The New Marvels of Hong Kong

Posted on October 14, 2022

The red-studded doors at the museum’s entrance. Construction of the building was funded by a $3.5 billion HKD ($450 million) donation by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Credit: Hong Kong Palace Museum

Written by

Jude Bautista

Filipinos have always held Hong Kong as one of their preferred international travel destinations in Asia. Easily, one of the nearest and budget friendly cities to go to. As the world opens up, Hong Kong has recently relaxed its quarantine rules for visitors. A photo exhibit highlighted the new activities in the fragrant harbor.

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Ayala Malls Manila Bay Activity Center is the special venue where you can see and find out about all these new places in HK. The Marvels In Hong Kong: 25 Years and Beyond exhibit runs from October 11-16, 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board in cooperation with the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The exhibit content itself was curated by the Hong Kong Tourism Board to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of HKSAR. The exhibit also traveled from Kuala Lumpur Malaysia and Jakarta, Indonesia.

From left: Eric Ngang – Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce Representative, Ronald Ho – Southeast Asia and South Asia Hong Kong Trade Development Council Regional Director, Sheung yuen Lee – Hong Kong Trade Development Council Director General, Raymond Chan – Hong Kong Tourism Board Southeast Asia Regional Director, Dr. Henry Lim – Federation of Filipino Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Donald Morris – Cathay Pacific Country Manager PH. Photo taken during The Marvels In Hong Kong: 25 Years and Beyond exhibit which runs from October 11-16, 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the AYALA MALLS MANILA BAY Activity Center. Photo by Jude Bautista. Log on to the official fb for more events
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New COVID Guidelines

To guarantee a smoother trip, make sure you have your complete COVID vaccinations with booster shots and internationally recognized vaccination IDs (Vaxxcert etc). The new COVID rules for international visitors also require self-testing. Please read and check the official site info.gov.hk for the latest rules and guidelines.

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Meanwhile, if you’re short on budget (or time) get a taste of HK in Ayala Malls Manila Bay’s plethora of Chinese restos: HAWKER CHAN, NINETEA, F CRAFTED TEA SHOP, KING CHEF, WANG FU CHINESE CAFÉ and HAP CHAN.

Flamingo Crafted Tea serves the famous HK Bubble waffle as well as milk tea and fruit tea. 4th floor AYALA MALLS MANILA BAY https://www.facebook.com/Fcraftedtea

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West Kowloon Cultural District

We’ve always known HK as a shopper’s and food lover’s paradise. But now there’s so much more to see and do. Especially in relation to culture and history. There are several new museums and Cultural hubs that were very recently opened.

The Hong Kong Palace Museum Photo from official site https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

The West Kowloon Cultural District, is a hub created by the government on reclaimed land specially to fulfill the need for cultural activities for both locals and visitors alike. This is where the Hong Kong Palace Museum, Xiqu Centre, M+ Museum, Art Park and Freespace are located. With future facilities soon to be added. The district is centrally located with access via 2 MTR stations: Austin and Kowloon stations and bus / minibus routes.

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Exhibit at Hong Kong Palace Museum Photo from official https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

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The Hong Kong Palace Museum was opened just this year, July 2022. There are a total of 900 artifacts that can be considered as priceless. Many of them are on display for the very first time to the public.

In an interview with CNN Style Hong Kong museum’s chairman Bernard Chan said, “This is the first time ever that large quantities of these national treasures are being taken out … to another cultural institution, so you can imagine the complexity behind it,” he adds, citing challenges around transportation, security and insurance, the latter of which took a conglomerate of around 100 insurance companies from around the world to resolve.

One of the museum’s nine galleries focuses on the history of Chinese ceramics, particularly imperial porcelain from the Ming and Qing dynasties Credit: Hong Kong Palace Museum

“When I was a curator in the United States, I spent three years working on one exhibition. Now I have three years to work on nine exhibitions,” says deputy director Daisy Wang Yiyou, referring to the museum’s ambitious opening program.

