At the height of the Age of Discovery in the 16th century, Europeans flocked to the Orient, surmounting geographic barriers, and plunging the Ming empire into the globalisation matrix. The great variety of produce and finely crafted objects from Ming China, for daily use or decoration, quickly became sought-after international commodities in a growing world market, and a driving force for Europeans to expand their trade in the Orient. Among the most highly prized Chinese goods were silk, porcelains, lacquerwares, and tea.
Very much a specialty of the Ming, porcelain took the Europeans by storm as soon as it arrived on the continent. Translucent and shiny, light and durable against wear and erosion, the exotic pieces with a mysterious oriental style were zealously coveted by royalty, aristocrats, and even religious leaders. To make the most of the drastically expanding global market, merchants from various countries became actively involved in the design, manufacture, shipment, and sale of Chinese porcelain, resulting in diversification of production centres as well as an amazing array of types and decorations for this vibrant Chinaware. The Chinese trade porcelain thus entered its golden age and caused marvellous ebb and flow in the globalised commercial world.
The present exhibition provides an overview of the Sino-European maritime trade in porcelain during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Integrating object display with textual records as well as images from history, it features over 400 pieces (sets) of trade porcelains and related objects from the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and other public and private collections. We aim to reconstruct the design, manufacture, transport, and sale processes of Chinese export porcelain and their use and impact in overseas markets, and we invite visitors to travel with us back in time and across the globe to see how Ming and Qing porcelain came to dominate the international market and how it profoundly impacted the porcelain industry of the world. The exhibition is organised in six sections: Encountering Oriental Wonders, Thriving Country of China, Manufacture and Transport of Porcelain, Braving the Ocean Waves, International Fashions, and Profound Impact of Chinaware.
Oracle Bones Collection from CUHK (Virtual Exhibition)
Exhibition Period: From 15 September 2021 to 31 August 2022
Link to the virtual exhibition: https://roundme.com/embed/yp8kMepM6tDN9xc0JIuD
The Shang dynasty inscribed oracle bones were found at Yinxu, Henan province. Its purpose and function shed significant light on the origin of Chinese culture, disclosing major concerns of the time. Shang oracle-bone script is the earliest known form of systematic Chinese writing which is a crucial source for understanding the development of Chinese characters as well as the history of the Shang dynasty.
The Chinese University of Hong Kong is the largest repository of oracle bones in Hong Kong, including forty-four oracle bones donated by Mr. Deng Erya’s family to United College and twenty-seven by Mr. Lee Yim to the Art Museum. On the occasion of the United College’s sixtieth anniversary and the golden jubilee of the Institute of Chinese Studies (of which Art Museum is an integral part), the exhibition “A Legacy of Elegance” is jointly presented by United College, the CUHK Library and Art Museum as a celebration event. The exhibition features the oracle bones from the CUHK Collection, the oracle-bone and bronze scripts from the Art Museum Collection, and publications on oracle-bones studies from the CUHK Library Collection. Exhibits include calligraphic works and monographs by well-known scholars such as Luo Zhenyu, Deng Erya, Tung Tso-pin, Rong Geng, Shang Chengzuo, Feng Kanghou, Lee Yim and Jao Tsung-I. The specialist catalogue A Legacy of Elegance: Oracle Bones Collection from The Chinese University of Hong Kong edited by Dr. Li Zong-kun of Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taipei is intended for both the expert and the uninitiated yet educated reader. The two essays written by Dr. Ho Pik Ki, Peggy of the Art Museum, CUHK reveal the close relationship between and achievement of oracle-bones studies and art of the University.
To celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Art Museum in 2021, “A Legacy of Elegance” was made into a virtual exhibition, in which visitors can travel back in time and reflect on the origin and development of Chinese culture.
Celebrating the Year of the Tiger
Exhibition Period until 9 May 2022
Link to the online exhibition: http://artsandculture.google.com/story/4gXxQGz7rWmUSw?hl=en-GB
The Art Museum celebrates the Year of the Tiger with a selection of tiger-related artefacts from the collection of the museum and Huai Hai Tang. Featuring paintings, calligraphies, seals, and ceramics, the exhibition demonstrates the apotropaic nature of the fierce feline and the worship they enjoyed in traditional Chinese culture. Often depicted alongside deities and Luohan monks, tigers served as witnesses to the magical powers of immortals. Their different artistic representations also reflect cultural exchanges over time.
During the Art Museum’s closure due to the pandemic, some exhibits were digitally reproduced and exhibited in G/F Lee Garden One Office Building, on the footbridge connecting Lee Garden One and Two as well as 9/F Urban Sky at Hysan Place to celebrate the New Year with Hong Kong citizens from 22 January to 28 February 2022. An online exhibition was also published on the museum’s Google Arts and Culture page.
Artistic Crosscurrents from Guangdong: Selected Painting and Calligraphy from Late Qing to Republican China (Collection of the Art Museum, CUHK)
Exhibition Period until 21 August 2022
Artistic Crosscurrents from Guangdong is a continuation of the exhibition Artistic Confluence in Guangdong. It tells the region’s development of connoisseurship, calligraphy, and painting during turbulent times, and activities and contributions of Guangdong elites in cities including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong in late Qing to Republican era. The exhibition showcases a host of distinctive paintings, calligraphy, seals and rubbings, capturing the essence of Guangdong arts and culture.
Masterpieces by renowned artists such as Ju Chao, Ju Lian, Gao Jianfu, Gao Qifeng, and Chen Shuren of the Lingnan School of Painting, as well as Zhao Haogong, Lu Zhenhuan, Yao Lixiu, Li Yanshan, and Huang Bore of the National Painting Research Society, are featured in the exhibition. Calligraphic works by significant scholars and politicians like Chen Li, Li Wentien, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, Sun Yat-sen, Hu Hanmin, and Ye Gongchuo are also on display. Rubbings of paramount artistic and historical value, together with the Sheng Xuanhuai Archive, offer new insights into the history and culture of Guangdong.
