Located in South China, Hong Kong's unique geographical location and historical background have created an international city where Chinese and Western cultures converge. Just like the Hong Kong Heritage Museum on the outskirts of Shatin, it is like a "cultural oasis" in a stone forest, where you can learn about the art and culture of Hong Kong, South China and the world.
In an exclusive interview with this newspaper, Lin Guohui, Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, said that in the future, he wants to build a museum that can reflect the cultural characteristics of Hong Kong city, and use the museum as a bridge for cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries, so that the audience can connect with world culture in the museum.
Walking into the permanent exhibition of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, one wonders, is it possible to go to the wrong place? I saw clips of celebrity idol performances from different eras on the large screen at the entrance of the exhibition hall, showing the changes in Hong Kong pop culture in the past 60 years. Walking into the hall, you can also see items that were popular decades ago: radios, posters, records, comics, toys, etc., which are very different from other museums that display art and ancient artifacts.
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum, completed in 2000, adopts a courtyard layout in architecture, which is full of traditional Chinese charm.
Lam Kwok-fai, Chief Curator of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, explained to reporters that as a city's business card, the museum not only shows the soft power of the city, but also allows overseas tourists to quickly understand the characteristics of the city and its past development: "Culture is the presentation of life. Faith, clothing, leisure and entertainment are all part of culture, and culture is the most important theme of this museum."
Once a cultural desert
In the 80s and 90s, Hong Kong was called a "cultural desert", but at that time, the local cultural industries such as literature, film and television were actually booming, but the authorities lacked proper promotion. Lam Kwok-fai, who joined the cultural industry in 1994 and has witnessed the development of Hong Kong's arts and culture over the years, believes that the government before the handover did not attach much importance to cultural development: "Museums in the 80s and 90s were institutions focusing on research and collection, and public awareness of museums was low, there were not many cultural facilities at that time, and even libraries were not available in every district. When I started, I had friends who didn't even know that there were museums in Hong Kong."
The curator recalls that the predecessor of the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Hong Kong Museum, in the early years, only rented the building near Tsim Sha Tsui Pier as the site of the museum, and only moved to the Kowloon Park Barracks (the current site of the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Museum) when he joined the company. Since it is a remodeling of an old building, and the exhibition hall area is only more than 1,000 square meters, there are many restrictions on the tour route. "However, with limited resources, the then curator still worked hard to co-organise exhibitions with Mainland institutions, such as the dinosaur exhibition with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which successfully attracted public attention." At that time, although the museum was not as complete as it is now, it can be seen that the museum's choice of cultural relics was not only high and low, but began to consider how to play an educational role through the exhibits, narrow the distance with the public, and enhance the audience's interest in history and culture.
The collection in the museum makes people look back at the development history of Hong Kong pop culture in the past decades, like stepping into a time tunnel.
The Director recalled that after the establishment of the HKSAR Government, the LCSD was added to co-ordinate arts and culture-related activities, and the development of Hong Kong museums also changed: "After the establishment of the LCSD, the planning and resource management of the cultural and arts sector have become more systematic. At present, many of the 15 museums under the LCSD were built after the establishment of the HKSAR, including the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and the Department has invested more and more resources in museum activities and exhibitions." Since then, museums will pay more attention to the audience experience when curating exhibitions, inspiring citizens to think, "In the past, museums were temples of knowledge, allowing audiences to see the culture and resources of the world. With the development of the Internet, it is easy to search for knowledge, so what museums need to do now is to connect different media and tell moving stories in a unique way."
Pop culture tells the story of Hong Kong
Pop culture is a proud theme of the Hong Kong Heritage Museum and reflects the city's cultural development. Director Lam said that from the 60s to the 80s of last century, Hong Kong had a good development in the fields of film, television, comics, music, advertising, design and other fields, and there was no shortage of widely disseminated works, such as Jin Yong (Cha Liangyong)'s martial arts novels: "The 'Jin Yong Pavilion' exhibition hall, opened in 2017, introduces Cha Liangyong's early career, the creative process of martial arts novels, and the influence of his novels on Hong Kong popular culture through multiple sets of exhibits. The novel manuscripts on display are rich in information and allow the audience to directly feel the author's intention when he wrote." Director Lam added that Jin Yong's new martial arts novels represent the creative side of Hong Kong's culture, and his works set off a boom in the 60s. At that time, many citizens would immediately turn to the supplement of the serialized novel after buying the newspaper, and even drive the sales of the newspaper, and this Jin Yong craze spread to Southeast Asia.
