Hong Kong

 Hong Kong felt like Singapore’s seedy brother.  Perhaps it was the overarching Chinese presence that I felt just trying to get on and off the ship.  First, Drake was ‘randomly’ selected to undergo Chinese Immigration scrutiny at 6:45am.  We discovered this at the end of the previous day.  Of course, the ship was one hour late arriving into port due to the heavy shipping traffic.  We all sat there waiting.  Just what you want to do on vacation.  Then, the scrutiny involved a 2 second (literally) wave of some Chinese guy’s hand, and we were done.  I’m always so happy in the morning, and all I could think of was the 2 hours of sleep I lost.

Onward…..  We planned our own excursion the first day.  We managed two museums.  The first, the Maritime Museum of Hong Kong was somewhat of a bust, most of the galleries were inaccessible from their elevator!  Anyway, I did love the painters’ views of Hong Kong showing how much it had changed over the centuries.  It reminded me of San Francisco pre/post 1849 Gold Rush.

This picture is from 1846, and is hand drawn.  It would accompany a nautical map of the region, so sailors could identify land formations to plot their positions.  As you can see, nothing is there.  The British already had their eyes on the Hong Kong harbor which is sheltered from the worst of the Pacific Typhoons.

Here’s an 1846 painting of the Hong Kong harbor, and it’s easy to see why the naval powers in the Far East lusted after it.

It wasn’t until the 1860’s that the British managed to get a toehold in China, and wrest Hong Kong away from the Imperial Court of China.  They did it with Indian opium.  They introduced opium to China - paying for Chinese goods with opium until a significant number of the population were addicted.  Even so, the British had to fight the Chinese junks for control of the valuable harbor.

If you want a fun way to understand how the British managed to gain control of Hong Kong, read James Clavell’s novel Taipan. (He’s also the author of Shogun.)

These paintings are in the Maritime Museum which has some great ship models, but was ultimately disappointing because I couldn’t see the main galleries about Hong Kong’s maritime history.  I did like this picture which shows all the naval flags which have visited Hong Kong between 1841 and 1950.

This is a SMALL portion of what Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor looks like today

The second museum was much more successful.  It is called M+.  It is the contemporary art museum.  Don’t turn off on me yet.  This museum has a lot going for it.  First, the building was done by a premier architectural firm:  Herzog & deMuron.

This is not my picture, but it shows the top floor, and how lovely it is.  Here’s my stairway to heaven pictures. (It’s actually the stairway to the swank restaurant.)

I didn’t realize until later that this was the back side of the staircase.  It’s pretty lovely, don’t you think?  Then, I took this picture of the front side and you’ll get why I think of it as the ‘stairway to heaven’.

The yelllow part is florescent lights.  So cool.

Not only is the building beautiful, I discovered two new artists.  One has worked during the 20th century, and the other is working during the 21st century.

Zao Wu Ki (1920-2013) is renowned as a master printmaker.  He perfected the technique in the 20th century beginning in 1940 and continuing almost to the end of his life.  As all great artists do, he was constantly evolving and innovating.

This is Zao Wu Ki at the top of his profession.  He was Beijing born, but he lived most of his life in France.  Here are some of his renowned works:

1951 - “The Red Sun”

1951 - “Mountains & Sun”

1948 - “Landscape with Birds”

Gradually, his style changed.  He became influenced by Paul Klee when he traveled to Italy. He removed the horizon line, and these boats appear to float in space

His cats were definitely influenced by the rising modern art trend.

By 1965 he was not only print making, but he was also oil painting and etching as in the following painting.

Gradually, at the end of his career, his work became even more abstract.

His final print (lithograph) was done in 2000 when he was 80.

In most museums, this would be the most outstanding exhibition with no other coming close to its quality.  In THIS museum, there was another artist, unknown to me, working in the 21st century.  

Her name is Lee Bai, and her imagination is awe inspiring.  She was born in 1964 in South Korea.  She grew up as South Korea transformed from a dictatorship to a flourishing democracy and an economic powerhouse.  Her art is almost indescribable.

To enter her exhibition, patrons are encouraged to walk through a mirror path

This was hard to capture.  Here is Drake emerging from this sculpture.

(Sorry it’s so blurry.)

