Artwork by Dr Hung Keung from CCA on display at the Hong Kong Palace Museum

With the grand opening of the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) in early July, Hong Kong added another world-class landmark arts facility to its range of must-visit destinations. Built upon the western tip of the West Kowloon Cultural District, the HKPM comprises nine galleries. Galleries 1 to 5 are devoted to hosting thematic exhibitions that feature a wide range of topics related to the Forbidden City, while Galleries 8 and 9 host special shows that display Chinese art and culture. Galleries 6 and 7 are home to exhibitions of art collections and multimedia projects in Hong Kong.

The current exhibition entitled “No Boundaries: Reinterpreting Palace Museum Culture” held at Gallery 7 showcases installations created by six Hong Kong-based multimedia and interdisciplinary artists. Inspired by traditional Chinese art and culture, these artists have produced works that reinterpret tradition and heritage through a contemporary lens.

“Visualising the Universe through a Thousand Things” (見器物：觀大千) created by Dr Hung Keung, Associate Professor from the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA), is one of the installations displayed at Gallery 7. Dr Hung’s artwork expands upon and reinterprets the two spatial ideas of “three distances” (sān yuǎn, 三遠) and “seeing the small from the viewpoint of the large” (yǐ dà guān xiǎo, 以大觀小) that are commonly seen in Chinese paintings. By using three sets of devices, each rotating around its own locus, the artist invites visitors to observe the uncertainties of convention and distance, and explore how Chinese culture transcends time and space.

The “three distances” concept was summarised by the 11th century Chinese painter Guo Xi (郭熙, 1020-1090 AD) from the Northern Song dynasty (960-1127 AD), as follows: the “upper distance” (gāo yuǎn,高遠), which is the view from the bottom of the mountain to the top; the “deep distance” (shēn yuǎn, 深遠), which is the perspective from the front of the mountain to the back; and the “level distance” (píng yuǎn, 平遠), which is the view from one mountain to another*. “Seeing the small from the viewpoint of the large” was proposed as a different way of perceiving details. The concept was discussed in the classic work of The Dream Pool Essays (夢溪筆談) by Chinese scholar and polymath Shen Kuo (沈括, 1031-1095 AD) from the same era of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Dr Hung explained: “Many art historians and critics have suggested that the use of multiple and shifting perspectives is characteristic of Chinese paintings. The changing perspectives allow one to appreciate the moving space of the landscape of mountains and rivers (shān shuǐ, 山水) seen in Chinese paintings. My work evokes the endlessness of time, which is not limited by space-time constraints. Through the innovative use of technology, I hope my artwork can bring to audiences a unique experience of being immersed in the three-dimensional world of shān shuǐ through the ‘three distances’ concept.”

Over the past two decades, Dr Hung has been experimenting with using video, film and new media to create artworks that reflect Chinese aesthetic and philosophical ideas. The scholar-cum-artist said it is a great privilege to have his artwork exhibited at the HKPM. “I hope my artwork can give visitors a new perspective to appreciate the amazing world of traditional Chinese art,” he said.

Exhibiting national treasures borrowed from the Palace Museum in Beijing and items from priceless collections from other world-famous museums, the HKPM enables art aficionados, heritage fans and history lovers from different parts of the world to have a glimpse into what life and culture was like in imperial China. Dr Hung’s art piece, together with other artworks at Gallery 7, will be on display for one year at the HKPM.

*Note:

From Gao Si (郭思) edited ‘Lofty Messages of Forests and Streams’ (《林泉高致集: 山水訓》山有三遠)：自山下而仰山顛，謂之高遠；自山前而窺山後，謂之深遠；自近山而望遠山，謂之平遠。