HKU Bulletin June 2013 (Vol. 14 No. 3)

People The changes are timely – UMAG celebrates its 60 th anniversary this year. The occasion will be marked this autumn by the opening of the new permanent exhibition in the Fung Ping Shan Building, as well as a book celebrating 60 museum highlights, all of which will be on display. “The Fung Ping Shan galleries will look similar, but there will be more information explaining our objects, their context and background. The aim is to be more educational,” says Dr Knothe, adding that he hopes the permanent exhibition will encourage more schools to visit. There will still be temporary exhibitions too – mostly housed in the TT Tsui Building, and he would like more of those to be self-initiated. “As a university museum and gallery we are at liberty to do almost anything. We can do ‘blockbusters’ but not every exhibition needs to be, we can do very specialist displays and programming too.” Dr Knothe’s path to UMAG seemed almost inevitable: “I was increasingly interested in Chinese arts, and at the same time realised I wanted to work in a university museum. Even in well-funded American museums, it’s not all research and scholarship. I wanted to work in a more academic environment, and to go to a university museum where I could teach.” He first visited China with friends in 2001 and 2004 – “zipping around visiting as many monument sites and museums as I could. The art was terrific but I was disappointed by how the museums looked and what they provided in terms of information. There was very little description or context, usually just the name of the object and maybe the dynasty it came from.” He wants to do better than this at UMAG. In 2010–12 he gave a series of lectures in the US, and then one in Beijing, on his research into the cross-cultural influences of European missionaries in China. “It was very interesting to see how my thoughts were – or were not – received in China,” he laughs. “It was a huge conference, two-thirds of the speakers were from China, and it was an eye-opening cultural experience.” “There were very few people who study foreign influences in China, and many were not interested in it at all – they were far more concerned with promoting the Chinese influence abroad. It was a political thing. Some very established academics, told me to forget about the foreign influence, as ‘it is so small’ and said ‘why don’t you study the Chinese influence?’ I would say ‘I do – I’m fond of studying both angles’.” Scientific side of art Now in Hong Kong, Dr Knothe will continue to do both, and to promote collaboration. “I want to work with different departments on campus, and hope to push the scientific side of art history. I would like to work with HKU scientists, who could bring their expertise to determining the composition of glassware. This would allow us to build up a scientific database of objects – if we know that chemically certain objects are similar it can help us to date them more accurately, and to discover the geographical origin of the raw materials from which they are made.” “The Nestorian crosses for example are believed to be a hybrid product – half West, half East. I’m already in touch with someone who wants to do scientific analysis on these.” Dr Knothe is also hoping to inspire some further East meets West research in the form of collaborations with his former colleagues. “We could do something with The Met,” he says, “plus my contacts at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Musée des Arts décoratifs in Paris are very interested in collaborations.” He is also hoping to work with the glass museum in Shanghai, who recently invited him to visit and give them constructive criticism on their fledgling institution. And closer to home? “If UMAG is established as an institution that draws international interest and collaboration, it raises the bar – and that in turn will provide more opportunities for exhibitions with prominent local artists too,” says Dr Knothe. “A university museum has a responsibility to interact with local arts and culture – it’s a question of getting the local or international balance right.” M If the University Museum and Art Gallery is established as an institution that draws international interest and collaboration, it raises the bar – and that in turn will provide more opportunities for exhibitions with prominent local artists too. \ ] ^ _ ` ] a b c d c ` e f g Before Dr Florian Knothe left New York’s Corning Museum of Glass last year, he curated a highly successful East Meets West exhibition. Now, as the new Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery (UMAG), he is fascinated to be embarking on what he terms ‘a West meets East life’. Dr Knothe (pronounced Noth) arrived at HKU in January from his stint at the Corning Museum, which itself followed three years at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) where he had won research fellowships while still completing his PhD in European Baroque decorative arts. Educated in England and France, and heavily influenced by an aunt who was an art historian and took him to numerous exhibitions and art galleries, Dr Knothe developed a big interest in European decorative arts, and styles such as chinoiserie , their origins and overseas influences. “I became very interested in the Chinese influence on European art,” he says. At The Met from 2005 to 2008, Dr Knothe worked on two European exhibitions during and after his fellowships. From there, he became European and East Asian glass curator at the Corning. “At the Corning Museum I had access to Western and Eastern collections that gave me the chance to organise the East Meets West exhibition.” Permanent display Dr Knothe’s plans include raising UMAG’s profile – “within HKU, within Hong Kong and overseas”. He is introducing a permanent exhibition in order to show more of HKU’s collection – some 2,700 pieces, including ceramic and bronze collections, 20 th century Chinese paintings and the world’s largest collection of Nestorian crosses. “I would like to have some of the collection out all the time,” says Dr Knothe. “A permanent display will give the Museum a better profile – people will know what it is and what it has,” he says. “More permanence also engenders more opportunities for crossdisciplinary research within HKU, as well as with other institutions in Hong Kong and overseas.” ALight at theMuseum The University Museum and Art Gallery celebrates its 60 th year with a new director, a new permanent exhibition and plans for a higher profile within Hong Kong and overseas. 'U .QRWKH ZDV JLYLQJ D OHFWXUH RQ &KLQHVH JODVV DQG FURVV FXOWXUDO LQÀXHQFHV DW WKH h i j k l m n j o p q r n l r s j i q t m u v w x m y z { m j t i | i { o v l } z l ~ o t i l i r m m j t m l i { i l v { o { m t v l m } m j v o t o o v l l i j i l m l s { i p { ~ o v l l v j j o j { i v l z t o o v l h i j k l m n j o p q r n l r s t i m o t z z l m p w 41 June 2013 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin