Hardcore Museum Day

April 20: Chinese Cake Baking Class: Can’t find Wing Wah’s shop in Kowloon, where the Hong Kong Tourism Board organized the class. I’m late. Can’t participate in making “wife cakes.” Get to make egg rolls – seem more like rolled pancakes (but taste great!).





Hong Kong Science Museum: Located next to the Hong Kong Museum of History in Kowloon. The museum is amazing. If I were still 10-years-old, it would be my favorite place in the world. Lots of interactive exhibits attempt to educate, and provide great fun for screaming kids running circles round the building. Cost is covered by weekly pass. I feel too old for the place, but with a companion, it could make a fun day (too bad Joyce is at school!). The museum also hosts the Shell Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition. Oil company sponsorship seems strange, but the work is spectacular.





Hong Kong Museum of Art: Located beside the Star Ferry in TST – walking distance from the science museum. Ceramics don’t thrill me. Even so, the extensive gallery of ceramics offers a good sense of different styles throughout the various Chinese dynasties. About half of the museum’s exhibits are closed for changing, and my weekly pass doesn’t allow me into the special exhibit on jewelry. Oh well. Jewelry is lame anyway. A bit like this museum (I’m thinking), until I view the “New Literati” exhibit.

The introduction to the exhibit explains that “New Literati” is not a formal school of painting in China. The term is used to encompass art in the late 70s through 90s; rather than painting political works or propaganda, New Literati artists take inspiration from classical Chinese painting styles while also experimenting with stylistic innovations. The name “New Literati” came from two touring New Literati exhibits in the 80s and 90s. The artists featured here at the Hong Kong Museum of Art showed in these exhibits, and they represent the variety of artistic style during the period.







Hong Kong Space Museum: Could be a good museum, but most of the exhibits are closed. Also, some basic typos or flaws in translation disappoint early: The museum is covered by the weekly pass. An IMAX theater is attached, but shows cost extra. Maybe they, at least, are worthwhile. Be sure to check availability of shows in English (there are a couple each week).