The "Jin Yong Museum" displays novel manuscripts, which are extremely precious.
"In the early years, in order to find Jin Yong's manuscript, the museum finally found the manuscript of "Smiling Rivers and Lakes" in Singapore through various contacts, and persuaded the owner to borrow it. When I talked with local Jin Yong fans and scholars, I found that the Chinese in Singapore were also very fascinated by Jin Yong's novels at that time." Director Lam said that Jin Yong used a pen and a piece of paper to establish contact with Chinese people around the world, successfully communicated with Chinese and foreign readers at the cultural level, and promoted the cultural development of Hong Kong and the entire Chinese society.
Jin Yong's novels integrate Chinese history and culture and film techniques, not traditional writing forms, but also provide materials for movies, TV series, etc., thus giving birth to theme songs and peripheral products, causing a considerable ripple effect. The exhibition "Jin Yong Guan" is a condensed display of Hong Kong's cultural and artistic history, allowing the new generation to understand and the older generation to review the development of Hong Kong pop culture in the past decades. "Pop culture reminds viewers of their own stories and gives them a sense of identity when they look at the exhibits." The curator foretold that new pop culture exhibitions will be held in the future, such as the upcoming "Continue to Pamper Leslie Cheung Memorial Exhibition", which will review the late superstar's achievements in music, film and film, and his influence on Hong Kong pop culture through the presentation of Leslie Cheung's stage costumes, records, film and television projects, songs, film and television awards, and personal collections.
Elevate the audience experience
Reflecting on his entry into the industry, Mr Lam said that the Hong Kong Museum has always been visited mainly by local residents, but also school groups and family audiences, "With the public's awareness of the museum, visiting the museum has gradually become a leisure activity for young people, and in recent years, the museum has also seen more young faces, who have come to visit with three or five confidants and gradually established a sense of identity with the museum."
The museum has a rich collection of more than 120,000 items, most of which are related to Hong Kong pop culture.
In order to continue to enhance the public's interest in culture and art, telling stories through exhibits alone cannot satisfy the current audience. Mr Lam believes that while the curatorial angle is important, it is now more necessary to attract the audience through different facilities and supporting facilities. For example, in addition to displaying manuscripts, books, newspapers, etc., the museum specially invited animation artists to create Jin Yong's novel characters, "using a few minutes of short films to make Jin Yong's novel characters Huang Rong, Guo Jing, etc. move, and even restore the martial arts moves of "Eighteen Palms of the Dragon" in the novel, bringing the novel pictures in the mind to life, bringing the audience a new viewing experience."
Bruce Lee connects the world
In 2021, the museum launched the Ordinary and Extraordinary – Bruce Lee exhibition, detailing the life philosophy and mental journey of kung fu superstar Bruce Lee. According to Director Lam, Bruce Lee has influenced more than a generation: "He has a rigorous pursuit of art, is obsessed with the promotion of kung fu, has begun to teach others to play kung fu in college, and firmly believes that Chinese martial arts are worth promoting to the world."
In order to let the visiting public and tourists further understand this martial arts master, the museum has set up a large-scale light and shadow exhibition "I, Wu Wu Wu" and interactive projects, creating a 360-degree panoramic space through multimedia images, creating the effect of flowing water and waterfall through optical fiber projection interactive installations, and matching Bruce Lee's computer animation images, special effects, music and golden phrases such as "Be Like Water", reflecting Bruce Lee's life philosophy of "being like water". This popular "immersive exhibit" immerses the audience in it, experiencing Bruce Lee's concept of self-realization with all senses, and experiencing how he uses kung fu to connect with the world with film.
The large-scale light and shadow exhibit "I, Wu Wu Wu" in the exhibition hall of "Ordinary - Bruce Lee" breaks through the framework of ordinary exhibitions.
Lin Guohui said frankly that in recent years, the public's interest in Hong Kong's history and culture has increased, coupled with the government's increased resources, the Cultural Museum has held many large-scale exhibitions in the past two decades, from the Terracotta Army of the First Emperor of Qin to the Qingming Upper River Map, and then to the treasures of the Palace Museum in Beijing. In addition, special exhibitions have also been introduced from the Louvre Museum and the British Museum, allowing Hong Kong audiences to enjoy heavyweight international exhibitions, and these important exhibitions have made Director Lam feel particularly that the distance between the cultural museum and the public has indeed narrowed.
