"A Tale of Three Cities" touring exhibition at HKMoA to showcase Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and export of silk products in Ming and Qing dynasties (with photos)
7.9.2023

Jointly organised by the Guangdong Museum, the Macao Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of Art (HKMoA), the touring exhibition "A Tale of Three Cities: Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Export of Silk Products in the Ming and Qing Dynasties" will be held from tomorrow (September 8) until December 17 at the HKMoA. This exhibition brings together 108 sets of artefacts from the three museums to showcase the Greater Bay Area landscape and silk production during the Ming and Qing dynasties, allowing visitors to explore the connections among the three places and stories of cultural exchanges between East and West through the Maritime Silk Road. In support of the cultural co-operation of the Greater Bay Area, the three museums jointly launch this touring exhibition from 2020 to 2023. Following its inaugural run in Guangzhou and second exhibition in Macao, the touring exhibition comes to its final stop in Hong Kong. Speaking at the opening ceremony at the HKMoA today (September 7), the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, said the exhibition displays the determination of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to jointly overcome the pandemic and continue to foster co-operation despite the difficulties. As an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchanges, Hong Kong also serves as an external platform linking Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao and the rest of the world. This major exhibition will offer a diverse cultural experience to audiences from around the world. He added that Hong Kong will be the host city of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival. By leveraging the advantages of having excellent art and cultural resources and through co-operation among cities, Hong Kong actively promotes the initiative of "Jointly Developing a Cultured Bay Area" advocated in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with a view to bringing more captivating art and cultural experiences to the people of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area as well as travellers from around the world. Other officiating guests attending the opening ceremony included the Deputy Director General of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province and Director of the Cultural Heritage Bureau of Guangdong Province, Mr Long Jiayou; the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR), Ms Leong Wai-man; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mr Vincent Liu; the Director of the Guangdong Museum, Mr Xiao Haiming; the Director of the Macao Museum, Ms Lou Ho-ian; and the Museum Director of the HKMoA, Dr Maria Mok. ããFrom the Qin and Han dynasties, the region along the Pearl River estuary, with Canton (Guangzhou) at its centre, was an important starting point on the Maritime Silk Road and has always been a hub on international trade routes. With the increased connectivity of the maritime trade routes during the Ming and Qing dynasties, Chinese silk was shipped all over the world through the Greater Bay Area as an important mass commodity. The export of silk witnessed the legacy of the handicraft industry in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and the process of the global integration of trade. Today, the craftsmanship of silk embroidery continues to flourish and enriches the cultural heritage of the Greater Bay Area, while contributing to the strengthening of the cultural soft power of the region. The exhibition features valuable exhibits including China trade paintings; exported fine silk fabrics such as jacquard fabric, hand-painted silk and silk embroidery products; clothing, accessories and home fabrics in four sections: "The Greater Bay Area", "Silk Exports", "Crossroads of Silk and Silver" and "The Greater Bay Area Today". Highlight exhibits include oil paintings depicting the landscapes in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao from the 19th century, titled "Victoria City", "The Praia Grande, Macao" and "Thirteen Hongs (Factories) of Canton"; and three grade-three national treasures from the Qing dynasty, which are the white silk wallpaper with hand-painted flowers and birds, the ingenious set of Canton embroidered folding screen with the scene of birthday greetings from the Eight Immortals and a Woman's robe embroidered with flowers and butterflies and rank badge on red satin applying the "sanlanxiu" technique. Other notable exhibits include a lacquered wood sewing table with pattern in gold from the 19th century, and yellow costume with gold and silver sequin embroidery dating from the 1940s to 1960s. To coincide with the exhibition, Hong Kong artist Janko Lam has created a site-specific art installation, "Those Days - Out There", which will be a studio outside the gallery that invites visitors to travel through the past, present and future from a fashion designer's perspective and showcases new fashion pieces to recreate the classics. In collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's School of Fashion and Textiles, the Computer Aided Fashion Intelligence (CAFI) research group and digital fashion students for the first time, the exhibition at the HKMoA uses Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technologies to showcase the exhibits from multiple perspectives. Through the integration of art and technology, visitors are invited to virtually try on Chinese silk costumes and participate in a fashion show that bridges the past and present. The exhibition will run from September 8 to December 17 at the Chinese Antiquities Gallery on the third floor of the HKMoA (10 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon) with free admission. The exhibition is jointly presented by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Guangdong Province, the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR Government; and is jointly organised by the Guangdong Museum, the HKMoA and the Macao Museum. For details of the exhibition, please visit the website at hk.art.museum/en/web/ma/exhibitions-and-events/a-tale-of-three-cities.html or call 2721 0116 for enquiries.