HK Museum of Art

We were lucky enough to visit the Hong Kong Museum of Art on a Wednesday, when the museum offers free admission for all visitors. I was excited to see the famous watercolor of a horse in the Xubaishai Collection of Chinese Painting & Calligraphy. However, not being a particular student of Chinese art, I appreciated the comprehensive author biographies and extensively descriptive placards that accompanied each work.

The Museum had quite a range, spanning from Chinese art from the 1600's, to contemporary installation art. One exhibit was simultaneously grotesque and amazing, featuring hair of all shades that had been fashioned into tiny shoes. Although the hair collected came from salons, somehow all that hair in a single room was just too creepy. However, the message behind the medium was much more intriguing: the artistic use of novel forms of expression.

The museum also houses more hands-on, if slightly incongruous, exhibits. Like the activity room where a variety of presses can embosses "traditional" Chinese symbols onto coloured paper scraps. Did you know that fish, such as the omnipresent carp, represent marital bliss & fecundity? Or that cranes and peaches represent longevity? The activity room is an unexpected breath of fresh air amongst the text-heavy exhibits - and the perfect place to make your own souvenirs.

My favourite exhibit was the Japanese garden, whose simple and restful environment simply demanded quiet from visitors. Like a piece I saw in the Noguchi Museum in Brooklyn years ago, the fountain within the garden was but a carved black cube that recycled the flowing water it held. Sitting on a sand-coloured wooden bench, hearing the quietly flowing fountain, and seeing the hanging tatami combined to make a noticeably calming experience.