Tucked away next to Sha Tin Park and on the banks of the Shing Mun River, this museum is like a "cultural oasis" that reflects the surrounding gardens, and it is hoped that this oasis will expand to the whole of Hong Kong in the near future, turning the city into a dense cultural "jungle".
Valuing young audiences
In order to create a stronger cultural and artistic social atmosphere, it is necessary to cultivate the next generation's interest in art and expand the age group of the audience. Mr. Lam Kwok-fai attaches great importance to the cultivation of young audiences, and believes that a museum should not only collect, organize, store and display cultural relics, but also shoulder the responsibility of educating the next generation. To this end, the museum systematically offers different activities for young audiences: "Every year, the museum organises the "Museum Pioneers" for kindergarten and primary school audiences, and children can participate in the museum's activities and workshops to learn about the operation of the museum." Director Lin introduced that there will also be a "Cultural New Humanity" activity for secondary school audiences, using the museum as a platform for interactive learning, visiting the museum's cultural relics restoration room, collection warehouse, etc., and introducing the planning of exhibitions, so that students can enhance their interest in local culture through learning and practice in the museum.
A check-in slot has been added in the museum
The giant kaleidoscopic projection installation exhibited in the museum earlier has become a hot spot for young visitors. (Photo: Courtesy of Hong Kong Heritage Museum)
Checking in on social platforms is a trend among young people, and the museum has also set up various "check-in booths" in exhibitions, uploaded check-in photos on social media, and cooperated with different social media to promote them to attract young people to visit. For example, the "Looking for Her in the Crowd - Nanjing Museum Collection of Ancient Chinese Women's Cultural Relics Exhibition" held earlier, the giant kaleidoscope projection device set at the entrance of the exhibition hall is in line with the current check-in elements, and the colorful and antique exhibition hall is like a journey back in time, and young visitors can't help but take out their mobile phones to take pictures. "The museum is a relatively 'young' museum, not only the exhibits are closer to the people's livelihood, but the themes are also more lively." Director Lin hopes to reach out to young people through social media and let more people know about this museum that represents local culture.
Actively promote exchanges at home and abroad
The Hong Kong Heritage Museum has always actively promoted cultural and artistic exchanges between China and foreign countries, and will not only strive to borrow foreign precious cultural relics for exhibition in Hong Kong, but also lend Hong Kong art and cultural collections to cooperative institutions at home and abroad. Director Lin told reporters: "On the one hand, we introduce exhibitions and on the other hand, we play a role as a bridge between overseas and mainland museums. For example, the 'Chiu Siu-ang Art Museum', which specializes in displaying paintings and materials related to Zhao Siuan, has been spreading the spirit of the Lingnan School in Hong Kong for decades and is extremely important for the development of local art. The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco and Chinese mainland also have many museums with works by Chao Shaoan, and the museum hopes to borrow the exhibits to organize exhibitions in Hong Kong, and then exchange with borrowers at home and abroad, so as to introduce the influence of Lingnan culture, calligraphy and painting on the development of Hong Kong's art."
The "Hong Kong International Poster Triennial" is an important exhibition for cultural museums to exchange ideas with designers from home and abroad. (Photo: Courtesy of Hong Kong Heritage Museum)
As a comprehensive museum, in addition to culture and history, exhibitions also cover art and design, of which design works are the key collection of the museum, and related exhibitions and activities are regularly organised, including the "Hong Kong International Poster Triennial" co-organized with the Hong Kong Designers Association every three years since 2001. The jury of the "Poster Triennale" is composed of experts from different places, such as Bi Xuefeng from Chinese mainland, Erich Bridge from Switzerland, Katsasa Okumura from Japan, and Lisa Ponrenger from Germany in 2021, and the four judges donated their posters and shared their testimonials, so that the audience can enjoy the poster works while improving their aesthetic level and promoting cultural exchanges. "This year, we will continue to recruit designers from home and abroad to submit their works to Hong Kong, and we plan to promote the competition to mainland designers to further promote exchanges at home and abroad." Director Lin said.
Source: Hong Kong Commercial Daily
Reporter: Janice Photo by Cui Junliang
Cover: He Jie Editor: Xinyun Review: Zhuo Ling
Reviewed: Oriole, Jiang Lu