The Marvels In Hong Kong: 25 Years and Beyond exhibit runs from October 11-16, 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the AYALA MALLS MANILA BAY Activity Center. Photo by Jude Bautista. Log on to the official fb for more events
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The stunning artifacts, 166 of which are considered “grade-one national treasures,” feature in thematic shows, including one exploring aspects of imperial life in the Forbidden City and another focused on innovative design and production techniques. Elsewhere, an exhibition of art inspired by horses juxtaposes works from the Forbidden City with pieces on loan from the Louvre in Paris. Some of the objects have never been seen in public before, including two recently restored sketches of empresses. From CNN Style: Hong Kong Palace Museum Opening

A festive robe from the Qianlong period (1736 to 1795) is displayed during a media preview of the Hong Kong Palace Museum (10)

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Xiqu Centre

The Xiqu Centre is dedicated to live performances. It is the home of traditional theatre, Chinese Opera. From the official westkowloon website: “The Xiqu Centre’s Black Box Chinese Opera Festival returns for the fifth year with four productions – including two original new works. Combining contemporary aesthetics, innovative staging and state of the art technologies, the performances offer new perspectives on Chinese opera, showcasing the talent of local artists and the vitality of the heritage art form.”

Xiqu Centre Photo from official site – https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

“This year’s program includes two new Xiqu Centre productions of experimental Cantonese opera: Asura Judgement – Solo Performance, a uniquely demanding one-man adaptation of Law Ka-ying’s Rashomon-inspired ensemble work (2021), written, directed and performed by Law himself, and The Imperial Decree, a thought-provoking original drama about fate and freewill by award-winning duo Keith Lai and Janet Wong”. From the official westkowloon website

Xiqu Centre Photo from official site – https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

M+

Coming from the ancient to the modern. M+ is Hong Kong’s new museum of visual culture. Everything from paintings, to vintage signage going to design and architecture are all part of it.

M+ photo from official site: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/

The inaugural director, Lars Nittve, explained that the name is drawn from the concept of being a “museum and more”, and that his team sought to move beyond the typical model of the art museum, for example, by serving as a showcase of diverse subjects like architecture, film, and all manner of moving images including animation and video games. From M+ official Wikipedia.

Tsang Tsou Choi—the King of Kowloon’s work at the M+ Hong Kong Here and Beyond exhibition. Photo from: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/exhibitions/hong-kong-here-and-beyond/

The exhibit HONG KONG: Here and Beyond is the visual culture of the city from the 1960’s to now. Among them is the work of Tsang Tsou Choi—the King of Kowloon. “Tsang Tsou Choi’s very distinctive calligraphy. We always knew that we wanted to start the exhibition with this work. Because his work was so much for the public, he really wrote his calligraphy only on public surfaces—on utility housings, on pillar boxes, and so on—and it was intended for everyone to enjoy and for everyone to read.” Said Tina Pang From official M+ website mplus.org

Tsang Tsou Choi—the King of Kowloon’s work at the M+ Hong Kong Here and Beyond exhibition. Photo from: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/exhibitions/hong-kong-here-and-beyond/

But what really intrigued me is that he used ink. And ink is always associated with calligraphy, with landscape painting, with a very storied tradition of Chinese literati painting and cultural expression. Hong Kong during the late 1950s and early 1960s became a hotbed of experimentation in ink. That led to a really global innovation in contemporary ink painting, known as the New Ink Painting Movement. And so, we wanted to subvert this idea of ink as a more esoteric medium to talk about how it’s actually something that is all around us and accessible to people from all walks of life, which the King of Kowloon’s work was when he was alive. —narrated by Tina Pang From official M+ website mplus.org

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M+ Cinema

There are innumerable unique exhibits in M+, but one part I am personally excited to see is their M+ Cinema. This is the section where their movie theaters are dedicated to independent films from around the world. Which also spans different eras from the 1940s, 60s , 80s and even current titles. Like having independent cinema year round. From the 2018 ground breaking work by Argentine film LA FLOR to Nick De Ocampo’s documentary OLIVER (1983).

