With ‘Art For Everyone’, the Hong Kong Museum of Art takes its paintings and antiquities to the streets
- The campaign places images of 100 pieces from the museum’s permanent collection in 490 public venues
- It was designed for the Covid-19 era, to close the gap distancing people from art and each other
For the next two months, art enthusiasts will be able to take in some of the finest works by Hong Kong and mainland Chinese artists from the comfort of their commute or an after-work stroll – and discover that some even come alive.
The artworks are part of the Hong Kong Museum of Art’s “Art For Everyone” campaign. Images of 100 paintings and antiquities from the museum’s permanent collection can now be found in 490 public venues – on billboards, digital screens and advertising spaces – scattered across Hong Kong’s 18 districts.
An app, developed by Hong Kong-based Gusto XR Lab, was launched alongside the campaign. It features a map detailing the locations and backgrounds of the artworks, as well as augmented reality (AR) technology that brings a selected 10 magically to life.
Point the app’s AR-enabled camera at any one of the 15 displays of the early 19th century painting A Chinese lady, for example, and you will see her take a journey through time aboard the MTR. The painting’s looming, black background vanishes behind two closing MTR doors, and a series of images flash by outside the windows, showing Hong Kong’s transformation from colonial outpost into the metropolis of today.
The nameless woman, painted by a nameless artist, cocks a smile and gently flicks her fingers before her commute comes to an end outside the present-day Museum of Art.
“Art For Everyone” is “unprecedented”, the first time the museum has taken its permanent collection out to the public in its 59-year history, says Nancy Lee, chairwoman of Friends of Hong Kong Museum of Art, which spearheaded the effort.
