Hong Kong Palace Museum | The Hong Kong Jockey Club Series: The Art Plaza Project at the Hong Kong Palace Museum

The work is inspired by eight literati paintings featuring trees from the Palace Museum’s collection, created by artists across centuries, including Li Yongchang and Xiang Shengmo from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644); Zhu Da, Wang Hui, Ren Yi, and Zhao Zhiqian from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911); and Cheng Zhang and Fu Baoshi from the modern period.

The trees portrayed in these paintings appear in a rich variety of forms. From robust pines and elegant willow branches, to ancient trees braving the winter cold, each painting brings a distinct artistic style: Fu Baoshi’s brushwork roars with boldness; Zhao Zhiqian blends calligraphy into his compositions; Zhu Da’s gnarled trees evoke sentiments of home and country; while Ren Yi observes nature with wonder and imagination.

The artist imagines herself between the ink-painted landscapes, examining closely the gestures of each brushstroke and the spirit within each tree, and allowing their quiet power to guide her hands. Through the language of contemporary sculpture, she reinterprets the ancient trees — not as flat images, but as living forms.

Fabric serves as the primary medium, echoing the tones and textures of Chinese ink painting. Its softness lends a sense of gentle intimacy to the refined elegance of Chinese art. Placed beside a garden bench, the sculpture integrates into the modern public space, offering a moment of quiet pleasure.

Range of Mountains is a trio of sculptures centered on the motif of mountain forms. Crafted by bending, twisting, and welding iron rods, the pieces transform the rigidity of metal into fluid yet powerful lines, echoing the expressive brushwork of traditional Chinese landscape painting — an embodiment of the classic “iron-wire line” technique.

Set against the backdrop of Victoria Harbour outside the Hong Kong Palace Museum, the sculptures’ open, linear structure allows the mountains depicted through Chinese painting to visually merge with the actual mountain ranges on the opposite shore. The trio of sculptures, varying in height and scale, echo one another while also engaging in a dynamic conversation with the skyline formed by the high-rises along the shore. Together, they form a distinctive and defining urban landscape.

Arrow is a bamboo sculpture inspired by the multifaceted symbolism of the bamboo arrow. From hunting and warfare to sport, the role of the arrow has transformed over time. The artist uses it as a metaphor to reflect on the rise and fall of traditional craftsmanship amid the tides of history, conveying the tension and struggle between beauty and violence, tradition and modernity.

The three interlocking infinity loops arranged in a three-fold symmetrical structure, symbolising the cyclical and expansive nature of time. A prey, a suit of armour, and a target are pierced by arrows along with the bamboo weave, giving birth to a structure at once fragile and resilient.

Dancing Bamboo uses locally sourced bamboo to weave an abstract yet immersive evocation of a forest, celebrating and utilising the material’s remarkable strength and flexibility. Composed of a series of modules, the bamboo members splay at each intersection to form an interlacing canopy, creating an engineered forest that seems to breathe, where light is softly diffused and the canopy rustles gently as it sways with the wind. Blurring the line between architecture and nature, visitors are invited to wander and rest within the dancing bamboo and experience the installations with their senses. It prompts reflection on the possibilities of bamboo as a building material, and its connection to sustainable construction and Hong Kong’s urban environment.

In the video sculptural installation When the Earth Remembers, Chloë Cheuk reimagines a traditional jade pendant passed down through generations into a portal transcending time. Embraced by the sleek elegance of swirling stainless steel forms referenced from modern jewellery design, the piece symbolises infinity and invites viewers to journey from the past into the future. Drawing inspiration from the textures of jade artefacts of the Palace Museum, the artist breathes life into static images, highlighting the geological and historical significance embedded in the jade. Each artefact serves as a testament to human history, intertwining the legacy of jade with contemporary resonance. The work invites viewers to perceive these antiques anew—not as static relics, but as vibrant narratives that whisper memories and reverberate with the footsteps of those who came before, capturing the heartbeat of history in every curve and texture.

Whispering Wall is a folding screen installation set on a grassy mound beside the Museum Plaza. Moved from its original indoor setting to the open air, the screen sheds its role as a spatial divider, and becomes a quiet and contemplative presence in the landscape.

Merging industrial fabrication with display aesthetics, the installation opens a dialogue with the floral motifs found in ancient imperial treasures. As its panels lift and fold like the opening of storage chests, floral patterns from the Palace Museum’s collection emerge and unfold within the creases of the screen, returning to the shared sky with breath and light.