When you emerge from this mirror walk, this is what you see:

She used mirrored tiles in both traditional mirrors, as well as shiny black and white tiles to enhance her sculptures.  This was one of the largest:

The white portion is actually lights from all types of lit light bulbs:

This sculpture is entitled “City of the Sun”.  The mirrors behind it are distorted like fun house mirrors.

Another startling piece which captures max attention is this one:

This work is entitled “Beware of the Sweetness of Things”.  Here are other works I particularly liked which are more traditional abstract art.  She calls them her “Perdu” series - all paint applied in a controlled style.

Another set of pieces that were fascinating were collages created with mother of pearl:

I figured everyone would want a closeup of the ‘starship’.  

We also had an opportunity to piggyback on some Dutch friends’ attendance to a concert pianist’s performance at a Hong Kong venue at City Hall.  We saw this woman, and she was amazing.  We’ve seen enough piano performances to know when our socks have been blown off.  Her recording of John Field Nocturnes was the #1 classical record in Apple Records.  

Here she is:

Finally, we even got to see a sliver of Hong Kong’s lighted buildings.

If I’m lucky, all my Hong Kong photos are here:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/s7xLxE4QutikiyRXA

 

Singapore - Asian Civilizations Museum

 

This is three floors of priceless treasures.  Some of the highlights are:  The Tang ship wreck from (618-907) dated from the ceramics recovered.  The special exhibition called “Let’s Play a Game”, a survey of Asian games, and finally, a fantastic jewelry display.  There were also beautiful examples of sculptures from all Asian religious traditions, and some lovely ceramics. 

Naturally, I took a zillion pictures.  Hopefully, I’m going to be able to load them onto a link, but I wouldn’t count on it.

Let’s start with the Tang ship wreck.

This is a painting representing what the ship would have looked like.  The date is somewhere between 600-900 A.D.  That is about 1700 years ago.  This ship went down off the coast of Singapore in the Java Sea.  The remaining cargo found on the ocean bottom was mostly ceramics - specifically 70,000 of these bowls (cereal bowl size)

The ship construction was unique to this period.  There was not a single nail or dowel holding the ship together.  It was constructed with lashed together planks which were stuffed with wading to make it waterproof.  

The ship’s destination was the Abbasid Empire (Iraq).  Originally, it sailed eastward toward China.  It unloaded cargo, reloaded the ceramics, waited for the Monsoon season to turn the wind westward and set out for Basara (Iraq) through the Java Sea where it sank.  

I found how they packed the 70,000 bowls interesting

It just goes to show you:  Superior packing pays off.  Minimizing breakage meant more $$.  There were other lovely pieces found intact.  I especially liked these two:

Notice the cat handle looking at the fish jumping out of the spout.  

This exhibition was a glimpse into life 1700 years ago.  The world may have been smaller than it is today, but we are still moving cargo around our world with ships.  Things change; life stays the same.

The other exhibition was called “Let’s Play” and displayed games played in Asia even longer ago than 1700 years.  Some of the games are no longer played, but this exhibition was also about how much the same people are then as now.  Who doesn’t like to play games?  Games are for all socio economic groups - only the materials used to make up the games reflect who would have used them.  Archeologists have found only the game pieces from very ancient games - no boards; no rules or instructions on how to play.

Very hard to photograph these - low light and behind glass

Senet is one of the oldest games known.  It is Egyptian (2nd piece from right), and dates to 3100 B.C.E.  The movements around a board using the game piece simulates the soul’s journey in the afterlife.  

Anything can be a game piece.  These are polished acorns.

Here’s another selection of game pieces recovered from the Tang ship wreck.  They are suggestive of an Indian game called chapur, and were used by the crew to wile away the time at sea.  

Here’s a sculpture depicting the earliest Chinese game - Liubo.  [This translates to six rods.]. It was popular from 350 B.C.E. until the third century when it faded into obscurity.  There are no rules left which explain the game.

Other early games usually fall into one category which mimic activities of the time:  hunting, warfare, domination of territory.  Here’s a game called Tigers and Goats - a form of which was played all across Asia

Notice the board is cloth which could be rolled up to make this game portable.  

