HKMoA celebrates inauguration of Jingguanlou Gallery and its 60th Anniversary (with photos)
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The Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA) held the Inauguration of Jingguanlou Gallery cum Celebration Ceremony of the HKMoA 60th Anniversary today (December 8).
Jingguanlou is a private art collection compiled by renowned collector and photographer Dr Leo Wong primarily featuring 20th-century Chinese paintings and calligraphy. Dr Wong has generously donated to the HKMoA a total of 1 110 sets of priceless works as the museum’s permanent collection since late 2021, which is a valuable gift to celebrate the museum’s 60th anniversary. The “Jingguanlou Gallery” was set up on the fourth floor of the HKMoA and was unveiled today.
Addressing the ceremony, the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, said that the HKMoA has been committed to promoting Hong Kong art, Chinese culture and multicultural exchanges since its establishment in 1962. It was inspiring to note that the museum has been very well received by the public with an accumulated total attendance of over 1.3 million since its reopening in late 2019, although it had been closed five times due to the pandemic. The HKMoA has a rich collection and has received multiple precious collections from private donations, reflecting that the mission of the museum to inherit and protect art is well recognised by local collectors. Mr Yeung extended his gratitude to Dr Wong for his very generous donation, applauding for his spirit of sharing joy with the public and turning personal interests into public interests.
Other officiating guests attending the ceremony included Dr Wong; the Chairman of the Museum Advisory Committee, Mr Douglas So; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mr Vincent Liu; and Museum Director of the HKMoA, Dr Maria Mok.
To mark the inauguration of the Jingguanlou Gallery, a new exhibition, “Palette of a Centenarian: Selected Works of Zhu Qizhan from the Jingguanlou Collection” will be launched, showcasing over 80 sets of paintings by Zhu Qizhan (1892-1996), a virtuoso of the Shanghai School, from different times in his life, to share the deep friendship between Zhu and Dr Wong that had spanned nearly half a century as well as the deep mutual affection and respect developed from their first encounters.
Since early 2022, the HKMoA has held numerous exhibitions and activities to celebrate its 60th anniversary. Various finale exhibitions will be open to the public starting tomorrow. They include “The Connoisseurship and Collection of the Master of Chih Lo Lou”, featuring 30 sets of works from the Chih Lo Lou collection, offering the public an insight into the anecdotes of Ho Iu-kwong (1907-2006), the Master of Chih’s encounter with art as well as his concepts of collection building in tribute to his contribution to Chinese culture and his lofty sentiments. Another precious exhibition is the “Eternal Enlightenment: the Virtual World of Jiajing Emperor”. To mark the 500th anniversary of the Ming dynasty Jiajing Emperor’s enthronement this year, the HKMoA will display ceramics, lacquerwares, portrait paintings and cloisonné of the Jiajing period from the Huaihaitang collection, by the prestigious Hong Kong collector Mr Anthony Cheung. It is also the first collaboration exhibition with an individual Hong Kong collector since the reopening of the HKMoA in 2019. Moreover, Tai Ping Carpets Limited and Hong Kong renowned artist anothermountainman (Stanley Wong) also generously donated to the HKMoA their collaborated artwork “Hong Kong Walk On/one”. This 6 by 3 metre iconic red white blue series artwork will be displayed in the lobby of the museum.
The HKMoA is located at 10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. For details, please visit the website at hk.art.museum/en_US/web/ma/exhibitions-and-events.html or call 2721 0116.
In order to comply with the Prevention and Control of Disease (Requirements and Directions) (Business and Premises) Regulation (Cap. 599F) and relevant requirements of administrative instructions, visitors are required to scan the “LeaveHomeSafe” venue QR code with their mobile phones/other mobile devices before being allowed to enter the museums under the management of the LCSD. In accordance with the Prevention and Control of Disease (Vaccine Pass) Regulation (Cap. 599L) and relevant requirements of administrative instructions, members of the public entering indoor venues under the management of the LCSD must comply with the relevant requirements of the Vaccine Pass. According to the current requirement on the Vaccine Pass, all persons with their Vaccine Pass QR codes displayed in red are not allowed to enter museums under the management of the LCSD while patrons holding amber codes are allowed to enter the premises with valid Vaccine Pass.