Two new special exhibitions entitled "Treasures of Time" and "Landscape Map of the Silk Road" will be held at the Hong Kong Science Museum from tomorrow (December 7). The former exhibition will showcase a number of magnificent clocks and watches from the 18th and 19th centuries to highlight their historical significance and technological achievements, while the latter exhibition will display the 30-metre-long "Landscape Map of the Silk Road", which is an important historical painting with significant cultural value.
The "Treasures of Time" exhibition will display about 120 mechanical clocks and watches from the collection of the Palace Museum. Most of the items in the collection were tributes from Europe presented by Western missionaries to the Qing court, while others were manufactured by local craftsmen in the Imperial Workshops of the Qing court and Guangzhou. A workshop setting from the 18th century in Europe will also be recreated with tools and equipment provided by the Science Museum, London, which is part of the Science Museum Group, to show how craftsmen worked in the past.
Alongside the treasures, special features with the latest technology, animations, models and interactive exhibits have been created for visitors to learn about the principles of different time measuring tools, from ancient Chinese instruments and mechanical timepieces to the latest atomic clocks. In addition, the Science Museum has specially created a series of WhatsApp emoji stickers (Android version only) for the exhibition. Members of the public are welcome to download the stickers through the signage at the exhibition hall or Google Play free of charge.
The "Landscape Map of the Silk Road" exhibition will display "Landscape Map of the Silk Road", which is about 30 metres long and 60 centimetres wide. The map was created as an imperial painting for the Jiajing Emperor in the Ming dynasty. With over 200 cities marked on the map, ranging from the Jiayu Pass in Gansu Province in the east to Mecca in Saudi Arabia in the west, it implies that the Chinese had grasped a clear understanding of the Silk Road as early as the 16th century.
Various interactive exhibits, models and maps of China and Hong Kong drawn in the 16th to 20th centuries will also be featured at the exhibition, enabling visitors to know more about the Chinese and Western perceptions of the geography of China in ancient times, as well as different cartographic techniques and functions of maps.
The opening ceremony of the exhibitions was held today (December 6). The officiating guests included the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam; the Deputy Director of the Palace Museum, Mr Ji Tianbin; the Director of the Science Museum Group, Mr Ian Blatchford; the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Lau Kong-wah; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr Anthony Chow; member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of Shimao Group Mr Hui Wing-mau; the Chairperson of the Science Sub-committee, the Museum Advisory Committee, Professor Ching Pak-chung; the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Ms Michelle Li; and the Museum Director of the Hong Kong Science Museum, Ms Paulina Chan.
The exhibitions are jointly presented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and the Palace Museum. The "Treasures of Time" exhibition is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum, the Palace Museum and the Science Museum, London, while the "Landscape Map of the Silk Road" exhibition is jointly organised by the Hong Kong Science Museum, the Palace Museum and the Hong Kong Museum of History. The "Treasures of Time" exhibition is solely sponsored by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust as one of the exhibitions in the Hong Kong Jockey Club Series and will run until April 10 next year. The "Landscape Map of the Silk Road" exhibition will run until February 20, 2019.
The Hong Kong Science Museum is located at 2 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East. For details of the exhibitions, please visit the Science Museum's website at hk.science.museum or call 2732 3232 for enquiries.
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