◆ Qing Dynasty court art and culture is one of Wang Yiyou's main research directions. Courtesy of the Hong Kong Palace Museum
◆ In 2018, the exhibition team completed the exhibition arrangement of "Phoenix Dance Forbidden: Art and Life of Empresses of the Qing Dynasty". Courtesy of the Hong Kong Palace Museum
Wang Yiyou, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong Palace Museum of Culture, is responsible for the museum's research, collections, exhibitions, publications, learning and public participation. She holds a Ph.D. in art history from Ohio State University, has worked at the National Museum of Asian Art, the Dimei Museum in Boston, and published several academic books. She is also the Chairman and Founder of the American Alliance of Museums China Program, dedicated to promoting cooperation and exchanges between the cultural and cultural communities of the two countries. And one of the themes that her academic and career has always revolved around is Chinese art, "I have worked in four or five museums, if I am like a kite, then my feelings for Chinese cultural history are a thread, always pulling me." 」
Before coming to Hong Kong in 2019, Wang Yiyou had just completed a large-scale exhibition showing the perspective of women in the court: The Art and Life of the Empress of the Qing Dynasty, which was jointly organized by the Dimei Museum in cooperation with the Palace Museum and the National Asian Art Museum, and co-curated by the well-known Chinese art historian Si Meiyin. The exhibition was named the best historical and theme exhibition of 2018 by the Boston Globe and the most comprehensive and influential outbound exhibition of 2019 by the China Cultural Relics Exchange Center. The exhibition made her famous in her professional field and was also invited by the Palace Museum in Hong Kong, which is under construction. "I decided to come over without any hesitation, it was a coincidence, or maybe it was fate, the work of the Hong Kong Museum not only satisfied my love for the Forbidden City, but also fulfilled my Hong Kong complex, which is my Dream Job." 」
Wang Yiyou said that when working in the United States, although he mainly studied Chinese art, he also had to take into account the art culture of other regions in East Asia. The forbidden city theme she is most interested in may wait a few years before she has the opportunity to exhibit it, and after coming to Hong Kong, she can be with the Forbidden City culture every day, making her dream come true.
It turns out that she has been deeply influenced by Hong Kong pop culture since she was a child, loves Hong Kong music, movies and dramas, and has always had a faint yearning for Hong Kong. She has high expectations for the future of the Palace Museum in Hong Kong, and has set up a team with an international background, with staff from Europe, the United States, Singapore, the mainland and Taiwan, etc. "I hope that this museum can absorb the best members of the cultural and museum industry around the world, innovate and give the audience a new experience."
Wang Yiyou praised the enthusiasm of Hong Kong citizens for museums. She earlier exchanged views with local parents and schools, and found that the public has a great demand for good exhibitions, parents want their children to get artistic influence, teachers are also willing to explain cultural relics to make teaching more vivid, I believe that after the official opening of the museum, it will get a positive response from the public. ◆ Hong Kong Wen Wei Po reporter Tang Wen