuali Furniture from the Haven Collection" presents the art and craft of Ming and Qing domestic living and furniture making

Period: September 7 (Wednesday) to November 20, 2016 (Sunday)

Chinese huanghuali furniture is world-famous and, for the longest time, has been collected in both East and West. In Ming dynasty, traditional wood architecture and Buddhist thrones inspired Chinese furniture makers and, as trade expanded, so did the amount of hardwood furniture in the form of sophisticated movable pieces and built-in interiors. Ming furniture is known for its elegant lines and carved details. During the reign of Emperor Longqing (1567–1572) China opened its borders, previously implemented import bans were lifted and a greater variety of building materials became available. Consequently, during the Ming and Qing dynasties the most celebrated types of domestic furniture were made from huanghuali and zitan woods. The elegant dark hardwood with natural shine is remarkable for the fact that Chinese furniture is typically made from solid timber, not an invisible sub-construction covered by a decorative veneer, as is so often the case in the West.

The strength of each individual furniture element and the consistent colour matters, as every detail is exposed and the precision of the joints, the size and position of the dowels, are all visual elements of an often very simple and graceful design. In some pieces the joints are detectible and accessible, sometimes demountable, or else expertly hidden in the more sophisticated pieces. Applied surface finishes were generally only a layer of wax; no stains or clear lacquer seals were added to the dense and inherently decorative woods.

Venue: 1/F, T.T. Tsui Building, UMAG, 90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam

Opening Hours:
09:30 – 18:00 (Monday to Saturday)
13:00 – 18:00 (Sunday)
Closed on University and Public Holidays
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
Instagram: #SpanningTime, #HKUMAG
Weibo: @香港大學美術博物館UMAG

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