Exhibition shows love letters and art as partners in romance

HONG KONG — What does a love letter entail? For Mak Wing-man, curator of the Xubaizhai Collection, it is not confined to the romantic feelings between a couple but also filial piety and an affinity among family members, as well as respect and affection between teachers and students.

With love letters as the theme, an exhibition featuring ancient Chinese paintings and calligraphy works at the Hong Kong Museum of Art has drawn a group of rare visitors — people aged 35 or under account for more than 60 percent of the exhibition-goers.

"While the Xubaizhai Collection is well-renowned, young people seldom came to visit. And even if they came, they would only take a quick look and leave," Mak says.

Gaining unexpected popularity since its opening in March last year, the exhibition has been extended to more than a year. What has rekindled the interest of the young in traditional art is the genuine expression of people's feelings encapsulated in the paintings and calligraphy, whether it's romance, family ties, friendship or patriotism.

"Love has always been a source of inspiration for artists," Mak says. "The landscape paintings may seem very peaceful at first glance, but they contain many emotions, and the emotion is what we want the audience to feel," she adds.

There are more than 60 exhibits on display, telling stories of bittersweet moments between couples, the sadness of artists when bidding farewell to friends, as well as the grief and anguish of poets for the loss of their country.

For instance, the theme poster of the exhibition features Farewell by a Winter Stream by Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painter Chen Chongguang, which depicts a scene of good friends as they take their leave of each other at a pier. The description of the painting reads:"The water is calm and wide, with withered old trees and crooked branches lining the opposite bank. The cold and desolate river setting amplifies the reluctance at having to say one's goodbyes and the feeling of wanting to cling on tight to what we treasure in life."

"We tried to focus on telling the sentiments in the artworks and their connection with us so that you don't have to be an expert to understand them," Mak says.

For the past 10 years as a curator, Mak has been trying to figure out a way to get young people interested in Chinese cultural relics. She once converted a truck into a mobile art gallery, bringing calligraphy and paintings to the doorstep of primary and secondary schools and communities.

For the exhibition, the museum, in a breakthrough method of displaying traditional Chinese ink art, has created a site-specific video projection installation Freezing Water: Between Here and There to bring audiences into the emotional worlds of the artists now and then.

The exhibits were selected among the more than 600 artworks in the Xubaizhai Collection, which comprises Chinese painting and calligraphy works dating from the fifth to 20th centuries, with particular strengths in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties.

Xubaizhai's founder, Low Chuck-tiew (1911-93), was a renowned art connoisseur who devoted his life to the collection of Chinese painting and calligraphy."From day to day, I find immense pleasure in poring over books, artworks and artifacts, after losing track of time and depriving myself of sleep until early morning," Low once said at the opening of the Xubaizhai Gallery of Chinese Painting and Calligraphy.

To pay tribute to Low, who donated his lifetime collection to the Hong Kong Museum of Art, Mak has prepared for every visitor of the exhibition a little surprise — a love letter carefully packed in an envelope.

In the letter, Low expresses his joy in collecting the artworks and giving them back to society.

"In order to avoid the calamities that befell previous collectors resulting in the dispersal of their treasures, I have decided to donate my collection to the public rather than keeping it for my private enjoyment, so that everyone can share the same joy I have experienced throughout my life's work," it reads.

The letter, together with all the love letters in the exhibition, tell a compelling truth: sentiments are everlasting and love is eternal.