University Museum and Art Gallery, Hong Kong

Current Exhibitions

Wondrous Rivers:
Exploring Chinese Landscape Paintings

14 Feb 2025 - 11 May 2025
1/F & 2/F, Fung Ping Shan Building, UMAG, HKU,
90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

The exhibition Wondrous Rivers: Exploring Chinese Landscape Paintingsinvites visitors to immerse themselves in the captivating world of Chinese landscape paintings from the collection of the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), The University of Hong Kong. As a sequel to the 2024 exhibition Momentous Mountains: The Artistic, Philosophical and Cultural Engagement with Chinese Landscape Painting, this showcase presents a diverse series of paintings spanning from the early Qing dynasty (17th century) to contemporary times. The artists, hailing from different time periods and various regional cultures and training backgrounds, collectively exemplify the multi-faceted evolution of this painting genre. 

The exhibition features a selection of artworks by renowned Chinese landscape painters, including the literati painter Zha Shibiao, active in the Jiangnan area, and Guangdong painters Li Jian, Su Renshan and Liang Yuwei, each known for their distinct personal style. Within the context of the development of modern Chinese painting, the Lingnan School advocated for a fusion of Chinese and Western styles, while the Guangdong Chinese Painting Research Society sought innovation within the paradigm of tradition. The vibrant artistic interactions between the Guangdong, Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai art scenes can be seen in the works of artists like Huang Binhong, Zhang Hong, Lu Zishu and Chiu Sai-Kwong (Zhao Shiguang), reflecting the depth and virtuosity of the evolution of 20th-century Chinese painting and the enduring friendships transcending time and space in the Hong Kong art community. Rarely displayed in public, the exhibition includes iconic works by renowned modern masters and influential art educators such as Liu Haisu, Fang Zhaoling, Rao Zongyi, Harold Wong Chung-fong and Wan Qingli, along with Hong Kong and Hong Kong Malaysian masters Choi Hoi-ying (Cai Haiying) and Liew Come-tong (Liu Qindong), revealing their unwavering commitment to ink art. 

The collection of Chinese landscape paintings constitutes the foundation of UMAG’s educational and research efforts. Since establishing the collection and making it publicly accessible in the 1950s, UMAG has been closely connected to the development of twentieth-century Chinese painters, actively documenting and studying the evolution of local artistic talents and the Hong Kong art scene. We would like to thank our community of donors—both artists and collectors—for their generosity and for being part of this fascinating journey. Finally, this exhibition would not have been possible without the financial support of the University of Hong Kong Museum Society and HKU’s Endowment for Music and Fine Arts Fund.

8 times 8
stories．︀series．systems in mythology & art

21 Mar 2025 - 8 Jun 2025
1/F, T. T. Tsui Building, UMAG, HKU,
90 Bonham Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Bats represent good luck, while pine trees symbolise longevity due to their resilience. Many of us can quickly identify the 8 Immortals, yet remembering their individual names and attributes is more challenging. When faced with artworks from ancient times, we often find ourselves astonished by the intricate ornaments, marvellous signs and rich symbolic language. We can sense the deep meaning behind them, yet the stories they tell and the secrets they hold are no longer widely known or taught.  

In both mythology and this exhibition, the number 8 plays a crucial role. The symmetrical shape of the number 8 symbolises an endless cycle, a constant flow of energy, balance, harmony and infinity. While in Cantonese-speaking communities the number 8 stands for wealth, in Christian numerical symbolism it signifies new beginnings and resurrection. And since 8 is a Fibonacci number, it can be found in nature all over the world. In Asian art this can be seen, for example, in the 8 trigrams of the I Ching, the 8 Immortals, the 8 Buddhist symbols or Auspicious objects. These interrelated elements are often depicted as a group of 8 in the form of a serial narrative, which are supplemented by motifs of pairs, figures or scenes from stories, landscapes, plants, flowers, animals, ornaments and symbols.  

