China Daily, 2005-08-31
Keeper of memories brings past alive

A museum is more than the mere presentation of historic artefacts, says Gerard Tsang, it is a living diary, a repository of a city's cultural heritage, and the way in which it reveals its identity to the world.

"There are benefits that a museum brings to the city, but they cannot always be measured in economic terms," he says. "A museum preserves a city's past by picking the best examples of that past and keeping them. It is also part of a city's cultural scene and stimulates intellectual and creative thought." But museums operate under a different set of rules to, say, a company in the business world, he says. "They can bring benefits to the economy, but they need to be supported by public money because they serve a public good."

Preserving and scouting

Tsang was speaking mid-way through "Impressions of the East: The Art of George Chinnery", the latest exhibition to be held at the Hong Kong Museum of History. The event is one of many the museum holds throughout the year; and the works of Chinnery, an English artist whose paintings capture the stunning beauty and culture of China, in particular, the Pearl River Delta in the early part of the 19th century, is a fitting example of what the museum can offer the public.

"George Chinnery's paintings are an important part of the history of Hong Kong. He was here even before Hong Kong became a British colony and his paintings tell us a lot about the places and people of that time."

As assistant curator, Tsang is involved in the day-to-day running of a facility that has enjoyed an eventful, but turbulent past since it came into being in 1975 - it was twice moved from temporary homes and was even housed in Star House on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront for a time, before moving to its present location in Tsim Sha Tsui East in 1998.

In his role as a leading administrator, Tsang is involved in organizing the many exhibitions that the museum holds each year. He is also kept busy liaising with mainland museums and other museums around Asia, sharing knowledge and ideas that help foster good relations with these counterpart facilities.

"A large part of our time is spent scouting for artefacts and objects that are an important part of the city's history," says Tsang. "Our work at the museum makes us custodians of the city's cultural heritage." For example, "we recently bought a complete herbalist store that was about to close down and would have been lost to the city if we hadn't stepped in. We moved it here and re-built it exactly the way it was, piece by piece. This is something that would never happen in the private sector. We also bought farming tools from an old village in the New Territories. The shape of the tools and the way they are made tell us a lot about the way people lived back then. This (lifestyle) no longer exists, but we can keep a record of it."

Meanwhile, the museum's "The Hong Kong Story" performs the task of capturing the city's identity admirably. The permanent exhibition, which traces the development of the city from the prehistoric era 400 million years ago to the present day, is one of the most important the museum has, he says. "Tourists can come to our installation and in 30 minutes, get a good understanding of what the city is and where it came from. No other facility does this."

The museum often gets calls from elderly visitors, who say its exhibits bring back memories of their past and that they are moved to find their lives are considered an important part of the city's history. It is responses like these, he says, that underscore the important role the museum plays.

Getting people in...

However a third benefit of the museum - raising cultural awareness, broadening minds, and inspiring creative thought - is more of a challenge to reap.

"Through our exhibits, we are trying to change people's habits. Hong Kong is such a commercial city. People's spare time is so directed - shopping, eating, karaoke - they never just stop to wander around the city or browse through books in a library. We want to stimulate an interest in other things - get people to look at the wider world. And we want to see young people go to the museum or an art gallery as a social activity so they can enjoy all the space, look at the exhibits and discuss what they see."

While a seemingly daunting task, with recent exhibitions like the terracotta warriors of Xi'an and the dinosaurs of China, attracting record crowds, Tsang believes that changing the local mindset is possible.

"We had over 200,000 visitors for one of our recent shows, so the interest is there for the right event," he says. "Hong Kong people like the 'spectacular' collections. They want to see something that is amazing. For example, an Egyptian exhibition would do well here."

However, less dramatic displays, such as village artefacts, can raise people's interest once they have made the effort to see them. So the challenge lies in developing people's interest in museums, "balancing between responding to public demand and taking the lead to give them something new".

A large part of its effort to encourage more intellectual pursuits goes into reaching out to students, who are the future of Hong Kong, says Tsang. "We try to stimulate students' interest in history through their teachers. We provide resources and access to materials so that teachers can prepare lessons based on our exhibits".

At the same time, "on-site training about our exhibits means teachers can conduct tours on their own. We encourage them to treat the museum as if it were part of their classroom".

Appreciating history also stimulates minds into thinking about wider issues - how things came into being, how things work - and this gets people thinking more creatively, he believes. "This will benefit Hong Kong in the long term."

Building a network

At the same time, a good museum also boosts the image of the city, Tsang says. "Hong Kong is currently well ahead of any mainland museum in terms of running a facility and staging exhibitions professionally, and we have a good reputation throughout Asia."

While the mainland has excellent "hardware", with museums in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou, it lacks the "software" - the people, knowledge and expertise needed to run them successfully or stage first-class exhibitions, he says. By offering his and his team's expertise to these third parties, Tsang is able to raise the profile of the museum in the region.

A good working relationship with mainland museums means easier access to important collections, especially since the government removed the 10 per cent ceiling on the number of collections that are allowed outside of the mainland, says Tsang. "Often the best items are difficult to obtain, but because of our contacts, we can arrange to show these important items and at a greatly reduced cost. In return, we offer advice on running a museum, organizing and staging exhibitions and even on the production of promotional materials," he adds.

Collaborating with mainland and regional museums also means they can apply to have foreign collections shown in the territory, he says. "It costs money to transport a collection to another destination so we become a more attractive host to collection owners if we can stage an exhibition, then have it move to Shanghai or Beijing and be shown there."

Boosting Hong Kong's image as a place to see history and culture gives tourists another reason to come to the city, Tsang believes. And herein lies another economic benefit that a museum brings.

