Hong Kong Palace Museum | The Quest for Originality: Contemporary Design and Traditional Craft in Dialogue

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Hong Kong Palace Museum

West Kowloon Cultural District, 8 Museum Drive, Kowloon


Mon, Wed, Thu & Sun
10:00 am – 06:00 pm
Fri, Sat & Public Holiday
10:00 am – 08:00 pm | Closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays) & the first two days of the Lunar New Year
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The Quest for Originality: Contemporary Design and Traditional Craft in Dialogue

Gallery 5
The Quest for Originality: Contemporary Design and Traditional Craft in Dialogue
Gallery 5

While the term sheji (“design”) was not used in China until the late nineteenth century, artisans there have been designing and making beautiful and ingenious objects for millennia. This exhibition brings together nearly 100 precious objects from the Palace Museum in lively dialogue with Hong Kong contemporary design talents. It demonstrates the deep interest in innovation, materiality, and function in design shared by people of the past and today, and how contemporary work draws inspiration from time-honoured traditions.

Vase with spiral pattern

Vase with spiral pattern
Imperial Workshops
Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Blown glass
© The Palace Museum

Highlighted objects

Vase with spiral pattern

Vase with spiral pattern

Imperial Workshops
Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Blown glass
© The Palace Museum

Vase with spiral pattern

The minimal yet dynamic design of this vase was achieved through a complex production process. After the body was made with white glass, red and blue glass strips were applied to create patterns. The vase was then polished, like jade, after which aquamarine glass was added on the rim and the base. Only the Imperial Workshops, which had at its disposal the best craftsmen and materials in China, could realise such an imaginative design.

Vase with spiral pattern
Imperial Workshops
Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Blown glass
© The Palace Museum
Ice chest with stylised lotus scrolls

Ice chest with stylised lotus scrolls

Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Cloisonné and painted enamels on wood core with gilding and lead lining; stand: cloisonné and painted enamels on rosewood
© The Palace Museum

Ice chest with stylised lotus scrolls

Ice chest with stylised lotus scrolls

Qing dynasty, Qianlong mark and period (1736–1795)
Cloisonné and painted enamels on wood core with gilding and lead lining; stand: cloisonné and painted enamels on rosewood
© The Palace Museum

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Hong Kong Palace Museum
Map

Hong Kong Palace Museum

West Kowloon Cultural District, 8 Museum Drive, Kowloon


Mon, Wed, Thu & Sun
10:00 am – 06:00 pm
Fri, Sat & Public Holiday
10:00 am – 08:00 pm | Closed on Tuesdays (except public holidays) & the first two days of the Lunar New Year