Hong Kong–June 7, 2023

Hong Kong Museum of Art

Some nice flooring in the subway corridor.
brown wood tilework

These are outside the museum. One of the labels on the large packing crate says “Some of us are looking at the stars”. It’s an Oscar Wilde quote.

Packing crate with words “Look up” repeated several times
exterior hong kong museum of art
Statue of woman holding a large pearl above her head. Statue for “Avenue of the Stars”
Skyline of Hong Kong in background; boat in foreground. ...and some views of the skyline
hong kong skyline

Here are some pictures from a calligraphy exhibit:

chinese scroll landscape
chinese calligraphy example
fan with calligraphy
landscape with waterfowl in foreground
waterfowl closeup (closeup of the preceding picture)

The museum had an exhibit with the works of Joan Miró; the first picture is an abstract sculpture that was near the entrance to the exhibit.

abstract sculpture
joan miro entrance
miro lights on ceiling
large miró painting
small miró sculpture
sculpture of hand with bird sitting on finger The Bird Nests in Bloom Fingers
painting of dancers with overlaid geometric shapes Romantic Ballet
birdlike sculpture
two multicolored statues
Abstract sculpture in foreground, paintings in background
poster miró otro
Poster for “Lucifer,” by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev.
various sculptures

Here’s some modern Chinese calligraphy.

chinese clerical calligraphy
modern chinese calligraphy
modern chiense calligraphy with mondrian style blocks
Calligrpahy with large characters filled with pattern, and a drawing of a flower next to each character. This one was my favorite.
modern calligraphy
Vertical scrolls with characters in oracle bone style
calligraphy in seal script
letterpress printing machine A letterpress printing machine

Eternal Enlightenment: The Virtual World of the Jiajing Eperor

This is an exhibit of ceramics and glassware that is 500 years old. I am still astonished that any of it survives for that long.

Entrance to “Eternal Enlightenement: The Virtual World of the Jiajing Emperor”
ceramic dishware
ceramic bowl
ceramic jars and plate
urn and pitcher
Installation with video that puts blue Chinese style graphics over the walls and a white stone in the foreground. This is a video installation
bue and white jars with brown plate
yellow vase with blue vines and red flowers
lacquerware bowl and carved plate
white jar with blue glaze and reliefwork buttons and head of god/demon You rarely see relief work on these ceramics, so this was really interesting.

Make a Wish

Artist Hui Hoi-kiu, Angel made this amazing installation in 2022. The introductory information says “This is a grand birthday party that marks the 500th anniversary of the Jiajing emperor’s ascension to the throne and the 60th anniversary of the Hong Kong Musem of Art.” There are over 500 underglaze blue and white porcelain items on a 14-metre dining table.

Ceramic cola can with ceramic spill that is decorated with Chinese-like characters.
Section of table with all porcelain blue glazed objects.
porcelain dim sum
porcelain cake lollipop and teddy bear
plate fork soda can and cell phone
Table with ceramic plates and food, and a bottle that has “spilled” a ceramic spill covered in Chinese-like characters.
science fiction action figure
Table with multiple origami cranes of various sizes
soda can with porcelain spill
place setting and toy dial phone
hamburger and ice cream cone
COVID mask in foreground; birthday cake and teddy bear in background.
zip top can with strawberries inside
porcelain beer cans
porcelain pizza
porcelain fruit and origami crane
porcelain crushed soda can

After the Museum

Outside the museum again:

staircase with painted risers Better not let Ron DeSantis see this!
marble statue clip This one is titled Clip
three benches Even the benches are artistic
leopard spotted flower I’m still not Luther Burbank, so I have no idea what this flower is, except “pretty.”

There’s a Legoland in a nearby mall:

panda made of multicolored legos
lego closeup
This is a high-end mall, and I was surprised to see Thermos displayed here.
high end thermos kiosk
There were several of these on the floor near a shop; they are just creepy.
smiley face with human teeth
This, on the other hand, was just nice.
knit chinese tiger throw rug

Miscellanea/Graffiti/Signage

I went to Causeway Bay, but got lost in all the side streets so never got to see the water. Oh well.

concentric rings sculpture Outside of Times Square Mall
graffiti on third floor of building How do people paint graffiti up that high?
Man with hat and mustache, in business suit, running and smoking a pipe.
Painted traffic sign on street: BEWARE OF PED They use “Beware of” instead of “Caution”, which gives the phrase whole new meaning.
man falling down escalator A poster in the subway telling you not to walk down the escalator. Everyone ignores this advice.

The Salad Story

For the past couple of days, I have really wanted a plain old green salad with vegetables. When I was at the high-end mall, I saw a place that had a chicken caesar salad for HK$72 (about US$10). I remembered my brother saying, “I don’t mind spending money, but I hate wasting money.” The next place I found that had a salad cost HK$88, so that was out also.

When returning to the hotel, I decided I might as well stop in the iSquare mall and see what they had in their grocery store, and sure enough, they had a salad for HK$48 (about US$6.50), so that was my choice. It was great!