HK Palace Museum joins charitable foundations for Chinese cultural experiences

The Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation (NTFCF) and the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation has inked a multiple-year partnership with the Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) to provide an immersive cultural experience to inspire Hong Kong youth and help them appreciate Chinese arts and culture. Also known as “Art Journey for Youth at HKPM”, the Foundations will sponsor 50,000 special exhibition tickets of the HKPM annually and distribute to more than 500 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong starting from 1 October 2022, to provide opportunities for local students, in particular those from underprivileged families.

The artefacts, on loan from the Palace Museum in Beijing, range from grade-one cultural objects, paintings and calligraphy to ceramics, jade, costumes and textile, jewellery, rare books, many of which are on display in Hong Kong for the first time ever. There will be workshops for the young talents to learn more about Chinese history, architecture and culture at the world-class museum.

NTFCF also Launches Cultural Appreciation Programme to Palace Museum in Beijing to deepen appreciation of Chinese culture and foster a sense of identity, the NTFCF is launching the Beijing-Hong Kong Cultural Appreciation Programme, through which 50 local university and college students will be hosted to the Palace Museum and other historic buildings in Beijing per year. 

The programme will entail learning workshops with museum professionals at the Palace of Prolonging Happiness (Yanxi Gong) on heritage research and artefact conservation.  Through this programme, the students will be able to experience first-hand Lingzhao Belvedere of Yanxi Gong, the only Western-style architecture in the Forbidden Palace, and appreciate how traditional Chinese form of arts and architecture blends with Western style, while learning about management of relics and intercultural dialogues that celebrate harmony and diversity.

Bernard Charnwut Chan, chairman of the Hong Kong Palace Museum Board, said: ‘The Hong Kong Palace Museum, with cultural resources belonging to the community of Hong Kong, is committed to promoting the study and appreciation of Chinese art and culture in addition to advancing international partnerships. We are appreciative of the kind effort by the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation to bring our young generations to experience national treasures and culture first-hand.  We look forward to more meaningful partnerships with more like-minded partners."

Kenneth Fok, executive vice chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation and LegCo member, said: “The opening of the Hong Kong Palace Museum not only strengthens the position of Hong Kong as an east-meets-west centre for international cultural exchange which is supported by the National 14th Five-Year Plan, but also facilitates the cultural and art development between Hong Kong and the Mainland, including the Greater Bay Area. Through this programme, the Foundation hopes to deepen Hong Kong youth’s understanding on the history and culture of our nation.”

Daryl Ng, director of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation, added: “We are honoured to work with Hong Kong’s world-class museum to promote the appreciation of Chinese arts and culture. This is particularly meaningful as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region this year.  We hope that by providing our young people with the eye-opening opportunities to experience first-hand the national cultural treasures, they can expand their horizons, appreciate the national culture and foster a sense of unity.”

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