To illustrate this point, several objects⏤each consisting of eight sections⏤were selected from the UMAG collection. These items demonstrate the diversity and richness of serial narratives in Chinese art and craftsmanship. In addition to the narrative structure, these eight-part objects can be understood as components of superordinate systems. In the microcosm of their diverse details, they refer to the macrocosm of mythology, which results in a network of relationships that continuously refer back to one another. 

This dynamic interplay between individual elements within a larger whole is also evident in the contemporary artworks of YAU Wing Fung (*1990) and Daphne Alexis HO (*1975) from Hong Kong, YU Hee (*1967) from Korea, Adrian FALKNER (*1979) from Switzerland and Klaus MERKEL (*1953) and Arvid BOECKER (*1964) from Germany. However, in their work this interaction unfolds through form and colour, alienation and manipulation, as well as self-referential quotations and artistic dialogue. 

The six contemporary artists are juxtaposed with the traditional works of applied art so as to demonstrate that serial and systemic narratives are still used today as artistic strategies. Systemic is used here in the sense that individual works of art can be seen as part of a larger overall system of interrelated elements. The interplay between the individual symbols and the overarching programme mirrors the relationship between contemporary art and traditional arts and crafts. Together, they complement each other in an inspiring way, inviting our visitors to uncover hidden meanings and deeper connections. 

About the Museum

The University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG) of The University of Hong Kong was founded in 1953 as the Fung Ping Shan Museum. Originally established as the Fung Ping Shan Library of Chinese language publications in 1932 in honour of its benefactor, the building became a museum dedicated to collecting Chinese art when the University’s libraries consolidated. The museum was renamed UMAG in 1994, shortly before its new wing was opened to the public in 1996. It is the oldest continuously operated museum in Hong Kong and  over the past seventy years it has built up a diverse collection of ceramics and bronzes dating from the Neolithic period (c. 7000–c. 2100 BCE) to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), as well as traditional and modern paintings from the Ming (1368–1644) to the twenty-first century.

Chief among the collections are the Museum’s ceramics, which show the extraordinary achievements of the Chinese potter from Neolithic period painted pottery jars, to the decorative porcelains of the Qing dynasty. Among the early wares are examples of funerary pottery dating from the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) to the Tang dynasties (618–907), which include lead-glazed models and vessels, as well as tri-coloured (sancai) ceramics. Throughout Chinese history, ceramics have been traded and admired outside of China. Of these, green ware, particularly Yue and celadon, which were sought after in Southeast Asia and Korea, and the development of blue-and-white porcelains, which were made for the Islamic market and popular in Europe, have been the most influential pieces and are well-represented in the Museum’s collection. Of particular note is one of the earliest known examples of underglaze-blue decoration in the form of a small tripod water pot dating to the Tang dynasty. The Museum also has representative examples of work made by the famous Song (960–1279) kilns, such as those of Ding and Cizhou, and mono- and polychrome decorated ware from the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Other highlights of the collection are the Museum’s Chinese bronzes that include ritual vessels dating to the Shang (c. 1600–c. 1100 BCE) and Western Zhou (c.1100–771 BCE) periods, and a comprehensive collection of mirrors dating from the Eastern Zhou (770–256 BCE) period to the Tang dynasty. The Museum also contains the largest known collection of Mongol period (Yuan dynasty 1271–1368) Nestorian crosses in the world. In addition to its collection of carvings in jade, wood and stone, the Museum has a small but significant collection of Chinese ink painting dating from the Ming dynasty to the present and twentieth-century Chinese oil painting.

In addition to these permanent collections, UMAG regularly hosts exhibitions of contemporary and ancient Chinese and Western art, as well as on early Hong Kong history. The Museum was originally established as a teaching museum and has maintained this commitment to the University through the teaching of Chinese art and museum studies and by encouraging students to broaden their education through the arts. It regularly presents non-exhibition related talks and activities that are open to both the University’s students and public.

https://www.umag.hku.hk