- What is the Hong Kong Art Research Portal?
The Portal is an online platform, established with the vision of providing access to digitised information and material about Hong Kong art. Currently, the Hong Kong Museum of Art has initiated the project by sharing Hong Kong art related material in its possession. This comprises lists of exhibitions, artists, publications, research projects and collection records, and includes links for downloading images, digitised texts and audio and visual materials. The Portal is still developing, and we hope to collaborate with other institutes and enrich the information so members of the public can access more Hong Kong art related material in the future.
- What is the purpose of the Portal?
We hope to promote Hong Kong art through shared material and information on the Portal in order to encourage more academic research. We begin, therefore by sharing the Museum's archival materials. At this stage the Portal aims to initiate and gradually develop easy access to material related to Hong Kong art. On our road map, other institutes will organise their material and share them on the platform in due course. The Portal is still developing, and we anticipate further Hong Kong art related contributions in the future.
- What kinds of materials are included?
The Hong Kong Art Research Portal is still being tested. As the contributions to the portal increase, its scope will expand to include more material. During this phase, the Portal's framework will be divided as follows:
Exhibitions
Hong Kong Museum of Art 1962 – the Present
Including the exhibitions on Hong Kong art from the opening in 1962 to the present.
Hong Kong Heritage Museum 2000 – 2015
Including the exhibitions on Hong Kong art from the opening in 2000 to 2015.
Materials available include posters, invitation cards and exhibition layout photos. (Please note that some file sizes are quite large to download.)
Collections
The searchable collection databank contains details for public reference of all the collections in the HKMoA.
Artists and Research
This section consists the collection artists, their donated materials and outcomes of the research projects launched to aid research into Hong Kong art. Due to copyright limitations, the audio and visual materials listed are mostly available for on-site viewing only. For further information, you may contact us for access to the material at the HKMoA. The audio and visual programmes are mainly in Cantonese, with some of the spoken language in English or Putonghua. If you are looking for material concerning an individual artist in our collection, you may access our collection databank online.
Collaborative Projects
This part provides access to the projects that the HKMoA carried out with different organisations, showcasing a wider range of material from a variety of sources. Currently only materials that the HKMoA has acquired are available here, but in time the projects run by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum will also be included.
Lectures and Seminars
This part contains records of the lectures and seminars from 1983 onwards. Their recordings, in the form of CDs or DVDs, are available on site by appointment.
Publications
Online access to catalogues concerning the development of Hong Kong art published by the HKMoA can be found here, as well as pamphlets and booklets produced for the Museum's exhibitions of local art. Typically, for online catalogues there are only the front and back covers and tables of contents. If you wish to check which of our catalogues are available for sale, please click here for a detailed catalogue list. Also, some of our catalogues are available at Hong Kong Public Libraries for loan.
- Are all of the materials listed accessible?
Digital copies of certain materials are available for viewing online only through this platform, while other materials may be viewed at the HKMoA upon request. For enquiries about on-site viewing of material, please contact our staff.
- How could I access materials that require appointments for on-site access?
You may visit the Resource Centre of the Hong Kong Museum of Art to access such material. Please make your appointment 3 working days in advance by calling (852) 2734 3421.
- How do I learn about a work of art related to the Museum or a particular artist?
Basic information about our collected items is accessible in the collection databank online. Since the museum participation in the Google Art Project, information on more than 100 artists and 140 collections is also available for public access.
- Can I perform a full-text search across all of the materials in the Portal?
Keyword search is not built into the Portal, but you may search by category for your required information. Moreover, you can go to Google's Advanced Search page and limit your results to our website, then enter your search terms.
- Why can't I find information related to past exhibitions once organised by the Museum and others?
During this pilot phase, the platform can only provide the Hong Kong Museum of Art's digitised information and materials about Hong Kong art. The Portal is still developing, and we expect more contributions from other art institutes in the future. Due to various limitations and restrictions, we cannot cover all the exhibitions, activities and publications that we have participated in, organised and supported over the years. As the Portal is still being tested, there may also be some technical issues to solve and we are well aware that there is room for improvement in the current phase. If you find this platform unstable in any way, or if you have any comments, please call us or email us to let us know. Thank you very much for bearing with us.
- What is next on the Portal?
As we share the museum archive in this first step, we are planning to invite other museums, academic institutions, and research organisations to our Portal in the next phase. The Portal is still developing, and we expect more contributions from other art institutes in the foreseeable future.
- What if I wish to use an image or information found here for publication or commercial use?
Information and images presented on the Portal cannot be reproduced in any form for commercial purposes, without written permission from the copyright holder(s). We are not able to entertain your request if the copyright of information/image is not retained by the HKMoA. A fee may be charged for reproducing the material for which the HKMoA is the copyright holder, depending on the nature and type of proposed use and the availability of the material requested. All requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. When the need arises, please first contact the Museum's Registration Unit at (852) 2734 2181.
- I wish to learn more about exhibitions organised by the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. What should I do?
Just contact us by phone or by email and we shall forward it to the related officer at the Heritage Museum.
- What should I do if I have an enquiry about the material found in the hyperlinked external archive?
Just contact us at by phone or by email and we shall forward it to the archive owner for reply.
- What is the contact for enquiries and comments?
You may reach us by phone at (852) 2721 0116 or by email at hkmoa_enquiries@lcsd.gov.hk with "Hong Kong Art Research Portal" as the subject line.