M+ photo from official site: https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/

I was so proud to see the work of our very own Nick De Ocampo, who has become a well-respected film lecturer these days. But I’ve never seen his seminal work OLIVER (1983), about the Filipino gay experience during the martial law era.

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Nick De Ocampo: A Counter Cinema

Showing November 4 to December 11, 2022

Nick Deocampo is a filmmaker, historian, and pioneering advocate of queer cinema in the Philippines. In the 1980s in Paris, he studied under filmmaker and anthropologist Jean Rouch, among other radical artists. Deocampo’s 1983 documentary Oliver, about an impoverished female impersonator and nightclub performer, constituted a thunderclap in Filipino cinema. Denouncing military power at a moment of simmering discontent in Filipino society, Oliver (1983) raises awareness of potential political alliances between homosexuals and other marginalised groups embracing emancipatory philosophies and practices. From: official M+ Cinema website.

M+ Cinema Photo from official website https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/cinema/

Deocampo continued to create new reference points in alternative Filipino culture with works that portray members of his community, including personal friends, in a generous light, such as Revolutions Happen like Refrains in a Song (1987) and The Sex Warriors & the Samurai (1995). His landmark works including Isaak (1994) and Private Wars (1997) critically reflect on patriarchy, and A Legacy of Violence (1989) explores the origins and mechanisms of violence that are intrinsically linked to social change. In addition to producing films, Deocampo is a prolific writer on the political and cultural history of the Philippines. He also organised an influential series of workshops that inspired international filmmakers. Deocampo continues to enrich the cinematic landscape with perspectives that are at once challenging, lucid, and loving. From: official M+ Cinema website.

M+ Cinema Photo from official website https://www.mplus.org.hk/en/cinema/

Claire Denis: Friends and Inspiration

Nov 2-Dec 24, 2022

In anticipation of ‘Fever Dream: The Cinema of Claire Denis’, M+ Cinema presents this supplementary program to highlight some of cinematic works by Denis’s peers, collaborators, and inspirations. Before directing her first film Chocolat, Denis worked extensively as assistant director for filmmakers including Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch. As an avid student of world cinema, she has cited masters like Yasujiro Ozu as inspiration for her own work. Besides, her collaborations with cinematographer Agnès Godard and filmmaker Mati Diop have resulted in mutual inspiration. ‘Claire Denis: Friends and Inspiration’ serves as a celebration of Denis’s artistic trajectory by providing additional perspective on her vision and practice. From: official M+ Cinema website.

Sheung yuen Lee – Hong Kong Trade Development Council Director General during The Marvels In Hong Kong: 25 Years and Beyond exhibit which runs from October 11-16, 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the AYALAS MALL MANILA BAY Activity Center. Photo by Jude Bautista. Log on to the official fb for more events
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Xiqu Centre Photo from official site – https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

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Free dragon dance show during The Marvels In Hong Kong: 25 Years and Beyond exhibit which runs from October 11-16, 2022, organized by the Hong Kong Tourism Board at the AYALA MALLS MANILA BAY Activity Center. Photo by Jude Bautista. Log on to the official fb for more events
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Yongzheng emperor in court attire. Credit: Hong Kong Palace Museum

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Xiqu Centre Photo from official site – https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

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Xiqu Centre Photo from official site – https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

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Exhibit at Hong Kong Palace Museum Photo from official https://www.westkowloon.hk/en/

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166 artifacts of the loan are considered national treasures including this one, “Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains,” a 12th century ink-on-paper work by Zhao Fu.

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The Hong Kong Palace Museum building, designed by architect Rocco Yim. Courtesy of Hong Kong Palace Museum. (39)

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