As games became more sophisticated, the game boards became more elaborate, and some boards could be used for more than one game.  Here’s a board made in India using stained woods, and ivory inlay for export to the European market in the 16th century.  

Not only are the pieces for various games (including chess) stored inside the board, but the legs descend to create a stable playing surface.  Plus, this can be converted into a portable writing desk.

Here’s a close-up of the inlay

Two of the oldest games still played today are chess and go.  There are many others represented in this exhibition which have either fallen into disuse or have vanished with only bits and pieces left.  

Another old game still played today is backgammon.  There were several versions with different names played all throughout Asia.  Here’s a combination chess/backgammon board.  Some countries banned versions of backgammon during various time periods as  gambling surged and receded in the society.

Both go and chess are strategy games - a new type of game at the time.  There are books written about the strategy for both from ancient times until today.

This is a strategy book for Go written in 1607.

As trade between the Orient and Europe increased, so did the demand for beautiful games pieces and boards from the Orient.  Here’s an example:

There are many other pictures of other game pieces and boards of various games. 

 I will update the blog (like I did with the Botanical Garden pictures) whenever I can get all the pictures to load, so I can create a link.  I have tried to send photos to people I know read the blog.

Moving on to the second floor of the Asian Civilizations Museum, this floor is devoted to Hindu and Buddhism, two religions exported from India to Southeast Asia and Japan, and China.  Both religions share the belief in reincarnation as well as using meditation.  

This is a 9th century piece representing the three basic gods of Hindu:  Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.  It is a Linga with the base coming to be called a Yoni and representing the female.  The face is Shiva.

I’m going to pick and choose some pictures of the sculptures from both the Hindu gods and Buddha.  Here’s an interesting factoid discovered from one of the placards - the seated Buddha is a statuary construct designed to attract the middle and upper classes to Buddhism.  A seated religious figure is one NOT doing some kind of manual labor.  Here are some statues.

Standing Buddha - 7th century

Architectural models of temples from the 9th century.

Clay model of a Stupa - the principal monument of Buddhism, from the 3rd century.  Notice the European influence of the Corinthian columns.

Linga with five faces of Hindu gods from the 5th century.

A Mother goddess, 2nd century, a precursor of Hindu goddesses.

This statue of the Buddha teaching is from the 3rd or 4th century.

Vishnu from the 9th century

Ganesha, the Hindu god of prosperity & the remover of obstacles from the 9th century.

The skull trident and upside down skull cup are from the Tibetan form of Buddhism.  They are seen as figures which protect the devotees of Buddha.

Christianity came to India as early as the 7th century, but it came to Southeast Asia and Japan in the 16th century.  This is St. Francis Xavier who was an early missionary (1550) and preached in Japan and Southeast Asia gaining many converts.  He was a founder of the Jesuit Order, extremely influential in Asia.

As Christianity spread, new art depicting Christian symbols also spread such as the Virgin Mary.

And this Indian Pieta from the 18th century.

There are many, many more fascinating statues in my other photos. 

Moving onto the third floor, I photographed some of the most beautiful gold jewelry I’ve ever seen.  Gold was plentiful in Southeast Asia, and they used it to make exquisite jewelry.  Here are my three favorite broaches:

These broaches are from the 19th century, and are displayed by being pinned to a board.  Other pieces of jewelry were displayed in a way I’d never seen.

They were displayed on three dimensional life sized holographs inside black glass boxes.  Here’s an example.

Imagine this as 3 dimensional and the jewelry is displayed as if the image is wearing it.

Next to the ‘box’ was a tablet on a stand showing the photograph which was used to create the holograph.  Here it is:

The jewelry is tinted in yellow on the photograph.

There are many of these three dimensional holographs.  What a clever way to display the jewelry!  

I will finish up with some random pictures of Singapore including one of the river with a tour boat.

And continuing under the Cavenagh Bridge we were standing on.

I will finish up with a photo of a sculpture which emphasizes the harmonious diversity of Singapore

I’ve said all during this trip that we are only tasting the ‘icing’ and never getting to eat the ‘cake’ of the various places we are seeing.  In Singapore, we are simply smelling the icing.  There is so much to do here.  Even if I was 40 and able to go to multiple outings each day, I still would have barely put a dent in Singapore.  Fascinating city.