"If we can build up our image, we may be able to persuade tourists to stay another day, and this increases spending in the economy in the form of accommodation, meals and shopping," he says. "An even bigger economic benefit is at a local level. A good exhibit will draw people to a particular area and encourage them to stay longer. This helps local vendors because these people spend money on things like food and souvenirs while they are there."

While Tsang believes there are signs of growing interest in more intellectual pursuits, with just under 800,000 visitors that generated revenues covering barely 4 per cent of the museum's operating costs for 2003 to 2004, the veteran curator realizes there is still a long way to go before people strolling through sculpture parks and discussning art and literature over a cup of coffee becomes a common sight in the city.

In the meantime, he and his staff will continue efforts to raise awareness of what the museum can offer the community and engender a culture of attendance to museums and similar facilities.

"Museums give us a better appreciation of our place in the world and in history," he says. And in this respect, "museums benefit all of us".
(HK Edition 08/31/2005 page4)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-08/31/content_473689.htm

**************************

Times Argus, September 2, 2005
New gallery for Asian art

MIDDLEBURY – On Saturday, Sept. 17, the Middlebury College Museum of Art will open the inaugural exhibition of its Robert F. Reiff Gallery of Asian art. The newly redesigned gallery is dedicated to the memory of Robert F. Reiff, professor of the history of art at Middlebury College from 1958 to 1982. Located on the second floor of the Museum, the Reiff Gallery will house ongoing exhibitions showcasing the Museum's growing collection of Asian art as well as loans from distinguished private and public collections.

"As Asia becomes more and more visible to Americans due to its demographics and expanding role in the global economy, it is important to recognize that for thousands of years it has been home to innovative civilizations and the originator of many technological innovations," says Ronald D. Liebowitz, president of Middlebury College. "We hope that the works of art displayed in the Robert F. Reiff Gallery will be a reminder of that legacy, an inspiration to students at the College, and a wonderful resource for the academic program and the local community."

Richard Saunders, director of the museum, adds, "With the opening of the Reiff Gallery, it is now possible to display some of the outstanding recently acquired works from the Museum's collection. We are very grateful to the Youngmans and to other collectors for lending exceptional pieces from their respective collections. With the opening of this gallery, we hope that the Museum will become a destination for those interested in Asia and its culture."

Displaying nearly 100 works of art, the inaugural exhibition represents the major cultural traditions of Asia, including Buddhist and Hindu works from Pakistan, India, Tibet and Mongolia, Indian and Chinese painting, outstanding Chinese ceramics and jades, early Chinese textiles, and Chinese and Japanese lacquer.

Highlights include a 12th century stone stele of the Hindu god Vishnu carved for the Sena kingdom in Eastern India, and a 12th-13th century gilded and painted Tibetan sutra cover of outstanding quality. The cover shows the goddess Prajnaparamita seated on a throne and holding the Heart Sutra in her left hand and a Vajra (thunderbolt) in her right. An important piece is an 8th-century Japanese miniature Buddhist pagoda and charm, one of a set commissioned by the Empress Shotoku between 767 and 770. The set of charms, with verses taken from the Vimalanirbhasa Sutra, is one of the earliest examples of a printed text in the world. Although a million of these charms were said to have been made, most have been destroyed, and very few exist outside Japan.

"This set is of enormous significance, given the economic and cultural impact of printing," says Colin Mackenzie, curator of Asian art at Middlebury. "Without printing, there would have been severe limits on the spread of literacy. Within a short period, large numbers of books were being printed in East Asia, hundreds of years before Johann Gutenberg (c. 1397-1468) invented his press. And it is, of course, significant that paper, of which this is an early example, was also a Chinese invention."

The exhibit also includes rare examples of Chinese jade carving from the Youngman Collection from as early as the third millennium B.C.E. Chinese ceramics include fine Song dynasty (960-1279) glazed stonewares as well as outstanding Ming (1368-1644) porcelain. Foremost among these are a number of imperial pieces from the 15th to the 18th century, including a bowl with lotus decoration dating to the reign of the Emperor Xuande (c. 1426-35) and another painted with rampant dragons in brilliant blue from the reign of the Emperor Jiajing (c. 1522-66).

Another Chinese porcelain of great interest is a dish with phoenix decoration excavated from a Chinese junk that sank off the coast of Vietnam in the early 17th century. This dish was part of a huge cargo of Chinese porcelain probably bound for the Malayan peninsula or Java. Despite some minor deterioration resulting from 400 years of immersion in salt water, the piece is in pristine condition.

Another theme is the Silk Road, represented by rare examples of Chinese textiles dating between the 4th century B.C.E. and the 12th century C.E. Other Silk Road pieces include a group of Tang dynasty (618-906) ceramics, including a monumental green-glazed model of a Buddhist reliquary and a large figure of a camel with Central Asian groom. Such pieces were made for burial, and the display also includes other striking funerary ceramics, among which a Han dynasty (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) model of a watchtower and a 6th century figure of a caparisoned horse are particularly noteworthy.

On Thursday, Oct. 6, Colin Mackenzie will give a gallery talk in the Reiff Gallery. Mackenzie will speak about materials and symbols in Asian art.

The Middlebury College Museum of Art is free and open to the public Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. It is closed Mondays. The museum is physically accessible. Parking is available in the Center for the Arts parking lot. For further information, please call (802) 443-5007 or TTY (802) 443-3155, or visit the museum's Web site: www.middlebury.edu/arts/museum.

http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050902/NEWS/509020301/ 1011/FEATURES02

 

 

__________________

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold
(Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

__________________________________________

An archive of this list as well as an subscribe/unsubscribe facility is
available at:
http://listserv.uni-heidelberg.de/archives/art-eastasia.html
For postings earlier than 2005-02-23 please go to:
http://www.fluktor.de/study/office/newsletter.htm